Title 58, Public Utilities, Services and Carriers

A full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings had before the Commission or any commissioner on any formal hearing, and all testimony shall be taken down by a reporter appointed by the Commission.

After an order or decision has been made by the Commission any party to the proceedings may within ten days after service of notice of the entry of the order or decision apply for a rehearing in respect to any matter determined in such proceedings and specified in the application…

In addition to the foregoing expressly enumerated powers, the Office of Regulatory Staff must enforce, execute, administer, and carry out the provisions of this chapter relating to the powers, duties, limitations, and restrictions imposed upon electrical utilities and the South C…

The enumeration of the powers of the Commission as herein set forth shall not be construed to exclude the exercise of any power which the Commission would otherwise have under the provisions of law.

A party in interest dissatisfied with an order of the commission may appeal to the Supreme Court or court of appeals as provided by statute and the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules. No right of appeal accrues to vacate or set aside, either in whole or in part, an order of the…

The pendency of proceedings to review shall not of itself stay or suspend the operation of the order of the Commission, but during the pendency of such proceedings the court, upon reasonable notice and after hearing, in its discretion may stay or suspend, either in whole or in pa…

In all actions and proceedings arising under this chapter or growing out of the exercise of the powers herein granted to the Commission the burden of proof shall be on the party attacking any order of the Commission to show that the same is unlawful or unreasonable.

No provision of the South Carolina Rural Development Act of 1996 may be construed to alter, modify, amend, or repeal, directly or by implication, any provision of Chapter 27 of Title 58, Chapter 31 of Title 58, Chapter 33 of Title 58, Chapter 23 of Title 6, Chapter 7 of Title 5, …

Any person or corporation violating any provision of this chapter, other than Section 58-27-1530, or failing, omitting or neglecting to obey, observe or comply with any lawful order of the Commission, or any part or provision thereof, shall be subject to a penalty of not less tha…

Every violation of a provision of this chapter or of any lawful order of the Commission, or any part thereof, by any corporation or person is a separate and distinct offense and in case of a continuing violation each day's continuance thereof shall be deemed to be a separate and …

All penalties accruing under this chapter shall be cumulative, and a suit for the recovery of one penalty shall not be a bar to or affect the recovery of any other penalty or forfeiture or be a bar to any criminal prosecution against any electrical utility or any officer, directo…

Actions to recover penalties under this chapter shall be brought in the name of the State by the Office of Regulatory Staff in any court of competent jurisdiction.

In construing and enforcing the provisions of this chapter relating to penalties the act, omission or failure of any officer, agent or employee of any corporation or person acting within the scope of his official duties or employment shall in every case be deemed to be also the a…

The penalties herein prescribed shall not be deemed to apply to municipalities, but the act, omission or failure of an officer, agent or employee of a municipality constituting a violation of this chapter or of any lawful order of the Commission, or any part thereof, although act…

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

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 electrical utility 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 cold or hot temperatures. Each electrical ut…

An electrical utility 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 electric service is scheduled for termination.

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

(A) Coal combustion residuals that result from an electrical utility, an electric cooperative, a governmental entity, a corporation, or an individual producing electricity for sale or distribution by burning coal must be placed in a commercial Class 3 solid waste management landf…

Nothing in the article prohibits the commission from promulgating detailed regulations governing termination of service by an electrical utility 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.

(A) There is established the Joint Committee on the Electrification of Transportation. The committee is comprised of four members of the Senate, two of whom are appointed by the Chairman of Senate Finance and two of whom are appointed by the Chairman of Senate Judiciary, and four…

As used in this article: (A) "Customer-generator lessee" means the lessee of a renewable electric generation facility which: (1) generates electricity from a renewable energy resource; (2) has an electrical generating system with a capacity of: (a) not more than the lesser of one…

(A) An entity that owns a renewable electric generation facility, located on a premises or residence owned or leased by an eligible customer-generator lessee to serve the electric energy requirements of that particular premises or residence or to enable the customer-generator les…

(A) Before any entity other than an entity lawfully providing retail electric service to the public in this State commences to do business as a lessor of renewable electric generation facilities under the terms of this article, that entity shall submit an application to the Offic…

(A) Not more than thirty days after installation of a renewable electric generation facility leased to a customer-generator lessee, the lessor shall register the facility with the Office of Regulatory Staff on forms developed and provided by the Office of Regulatory Staff. This r…

The Office of Regulatory Staff shall have the authority to investigate claims of violations of the provisions of Section 58-27-2610 committed by electrical utilities and lessors of renewable electric generation facilities.

(A) No earlier than April 1, 2023, the Public Service Commission shall open a docket for the purpose of identifying the regulatory challenges and opportunities associated with the electrification of the transportation sector. At a minimum, the commission shall study the following…

Section 58-27-2610 shall not become effective until the commission has approved net energy metering rates referenced in Chapter 40, Title 58 for all investor-owned electrical utilities serving more than one hundred thousand retail customer accounts in South Carolina.

(A)(1) The Office of Regulatory Staff and the Department of Consumer Affairs are directed to develop consumer protection regulations regarding the sale or lease of renewable energy generation facilities pursuant to the distributed energy resource program in Chapter 40 of this tit…

(A) The South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff through any existing electric vehicle stakeholder initiatives launched by the regulatory staff, shall complete a stakeholder process to facilitate a broad, collaborative statewide discussion among stakeholders to explore the oppor…

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

The election by a utility to have the terms of this article apply to its rates and charges for retail electric service once made shall remain in effect until the next general rate proceeding for the public utility under Section 58-27-860, at which time the public utility may then…

In issuing its order pursuant to Section 58-27-2710, and in addition to the other requirements of Section 58-27-2710, if a proceeding pursuant to that section is required, then: (1) the commission shall specify a range for the utility's cost of equity that includes a band of fift…

The utility shall file with the commission monitoring reports for each twelve-month period ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31 of each year, the filings to be made no later than the fifteenth day of the third month following the close of the period. The uti…

(A) In the monitoring report filed for the twelve-month period ending December 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 t…

The Office of Regulatory Staff shall review the monitoring report filed pursuant to Section 58-27-2730 and Section 58-27-2740 to determine compliance with its terms, taking into account the findings of any audit conducted by the Office of Regulatory Staff concerning compliance wi…

The procedures contained in this section shall apply to monitoring reports related to the quarter ending December 31. (1) The utility shall file the monitoring reports annually with the commission and Office of Regulatory Staff on or before March 15. (2) In cases where the monito…

In calculating its revenue requirement under Section 58-27-2730, and apart from the recovery of a return on construction work in progress, an electric utility may not include in plant service its investments in any new electric generating facility of more than two hundred fifty m…

Within thirty days of the issuance of an Initial Order pursuant to Section 58-27-2760, or within thirty days of the failure by the commission to issue an order as required pursuant to Section 58-27-2760, any aggrieved party may petition the commission for review of the Initial Or…

(A) After conducting the hearing required by Section 58-27-2780, 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 58-27-2760(5); (2) determines the amount of any overcollect…

The review of Initial Orders pursuant to Section 58-27-2780 and Section 58-27-2790 is limited to issues related to compliance with the terms of this article. Matters determined in orders issued pursuant to Section 58-27-2720 are not subject to review except in full rate proceedin…

(A) The Office of Regulatory Staff is authorized to create 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 two positions for each electric utility …

Corporations formed to acquire property or to transact business which would be subject to the provisions of this chapter and corporations possessing franchises, powers or privileges for any of the purposes contemplated by this chapter shall be deemed to be subject to the provisio…

Each electrical utility and, to the extent covered by this title, each electric cooperative and consolidated political subdivision must obey and comply with all requirements of every order, decision, direction, rule, or regulation made or prescribed by the Public Service Commissi…