South Carolina · statute · S.C. Code tit. 58, ch. 5 · 62 active provisions
When used in Articles 1, 3, and 5 of this chapter: (1) The term "commission" means the Public Service Commission. (2) The term "corporation" includes joint stock companies, corporations, associations and commissions and boards, whether public or private, having any powers or privileges not possessed by individuals or p…
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 business or pursuit.
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 regional transportation authority as defi…
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 commission.
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 Office of Regulatory Staff as to such sale of…
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 corporation, whether public, private or mun…
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 the streets or public places of such munic…
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 standards, classifications, regulations, practic…
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 accounts for each class; and (c) prescri…
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 of the notice period, then file with th…
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 in writing, setting forth any act or th…
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 service, product or commodity, or that…
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 commission to parties desiring it and s…
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 upon the public utility affected, have the…
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 the judgment of the commission sufficient…
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. No order of determination of 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 receive a greater amount than that fixed by t…
(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 volun…
(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, a…
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 and on the same day and by the same means…
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 ar…