Utilities Section
Newsletter League of Nebraska Municipalities
April 2025
Utility disconnect email notices and envelopes By Lash Chaffin, Utilities Section Director Many Nebraska municipal utilities have spent many hours perfecting the language of their disconnect notice over the past few years. But far less attention has probably been paid to the title of the email or the envelope used to mail the disconnect notice. Email. Since 2015, cities and villages have been allowed to use email to send disconnect notices. Notice can be given by electronic delivery, but electronic delivery shall only be used “if the subscriber has specifically elected to receive such notices by electronic delivery.” If notice is given by electronic delivery, such notice shall be conspicuously marked as to its importance. Mail. For cities, Nebraska law also provides that “If notice is given by first-class mail,… such mail shall be conspicuously marked as to its importance.” Villages. While neither of these requirements apply to villages, Nebraska law requires that villages “establish a procedure to resolve utility bills.” Most villages have simply adopted the requirements imposed on cities as their procedure. This would include the requirement that the electronic delivery or envelope be conspicuously marked as to its importance. What does this mean? The term “conspicuously marked as to its importance” certainly leaves a municipal utility a lot 206 S 13th Street, Suite 800 Lincoln, NE 68508 (402) 476-2829 Fax (402) 476-7052
of room for interpretation. There are three important words in that phrase that a utility needs to look at: 1) conspicuously, 2) marked, and 3) importance. According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term “conspicuously” means “very readily perceived” or “attracting attention.” In this day of deceptive spam email and junk mail, it is very difficult to make your notice meet this standard. In order to draw attention to the notice, it is very important that the email or envelope be clearly identifiable as coming from the municipal utility. Also, many utilities print their disconnect envelopes in red ink and use larger typeface. According to Webster’s, the term “marked” means “bearing a mark.” This is an odd requirement that seems to require some physical mark on the envelope. This might preclude some excellent methods of making the mail readily identifiable. Some municipal utilities that do not actually “mark” the envelope might want to reconsider their current practice. According to Webster’s, the term “importance” means “having a great effect.” Again, this is a term that leaves lots of room for interpretation. There are probably hundreds of terms that could indicate a “great effect.” Most municipal utilities have chosen to actually use the word “important”
on their envelope to take away any argument that their chosen term does not indicate “importance.” What do municipalities actually do to comply with the law? A couple of months ago, the Utilities Section ran a survey. The only pattern that emerged was that nobody does the same thing. Some of the phrases included: • Important Notice Enclosed (Attached) • Important: City of ***** Utilities • Please Open at Once • Important Notice • Important Notice Concerning Utility Service • Important • Please Open Immediately • Final Notice • Extremely Important: Do Not Discard Some municipalities have printed disconnect envelopes and others appeared to use a stamp. Many municipalities used red ink. A few municipalities had the language appear through a clear window in the envelope. This practice might raise a few eyebrows for purists that think that the envelope needs to be marked. However, the requirement is that the “mail” actually be marked, so as long as Continued on page 2 Lash Chaffin Utilities Section Director Jackson Sash Utilities Field Representative