Good Question: How far can a utility company go back to bill for its mistakes?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - We recently reported on some Kentucky utility customers who hadn’t received a bill in months. That’s the topic of today’s Good Question.

For today’s Good Question, Jeff asks, Legally, how far can a utility company go back to bill for its mistakes? Who authorized that? Is there a maximum amount they can charge?

This answer comes from Linda Bridwell, the Executive Director of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

She said the General Assembly set the limit for how far back a utility can bill for unbilled or underbilled services to two years from the date of service.

The statute reads: “No customer shall be liable for unbilled service after two (2) years from the date of the service, unless the customer obtained the service through fraud, theft, or deception.”

And, although there is no statute specifically limiting utility refunds for overbilling, she said the Public Service Commission has applied a generic statute of limitations of five years for a refund period for overbilling.

As for the amount, while there is no maximum amount listed, the regulated utility would only be allowed to charge the amount that was charged or should have been charged for utility service at the time that it was used.

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