reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
SC Code § 58-5-380 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-380. Restrictions on interruption of gas service to residential customer for nonpayment of bill; exceptions.

 (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 to any residential customer who has voluntarily enrolled in a prepay program if the prepay program allows the customer to monitor his consumption of natural gas and his account balance on a daily basis and the balance of that customer's prepay account is zero, provided that the following conditions are met: (1) at the time the residential customer enrolls in the prepay program, the residential customer is informed and agrees that his natural gas service may be interrupted when the balance of his prepay account reaches zero; (2) natural gas service must not be interrupted before 10:00 a.m. on the next business day following an attempt by the gas utility to give the customer notice of the impending interruption by telephone or electronically; and (3) service must not be interrupted except during hours when the gas utility, or an agent, is accepting cash payments.  (C) A prepay program established by a gas utility shall be subject to approval by the commission prior to implementation. Any interruption of natural gas service under an approved prepay program shall be governed by the terms of this section and the provisions of the prepay account agreement. A prepay program approved by the commission under this subsection must allow the utility to interrupt service when the balance of the customer's prepay account is zero and the conditions set out in subsection (B) are met. Upon a showing of good cause, the commission may allow alternative compliance with the requirement of subsection (B) regarding the ability of the customer to monitor his consumption and account balance on a daily basis, if such compliance provides consumer information and protections similar to that required in subsection (B).  (D) Nothing contained herein shall be construed so as to relieve a gas utility of the requirements of Act 313 of 2006.  (E) Any person aggrieved by a violation of this section may petition the courts of this State for redress in accordance with applicable law.  HISTORY: 1983 Act No. 138 Section 22, eff June 15, 1983; 2010 Act No. 258, Section 1, eff June 11, 2010.
SC Code § 58-5-390 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-390. Tap fees for installation and maintenance of fire sprinkler system; exception.

 (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 system.  (B) For purposes of this section, actual costs include direct labor, direct material, the necessity of increased capacity, and other direct charges associated with the separate fire sprinkler line. The direct costs must be documented by either an invoice or work order that specifically assigns the costs to the separate fire sprinkler line. Nothing in this section may be construed as requiring a utility to provide service to support a private fire protection system.  (C) Nothing in this section 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, county, or regional transportation authority as defined in Chapter 25 of this title or their agencies.  HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 357, Section 1, eff June 25, 2008; 2010 Act No. 232, Section 3, eff June 7, 2010.
SC Code § 58-5-400 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-400. Citation of article.

 This article may be cited as the "Natural Gas Rate Stabilization Act".  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-410 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-410. Election to come under article.

 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 and on the same day and by the same means serving a copy on the Office of Regulatory Staff. Upon receipt of notice of the election, the commission shall proceed to make the findings and establish the ongoing procedures required for adjustments in base rates to be made under this article. In carrying out the procedures established by this article with respect to such an election, the commission shall rely upon and utilize the approved rates, charges, revenues, expenses, capital structure, returns, and other matters established in the public utility's most recent general rate proceeding pursuant to Section 58-5-240; provided, however, that the most recent order must have been issued no more than five years prior to the initial election to come under the terms of this article. A public utility may combine an election under this article with the filing of a rate proceeding pursuant to Section 58-5-240 and the commission shall include the findings required by this article in its rate orders issued in the Section 58-5-240 proceedings, and the election shall remain in effect until the next general rate proceeding.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-415 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-415. Duration of election; withdrawal of request to come under article.

 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 to continue the applicability of this article to its rates and charges or elect to opt out of the provisions of this article. The applicant may withdraw its request to come under the terms of this article at any time before the entry of a final order of the commission on the merits of the proceeding in which the election is made or on a petition for rehearing in the proceeding.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-420 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-420. Contents of order.

 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 points (0.50 percentage points) below and fifty basis points (0.50 percentage points) above the cost of equity on which rates have been set; and  (2) the commission separately shall state the amount of the utility's net plant in service, construction work in progress, accumulated deferred income taxes, inventory, working capital, and other rate base components. It also shall state the utility's depreciation expense, operating and maintenance expense, income taxes, taxes other than income taxes, other components of income for return, revenues, capital structure, cost of debt, overall cost of capital, and earned return on common equity. The figures stated shall be those which the commission has determined to be the appropriate basis on which rates were set in the applicable orders.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-430 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-430. Monitoring reports; schedule and contents.

 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 following the close of the period. The utility shall serve a copy of such reports on the Office of Regulatory Staff on the same day and by the same means as they are provided to the commission. These quarterly monitoring reports shall include the following:  (1) the utility's actual net plant in service, construction work in progress, accumulated deferred income taxes, inventory, working capital, and other rate base components. The report shall also show the utility's depreciation expense, operating and maintenance expense, income taxes, taxes other than income taxes, other components of income for return, revenues, capital structure, cost of debt, overall cost of capital, and earned return on common equity;  (2) all applicable accounting and pro-forma adjustments historically permitted or required by the commission for the utility in question, or for similarly situated utilities, or authorized by general principles of utility accounting, or authorized by accounting letters or orders issued by the commission. This authorization may occur either in a general rate hearing or in any other type of filing or hearing that the commission considers appropriate. However, other parties shall be given sufficient opportunity to review and provide comments on any proposed accounting letter or order issued after the initial order allowing future base rate adjustments pursuant to this article;  (3) pro-forma adjustments to annualize for the twelve-month period any rate adjustments imposed pursuant to this article or other events affecting only part of the period covered by the filing so that the annualization is required to show the effects of those events on the utility's earnings going forward; and  (4) pro-forma or other adjustments required to properly account for atypical, unusual, or nonrecurring events.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-440 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-440. March report; additional schedules.

 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 order, the utility shall calculate the reduction in revenue required to lower its return on equity to the midpoint of the range established in the order; or  (2) if the utility's earnings are below the lower range established in the order, the utility shall calculate the additional revenue required to increase its return on equity to the midpoint of the range established in the order.  The utility also shall provide a schedule that specifies changes in its tariff rates required to achieve any indicated change in revenue.  The proposed rate changes, filed by the utility, shall conform as nearly as is practicable with the revenue allocation principles contained in the most recent rate order.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-450 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-450. Review of reports; proposed tariff rate adjustments.

 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 58-5-430 and 58-5-440. The Office of Regulatory Staff shall propose those adjustments it determines to be required to bring the report into compliance with Section 58-5-440. Based upon that report and the findings of any audit conducted by the Office of Regulatory Staff, the commission shall order the utility to make the adjustments to tariff rates necessary to achieve the revenue levels indicated in Section 58-5-440.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-455 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-455. Rate adjustment request and implementation procedure; notice to and comments by interested parties; issuance of Initial Order; when adjustments take effect.

 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 mail or electronically transmit copies to any interested parties who have requested in writing to receive them.  (2) Interested parties shall be allowed until July fifteenth to file comments in writing to the commission and the Office of Regulatory Staff concerning the monitoring report.  (3) In cases where the monitoring report indicates rate adjustments are required, or where it otherwise appears to the commission or the Office of Regulatory Staff that an adjustment in rates may be warranted under this article, the Office of Regulatory Staff shall conduct an audit of the monitoring report and specify any changes that the Office of Regulatory Staff determines to be necessary to correct errors in the report or to otherwise bring the report into compliance with this article. The Office of Regulatory Staff's audit reports shall be provided to the commission and to the utility and made available to all interested parties no later than September first.  (4) Interested parties shall be allowed until September fifteenth to file written comments with the commission and the Office of Regulatory Staff related to the Office of Regulatory Staff's audit report and shall simultaneously mail or electronically transmit copies of these comments to the utility and to all parties who previously appeared and filed comments.  (5) On or before October fifteenth the commission shall issue an initial order setting forth any changes required in the utility's request to adjust rates under this article (the "Initial Order"). In the absence of such an Initial Order, the gas rate adjustment contained in the utility's filing shall be considered to be granted as filed.  (6) Any gas rate adjustments authorized under the terms of this article shall take effect for all bills rendered on or after the first billing cycle of November of that year.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-460 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-460. Petition for review of Initial Order or failure to issue order; hearing.

 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 or failure to issue an order and all interested parties of record shall have a right to be heard at an evidentiary hearing on the matter. The party shall serve a copy of such petition on the Office of Regulatory Staff on the same day and by the same means as it is provided to the commission.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-465 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-465. Final order; contents; deadline for issuance.

 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 undercollection by the utility that resulted from collection of the rates authorized in the Initial Order as compared to the rates authorized in the final order issued under this section; and  (3) establishes a credit to refund the amount of any overcollection, or a surcharge to collect the amount of any undercollection that arose during the time that the rates approved in the Initial Order were collected, and requires the utility to apply the credit or surcharge until such time as the overcollection or undercollection is exhausted.  The commission shall issue any final order required under this section by April fifteenth of the year following the year in which the monitoring report was filed. The order shall make the corrected rates and the credit or surcharge, if any, effective as of the first billing cycle of May of that year.  The provisions of Sections 58-5-330 and 58-5-340 concerning rehearing and appeal shall apply to the orders issued pursuant to this section.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-470 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-470. Review of Initial Orders; scope; rule to show cause why full rate proceeding should not be initiated.

 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 to Section 58-5-240. Any proceedings pursuant to this article are without prejudice to the right of the commission to issue, or any interested party to request issuance of, a rule to show cause why a full rate proceeding should not be initiated, nor does this article limit the right of a utility to file an application pursuant to Section 58-5-240 for an adjustment to its rates and charges, nor does it impose the restrictions on filings contained in Section 58-5-240(F).  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-480 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-480. Office of Regulatory staffing; assessments for staffing costs.

 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 pursuant to this article may be authorized. All salaries, benefits, expenses, and charges incurred by the Office of Regulatory Staff for these positions must be borne by the natural gas utilities regulated pursuant to this article.  On or before the first day of July in each year, the Department of Revenue must assess each natural gas utility regulated pursuant to this article an equal portion of these salaries, benefits, expenses, and charges on the thirtieth day of June preceding that on which the assessment is made which is due and payable on or before July fifteenth. The assessments must be charged against the natural gas utilities by the Department of Revenue and collected by the department in the manner provided by law for the collection of taxes from the natural gas utilities, including the enforcement and collection provisions of Article 1, Chapter 54 of Title 12 and paid, less the Department of Revenue actual incremental increase in the cost of administration into the state treasury as other taxes collected by the Department of Revenue for the State. These assessments are in addition to any amounts assessed pursuant to Section 58-4-60. These assessments must be deposited in a special fund with the State Treasurer's Office from which the salaries, benefits, expenses, and charges shall be paid.  The Office of Regulatory Staff must annually certify to the Department of Revenue on or before May first the amounts to be assessed.  HISTORY: 2005 Act No. 16, Section 1, eff February 16, 2005.
SC Code § 58-5-710 (2021)
2021 South Carolina Code of Laws|Title 58 - Public Utilities, Services and Carriers|Chapter 5 - Gas, Heat, Water, Sewerage Collection And Disposal, And Street Railway Companies|Section 58-5-710. Issuance of order to provide adequate and proper service; fine or penalty; lien on property of utility.

 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 before the commission on proper notice and show cause why that utility should not be required to take steps as are necessary to provide adequate and proper service to its customers. If the commission upon hearing determines that the service is not being provided, it shall issue an order requiring the utility to take steps as are necessary to the provision of the service within a reasonable time as prescribed by the commission. Upon failure of the utility to provide the service within the time prescribed without cause or excuse, as shall be determined by the commission, the commission shall impose a penalty or fine against the utility in an amount not less than one hundred dollars per day but not more than one thousand dollars per day. Each day the failure or noncompliance continues shall be considered a separate and distinct breach or violation of the order. Any fine or penalty so imposed or assessed by the commission, upon proper filing in the appropriate county office or offices, constitutes a lien upon the properties and assets of the utility in like manner and form as any other judgment at law. Any fine or penalty so imposed by the commission shall go into the general fund of the State, unless otherwise provided by law.  HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 58-148; 1969 (56) 244; 1999 Act No. 22, Section 1, eff June 1, 1999; 2006 Act No. 318, Section 17, eff May 24, 2006.