Ohio § 4933.28

§ 4933.28.

(A) Whenever a gas, natural gas, or electric light company operated for profit or not

for profit has undercharged any residential customer as the result of a meter or metering

inaccuracy or other continuing problem under its control, the company may only bill

the customer for the amount of the unmetered gas or electricity rendered in the three

hundred sixty-five days immediately prior to the date the company remedies the meter

inaccuracy.  The maximum portion of the undercharge for unmetered gas or electricity rendered

that may be recovered from the customer in any billing month shall be determined by

dividing the amount of the undercharge by twelve and the quotient is the maximum portion

of the undercharge that the company may, subject to division (C) of this section,

recover from the customer in any billing month, in addition to either regular monthly

charges of any type or regular level payment amounts billed in accordance with an

agreement between the customer and the company.  Subject to division (C) of this section, the time period over which the undercharge

may be collected shall be twelve consecutive months. (B) No company shall recover any interest charge, service charge, or fee, whether or

not a percentage is utilized for its computation, for billings made pursuant to this

section. (C) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the customer from paying an

undercharge or any portion thereof in a time shorter than that stated in this section.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a gas, natural gas, or electric

light company from collecting an undercharge or any portion thereof in a time longer

than that stated in this section. (D) A gas, natural gas, or electric light company may not collect any amount otherwise

permitted to be collected under this section unless the company, in the first bill

the purpose of which is to collect the amount for unmetered gas or electric service,

states the entire amount that it seeks to collect. (E) No gas, natural gas, or electric light company that is required to follow this section

in order to collect an undercharge from a customer may shut off the service of the

customer except for safety reasons, except in the event of a request by the customer,

and except to enforce a shut-off provision in its filed tariffs with the public utilities

commission that is triggered by nonpayment by a customer of a lawfully owing past

due amount. (F) This section does not apply to any act that is a theft offense, as defined in section 2913.01 of the Revised Code , and that involves 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 measurement of the gas or electricity rendered.