The logic here is simply one of paracticality. If the utility were to have a cost of X % for funds today, any judge or jury would have to say that, under ANY circumstance, this would be ballpark that would not overstate fair cost of money anytrime during the process. Practically speaking, this would be a possible fast way to get an acceptible settlement.Notice, I said acceptible, not equitable. Also, after a figure for the accumulated overcharges is reached, if operating funds were short, the utility would have to borrow the funds at today's rate, so asking for that amount of compensation is more than reasonable.

My corporate tax attorney is an ex-IRS agent and charges $250.00 per hour. For a person of advanced age and (I assume) limited income, this is one approach this guy and I discussed after reading your first post months ago. Large utilities and other corporations sometimes will fight and delay making settlements in the hopes that complaintants will give up, die or run out of money.

What I suggested is not the fairest settlement but one with a fair chance of a quick settlement. It's a practical one.

We switched to DSL recently, and I forgot to change my email contact on the zone. You're sure welcome to contact my via my cell...859-948-4687. I'll update my address when I get back to the office later this week.

If you have an estimate of total overcharges, an estimate of total payments or an estimate of the percentage of overcharges, I can access an actuarial table to give you a "best guess" as to a total settlement amount, based on the outlined approach.

The attorney here is asking what the offer (if any) has been from the utility.

I'd call the local paper and see if there is interest in a human interest story. That may help make the utility want to settle quickly.

When dealing with large organizations with well-funded legal departments, fairness sometimes gives way to what's feasible.

If this were to happen to me, I sue the hell out of them. I'd start with the Consumer protection division of the Attorney General's office and pay whatever it takes to embarass them.

This kind of stuff really get's to me, but that is probably not the right choice or approach for "practical" people.

Best of luck, however you proceed.

Russ