Just wondering what everyone's experience has been with statute of limitations here in Arizona. I've got a client with some potential APS billing errors going back to 2008, maybe earlier. The utility is claiming they can only adjust back 3 years, but I'm seeing conflicting info on this. Has anyone successfully pushed APS further back than that? These are some significant overcharges on Schedule E-32 demand billing that could total $85,000+ if we can go back to the beginning.
Arizona statute of limitations - how far back can APS let you go?
Sarah, in Texas we've had good luck with Oncor going back 7-8 years on meter reading errors. The key is proving utility error vs. customer error. If it's their mistake (bad meter, wrong multiplier, etc.) most utilities will go further back than their standard policy. Have you documented exactly what the billing error was? That makes all the difference in these cases.
Down here in North Carolina, Duke Energy typically sticks to 2-3 years unless you can prove fraud or gross negligence. But I've seen them go back 5+ years when they screwed up a transformer ratio or applied wrong tariff rates. Document everything and be prepared to escalate to the commission if needed. $85K is worth the fight for sure.
Thanks Marcus and Derek. This is definitely a utility error - they had the wrong demand ratchet calculation in their billing system for this customer's rate class. I've got documentation showing the tariff says one thing but they were billing something completely different. Going to push them on the gross negligence angle since it affected multiple customers on the same rate schedule.
Sarah, that sounds like a systemic billing error which should definitely extend the statute of limitations. In Tennessee, TVA has gone back as far as 10 years when they discovered widespread tariff application mistakes. Make sure you request internal emails and system change logs - that often shows they knew about the problem longer than they're admitting.
I agree with Terry - systemic errors are treated differently. Here in Oklahoma, OG&E went back 6 years when they discovered their billing system was miscalculating power factor penalties. The commission basically said if it's the utility's error, they need to make it right regardless of normal statute limitations. File a formal complaint if they won't cooperate.
Update: APS initially refused but after I filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission, they agreed to go back to January 2008. Total recovery was $92,400! The key was proving it was a known system defect that affected multiple customers. Thanks everyone for the advice - persistence pays off in these cases.
Excellent result Sarah! That's exactly why we do this work. Almost $100K recovered because you didn't give up when they said no initially. Great case study for anyone facing similar pushback from utilities on older billing errors.