§ 158-92. Public notice.

(a)

Any applicant for a change in rates or service shall cause copies of any and all currently effective retail rate schedules and/or tariffs, and any and all pending applications filed before the council under this article and/or under any other provision of law (including any amendments, modifications, or supplements thereto) and any orders of the council relative thereto to be deposited and/or made available for public inspection and copying in the following places:

(1)

The main branch and every other branch of the New Orleans Public Library in the service area of the applicant utility; and

(2)

A foyer, lobby or other publicly accessible area of the business office building, and/or customer service office if any, of the applicant located within the jurisdiction, in which location the copies shall be openly and conspicuously displayed adjacent to an easily readable notice identifying the nature of the documents and stating the right of the public to inspect and copy the same.

(b)

Each copy shall bear a cover sheet summarizing in laymen's terms susceptible of understanding by a person of ordinary intelligence and knowledge the contents thereof, and, if the copy is a copy of an application for a change in rates or services, summarizing the effect the change applied for will have upon the typical ratepayer in each customer class and/or service schedule affected thereby. A reasonable charge may be expected for the making of photostatic or other duplications of the copies upon request by a member of the public. The deposit and/or making available of copies required by this section shall be accomplished within five days of the filing or issuance of each document governed hereby. Within one week of the filing or issuance the utility shall at its expense cause an advertisement to be published in the official journal of the city, setting forth therein a notice of the filing or issuance, and identifying the locations at which the particular document filed or issued may be inspected by and/or copies at a reasonable rate made available to the public. The advertisement shall include a statement in laymen's terms susceptible of understanding by a person of ordinary intelligence and knowledge summarizing the contents of the particular document filed or issued and, if the document is an application for a change in rates and services, summarizing the effect the change applied for would have upon the bill of a typical residential customer and of a typical commercial customer affected thereby. The provisions of this section are mandatory and not precatory. Nonetheless, compliance with the provisions of this section by a utility shall not be deemed a procedural prerequisite to the consideration or final disposition of any application filed under this article. No deficiency in the language of any cover sheet, advertisement or summary required by this section shall create a right in favor of any person to delay the progress of any proceeding initiated by an application filed under this article, nor shall any such deficiency create a basis for the invalidation or setting aside of any order issued by the council in order to dispose of the proceeding.

(M.C.S., Ord. No. 22930, § 1, 12-6-07)