Greg S. from Omaha. OPPD just discovered our office building has been billed wrong for almost 5 years. The meter has 300:1 CTs but was programmed with 150:1 multiplier, so we've been under-billed by 50% this whole time. Now they want $47,000 in back-billing adjustments going back to 2018. Our Rate Schedule GS bills averaged $2,800/month but should have been around $4,200/month apparently. What's the statute of limitations on utility billing errors? Can they really go back 5 years for their own programming mistake?
Historical adjustment after finding 5-year multiplier error
Lloyd P. from Akron. Ohio law limits back-billing to 24 months for utility errors, but it varies by state. Nebraska might be different. The key question is whether this was their mistake or yours. If OPPD programmed the multiplier wrong from the start, you might have grounds to limit the back-billing period. Check with a utility attorney - $47K is worth fighting over.
Frank E. from Cleveland. Had similar situation with FirstEnergy. They tried to back-bill 4 years but Ohio PUC rules limited it to 2 years for utility errors. The utility has to prove you knew or should have known about the error to go beyond the statutory limit. If your bills seemed reasonable for your usage, you probably had no way to know about their programming error.
Randy Dawson here. Greg, this is a tough situation but you have rights. Most states limit back-billing for utility errors to 12-24 months unless the customer caused or knew about the error. Nebraska Public Service Commission should have rules on this. Key factors: (1) Was this OPPD's programming error vs your reporting error? (2) Would a reasonable customer have known bills were too low? (3) What's Nebraska's statute of limitations on billing adjustments? I'd contact Nebraska PSC consumer services division and also consider hiring a utility consultant. $47K justifies some professional help to fight this.
Dan K. from Green Bay. Wisconsin limits utility back-billing to 6 months for their errors, 2 years if customer error. The rationale is that customers rely on utility billing accuracy and shouldn't be penalized for utility mistakes. Nebraska probably has similar consumer protection rules.
Update: Contacted Nebraska PSC and they confirmed 24-month limit on back-billing for utility errors. OPPD is pushing back claiming we should have noticed the low bills, but our usage was consistent and bills seemed normal for our square footage. PSC opened an informal complaint case.
Paul B. from Green Bay. Good for you fighting it Greg. The "should have known" standard is hard for utilities to prove unless bills were obviously wrong. If your usage patterns were consistent, how would you know their multiplier was programmed wrong? That's their job to get right.
Another update: OPPD agreed to limit back-billing to 24 months per PSC rules. Still a $19,000 hit instead of $47,000, but much more manageable. They're allowing 12-month payment plan. The PSC involvement definitely helped - utilities don't want formal complaints on their record.
Stan A. from Boise. Greg, did you have to pay interest on the back-billed amount? Idaho Power tried to charge interest on a similar situation and we fought that too. Their programming error shouldn't result in interest charges to the customer.
Stan A. - No interest charges. That was part of the PSC settlement. OPPD waived interest since it was their programming error. The 24-month back-billing was bad enough without interest on top of it.
John P. from Columbia MO. Similar thing happened with Ameren Missouri but they only went back 12 months. Sounds like Nebraska's 24-month rule is still pretty generous to the utility. Glad you got the interest waived though.
Final update: Made the last payment on the back-billing yesterday. $19,000 over 12 months hurt but was manageable. The key lesson is don't assume utility billing is always right, but also know your rights when they make errors. The PSC involvement was crucial for getting a fair resolution.