Billing adjustments shall be made as follows:
(A) If a customer has been overcharged for a utility service because of a malfunction in the metering system or a billing error, overcharges will be refunded to the customer for the entire period of inaccurate billing, if that period is discernible by the municipality. If the period of inaccurate billing is not discernable, overcharges will be calculated based on a time period that is the shortest of the time elapsed since the customer’s service began, that date of installation of the faulty meter or implementation of the error resulting in the overcharge (if applicable) for 365 days for residential customers and 36 months for commercial and industrial customers.
(B) If a customer has been undercharged for a utility service because of a malfunction in the metering system or a billing error, undercharges will be billed to the customer, and the customer shall pay the charges for the entire period of inaccurate billing, if that period is discernable by the municipality. If the period of inaccurate billing is not discernable, undercharges will be calculated based on a time period that is the shortest of the time elapsed since the customer’s service began, the date of installation of the faulty meter or implementation of the error resulting in the undercharge (if applicable), or 365 days for residential customers and 36 months for commercial and industrial customers. Undercharges billed to residential customer shall in no event exceed a period of 365 days for residential customers and 36 months for commercial and industrial customers. Customers shall have the option to pay the amount undercharged in equal payments spread over the same number of months as the charges were accumulated.
(C) This section does not serve as a limitation to billing for undercharges which are the result of tampering with utility equipment or theft of utility service, or where a physical act of a customer or its agent causes inaccurate or no recording of the meter reading, or inaccurate or no measurements of the electricity rendered.
(Ord. 17-05-01, passed 7-11-17)