Working on a case here in Columbia with SCE&G (now Dominion). Client was billed under wrong rate schedule from 2013-2015, about $23,000 overcharge. Utility is claiming South Carolina's 3-year statute of limitations bars recovery. Rate Schedule GS-2 vs GS-3 classification error. Anyone had luck extending SC statute in utility cases?
SCE&G statute question - dead end?
Marcus, SC is tough on the 3-year rule. I've seen very few exceptions in utility billing cases. The rate schedule misclassification might be your best angle if you can show the utility had superior knowledge of the customer's actual usage patterns. What's the difference between GS-2 and GS-3 - demand threshold or usage level?
Bill's right - SC courts are strict. I dealt with similar issue at TVA territory in East Tennessee. The demand threshold classification is hard to argue because it's usually clear from the meter data when the customer qualified for different schedule. Unless there was some ambiguity in the tariff language or utility gave conflicting guidance, you might be stuck with the 3-year window.