Montana Code Annotated 2017

TITLE 69. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS

CHAPTER 3. REGULATION OF UTILITIES

Part 2. Requirements for Public Utilities

Public Utility Errors In Billing Customers

69-3-221. Public utility errors in billing customers. (1) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "public utility" does not include a municipal utility as defined in chapter 7 of this title;

(b) a "customer billing error":

(i) includes any bill issued by the utility that is not designated as an estimated bill and that understates the amount owed by the customer;

(ii) includes a utility's failure to bill a customer for service provided that would be billed to the customer under the utility's normal billing practices;

(iii) excludes errors that result from the theft of service by the customer;

(iv) excludes errors involving a utility's industrial class customers; and

(v) excludes errors incurred in the billing of long-distance services by a telecommunications utility.

(2) Whenever a public utility discovers a customer billing error, the utility may submit a bill to the customer for a period not to exceed the 6 months preceding the date the billing error is discovered.

(3) The commission may adopt rules to implement subsections (1) and (2).

History: En. Secs. 1, 2, Ch. 587, L. 1985.