Letter: SCE&G billing practice must be stopped

During warmer than normal winters, SCE&G has been charging customers for gas they could not sell. They apply these charges over the months of November to March and have been doing this since 1991. The South Carolina Public Service Commission gave SCE&G permission that entitled them to to charge customers for non-usage.

They call it “Winter Normalization Adjustment,” and I doubt that new residents to move here in recent years would be aware of this charge. When the winter is warmer than normal, SCE&G adds a variable monetary charge to customers’ bills — over and above actual usage — to make up the “lost income” for gas not sold.

SCE&G’s web page states that they depend on this unearned income to pay for operating expenses, materials and maintenance. This is money derived from non-sale of gas to pay for normal expenses associated with the sale of gas. This income results not from a sale but from an assessment to which they have been entitled by the Public Service Commission.

It is time for the South Carolina Public Service Commission to review and rescind this outdated, questionable practice.

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Letter: SCE&G billing practice must be stopped."