Having major issues with NV Energy here in Vegas on statute of limitations. They're claiming Nevada's 4-year statute bars any recovery beyond 2011, but we have a clear tariff violation going back to 2009. Rate Schedule GS-1 energy charges were incorrectly calculated due to TOU meter reading errors. About $67,000 in overcharges. Nevada law seems unfavorable compared to other states - anyone had success here?
NV Energy statute limitations - nightmare
Kim, Nevada is tough but not impossible. The TOU meter reading errors might qualify for equitable tolling if you can show the customer had no way to detect the problem. What kind of meter reading errors - wrong time blocks or data collection issues? PG&E territory here in California has similar challenges with statute limitations.
Dan's right about equitable tolling. In Illinois we've argued that complex TOU billing errors are inherently undiscoverable by customers. The key is proving the utility had superior knowledge and ability to detect the error. ComEd cases have established good precedent on this. What does your client's usage pattern look like?
The meter was recording peak hours as off-peak from 2009-2012. Client is a hotel with obvious peak usage during day, but bills showed majority off-peak consumption. Should have been red flag but client trusted utility billing. NV Energy claims their 2012 "system upgrade" fixed the issue but they never notified affected customers or provided refunds.
Kim, that system upgrade admission is huge! If NV Energy knew about the problem in 2012 and fixed it without customer notification, that could toll the statute back to their knowledge date. MLGW had similar situation here in Memphis. The utility's failure to notify affected customers of known billing errors can extend recovery periods significantly.
Amir, that's exactly our argument. We're pushing that NV Energy's 2012 system upgrade acknowledgment of the TOU errors creates liability back to 2009. Hotel usage pattern makes the error obvious in hindsight. Filing with Nevada PSC next week. Hoping for better result than direct utility negotiation attempts.