OAR 860-021-0135: Adjustment of Utility Bills

(1) Except as provided in section (7) of this rule, when a large telecommunications utility has incorrectly billed a customer, the large telecommunications utility must take corrective action as follows: (a) If the date of the error can be determined, the large telecommunications utility must issue a bill credit or refund for the over charge or a corrected bill for the under charge back to such date. If the date of the error cannot be determined, the large telecommunications utility must refund the over charge or rebill the under charge for no more than six months’ usage; and. (b) In no event may a large telecommunications utility issue a corrected bill or refund for more than three years of incorrectly billed charges. (2) Except as provided in sections (6) and (7) of this rule, if an energy utility determines that a current or former customer of the energy utility was under-billed or over-billed for a service provided by the energy utility under rate schedules or tariffs in effect when the service was provided: (a) The energy utility may issue a bill to collect amounts previously under-billed during the 12-month period ending on the date on which the customer or former customer was last under-billed. The energy utility may not bill for services provided more than two years before the date the energy utility discovered the under-billing; and (b) The energy utility must issue a refund or bill credit for amounts previously over-billed during the 12-month period ending on the date on which the customer or former customer was last over-billed. The energy utility is not required to issue a refund or bill credit for amounts over-billed more than three years before the date the energy utility discovered the over-billing. (3) Notwithstanding subsections (1)(a) and (2)(a) of this rule, if the under-billing was the result of fraud, tampering, diversion, theft, misinformation, false identification, or other unlawful conduct on the part of the customer or former customer of the energy or large telecommunications utility, the utility may collect full payment for any amount owed without limitation. (4) When a utility issues a bill to collect under-billed amounts, a current or former customer of an energy utility, or current customer of a telecommunications utility, may enter into a time-payment agreement as provided in OAR 860-021-0415. If the utility customer is already on a time-payment plan, the utility must offer to renegotiate the payment plan to include the under-billing error. If the customer and utility cannot agree upon payment terms, the Commission will establish terms and conditions to govern the customers’ obligation. This section does not apply if the corrected billing is the result of the conditions listed in section (3) of this rule. (5) When an energy or large telecommunications utility requires payment for amounts previously under-billed, the utility must provide a written notice that explains: (a) The circumstance and time period of the under-billing; (b) The corrected bill amount and the amount of the necessary adjustment, (c) The Commission’s customer complaint process; and (d) The right of current or former customers of an energy utility or current customers of a telecommunications utility to enter into a time-payment agreement with the utility. (6) A billing adjustment is not required if an electric or gas meter registers less than a two percent error under conditions of normal operation. (7) The energy or large telecommunications utility may waive rebilling or issuing a refund check when costs make such action uneconomical.