Title 58, Public Utilities, Services and Carriers

(a) A gas utility which violates a provision of Section 58-5-1020 or a regulation under this article is subject to a civil penalty of not more than the maximum civil penalty provided pursuant to 49 U.S.C. Section 60122 and 49 C.F.R. 190.223. (b) A civil penalty may be compromised…

(a) The court of common pleas shall have jurisdiction to restrain violations of this article (including the restraining of transportation of gas or the operation of a pipeline facility) or to enforce standards established hereunder upon petition by the Office of Regulatory Staff.…

(a) As soon as practicable after April 23, 1970, and every year thereafter, the Office of Regulatory Staff shall submit an annual certification to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation as provided for in Section 5(a) of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 (P.L…

Nothing in this article shall be applicable to the regulation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the extent that this subject is regulated by Sections 39-43-10 through 39-43-180 and the regulations issued pertinent thereto.

The provisions of this article shall not be applicable to the regulation of anhydrous ammonia to the extent that this subject is regulated by Sections 39-47-10 to 39-47-70 and the regulations issued thereunder.

For purposes of this article: (1) "Licensed health care provider" means a licensed medical doctor, physician's assistant, nurse practitioner, or advanced-practice registered nurse. (2) "Special needs account customer" means the account of a residential customer: (a) when the cust…

(A) Each public utility furnishing natural gas to residential customers must establish written procedures for termination of service due to nonpayment for a special needs account customer at any time and for all residential customers during weather conditions marked by extremely …

Each public utility furnishing natural gas must consider establishing and maintaining a third-party notification program to allow a residential customer to designate a third party to be notified if the natural gas service is scheduled for termination.

Notwithstanding another provision of this article, a public utility furnishing natural gas may disconnect a customer when it is determined that a public safety emergency exists.

Nothing in the article prohibits the commission from promulgating detailed regulations governing termination of service by a public utility furnishing natural gas so long as the regulations include the termination and third-party notification protections provided by this article.

This article does not create a new private right of action or a new duty of care. This article does not diminish, increase, affect, or evidence any duty of care existing under the laws of this State prior to the effective date of this article.

Any corporation or person not engaged in business exclusively as a public utility shall be governed by the provisions of Articles 1, 3 and 5 of this chapter in respect only of the public utility owned, leased, operated or managed by it or him and not in respect to any other busin…

The Public Service Commission is hereby, to the extent granted, vested with power and jurisdiction to supervise and regulate the rates and service of every public utility in this State, together with the power, after hearing, to ascertain and fix such just and reasonable standard…

The Office of Regulatory Staff may, in its discretion, subject to approval of the commission: (a) establish a standardized system of accounts to be kept by the public utilities subject to its jurisdiction; (b) classify such public utilities and establish a standardized system of …

The books and accounts of all public utilities shall be subject to the examination of the regulatory staff at any time.

(A) Whenever a public utility desires to put into operation a new rate, toll, rental, charge, or classification or a new regulation, it shall give to the commission and the regulatory staff not less than thirty days' notice of its intention to file and shall, after the expiration…

Within ten days after the filing of any new or changed schedule by a public utility the Commission shall give general notice thereof by publication.

Applications may be made by any corporation, public or private, person, chamber of commerce or board of trade, by any civic, commercial, mercantile, traffic, agricultural, or manufacturing association or by any body politic, commission, board, or municipal corporation by petition…

Whenever the Commission shall find, after hearing, that the rates, fares, tolls, rentals, charges or classifications or any of them, however or whensoever they shall have theretofore been fixed or established, demanded, observed, charged or collected by any public utility for any…

Except as provided in Article 23, Chapter 9 of Title 58, nothing contained in Articles 1, 3, and 5 of this chapter shall give the commission or the regulatory staff any power to regulate or interfere with public utilities owned or operated by or on behalf of any municipality or r…

In connection with a determination under Section 58-5-290 the commission may consider all facts which in its judgment have a bearing upon a proper determination of the question, although not set forth in the application and not within the allegations contained therein.

The commission shall cause a record to be kept of all proceedings and all testimony shall be taken down by a competent stenographer, designated by the commission, and a copy or transcript thereof, verified by the oath of such stenographer, shall be furnished on terms fixed by the…

The commission may, at any time, upon notice and opportunity to the public utility affected and the regulatory staff to be heard, rescind, alter, or amend any order or decision made by it. Any order rescinding, altering, or amending a prior order or decision shall, when served up…

Within twenty days after an order or decision is made by the commission, any party to the action or proceeding may apply for a rehearing as to any matter determined in the action or proceeding and specified in the application for rehearing and a rehearing must be granted if in th…

A decision of the commission may be reviewed by the Supreme Court or court of appeals as provided by statute and the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules upon questions of both law and fact, as provided pursuant to this section. The commission must not be a party to the action. N…

Public utilities and pipeline companies engaged in the extraction, processing, distribution, or sale of landfill gas (LFG) derived from sanitary landfills, which provide this gas to no more than twenty customers from any single landfill, are exempt from regulation by the commissi…

Any person or corporation owning or operating a plant furnishing water or gas to the public or any portion thereof for compensation who shall fail or refuse to accept the rate fixed by the Commission to be charged for water or gas and instead thereof shall charge, demand or recei…

(A) Except as provided in subsections (B) and (C) of this section, a gas utility must not interrupt gas service to any residential customer for nonpayment of a bill until twenty-five days have elapsed from the date of billing. (B) A gas utility may interrupt natural gas service t…

(A) A publicly or privately owned utility may not impose a tap fee, other fee, or a recurring maintenance fee of any nature or however described for the installation and maintenance of a fire sprinkler system that exceeds the actual costs associated with the water line to the sys…

Any water supplier who sells water wholesale to a municipality and any supplier of water-borne waste disposal services who renders such services on a wholesale basis to a municipality shall not be under the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Public Service Commission or the Offic…

This article may be cited as the "Natural Gas Rate Stabilization Act".

A public utility providing natural gas distribution service, in its discretion and at anytime, may elect to have the terms of this article apply to its rates and charges for gas distribution service, on a prospective basis, by filing a notice of the election with the commission a…

The election by a utility to have the terms of this article apply to its rates and charges for gas distribution service once made shall remain in effect until the next Section 58-5-240 general rate proceeding for the public utility at which time the public utility may then elect …

In issuing its order pursuant to Section 58-5-410, and in addition to the other requirements of Section 58-5-240, if a proceeding pursuant to that section is required: (1) the commission shall specify a range for the utility's cost of equity that includes a band of fifty basis po…

The utility shall file with the commission monitoring reports for each twelve-month period ending on March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, and December thirty-first of each year, the filings to be made no later than the fifteenth day of the third month followin…

In the monitoring report filed for the twelve-month period ending March thirty-first of each year, the utility shall provide additional schedules indicating the following revenue calculations: (1) if the utility's earnings exceed the upper end of the range established in the orde…

The Office of Regulatory Staff shall review the monitoring report filed pursuant to Sections 58-5-430 and 58-5-440 to determine compliance with its terms taking into account the findings of any audit conducted by the Office of Regulatory Staff concerning compliance with Sections …

The procedures contained in this section shall apply to monitoring reports related to the quarter ending March thirty-first. (1) The utility shall file the monitoring reports with the commission and Office of Regulatory Staff on or before June fifteenth and simultaneously shall m…

Within thirty days of the issuance of an Initial Order pursuant to Section 58-5-450, or within thirty days of the failure by the commission to issue an order as required pursuant to Section 58-5-450, any aggrieved party may petition the commission for review of the Initial Order …

After conducting the hearing required by Section 58-5-460, the commission shall issue a final order that: (1) sets forth any changes that are required to the rates approved in the Initial Order issued under Section 58-5-455(5); (2) determines the amount of any overcollection or u…

The review of Initial Orders pursuant to Sections 58-5-460 and 58-5-465 is limited to issues related to compliance with the terms of this article. Matters determined in orders issued pursuant to Section 58-5-420 are not subject to review except in full rate proceedings pursuant t…

The Office of Regulatory Staff is authorized additional positions as the General Assembly may provide in the annual General Appropriations Act for the purpose of performing its duties under this article; however, no more than one position for each natural gas utility regulated pu…

Nothing contained in Articles 1, 3 and 5 of this chapter shall authorize the Commission to declare any rate, toll, charge or fare contained in any contract voluntarily entered into prior to March 24, 1922 for a term of years by and between any public utility and any person or cor…

The Commission shall have no power to declare any rate, toll, charge or fare or any maximum rate, toll, charge or fare contained in, or provided for, by any franchise or ordinance, whereby any municipality, prior to March 24, 1922, has given any public utility the right to use th…

The Public Service Commission, upon petition by any interested party, shall have the right to require any person or corporation, as defined in Section 58-5-10, operating a water or sewer utility system for which prior consent or approval by the commission is required to appear be…

The commission shall, before the granting of authority or consent to any water or sewer utility regulated by the commission, for the construction, operation, maintenance, acquisition, expansion, or improvement of any facility or system, prescribe as a condition to the consent or …