COLUMBIA -- A bill designed to protect the elderly and disabled from power disconnections during the extremes of winter or summer also has a provision to protect utilities from lawsuits.

Some House members want the clause removed, and the issue has postponed a final vote on the bill until next week.

"What we're talking about is limiting the civil justice rights of people who might be entitled to them," said Rep. James Smith, a Columbia Democrat and attorney who has asked that the legislation be reconsidered.

The bill would limit any liability on the part of utilities following the bill's rules so that they would only pay actual damages not to exceed $200,000.

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Rep. Harry Cato, a Travelers Rest Republican who chairs the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, said he supports protecting the utilities.

"The thing that gets lost in the shuffle sometimes is that we're talking about cutting off service for lack of payment," Cato said.

"If I go to James Smith as an attorney and I don't pay him, I don't think he's going to give me service. I think the utilities deserve some limited liability if they go through all these hoops we're asking them to."

Smith said the utilities will get a better deal under the bill than the state, whose general lawsuit protection is limited to $300,000.

The bill also prevents customers from using rules in the bill as a basis of a lawsuit, which Smith says he has no problems with.

He said the lawsuit cap provision is "overreaching" and that many members of the House had no idea the bill contained the clause when they voted Tuesday to approve it.

"It's a little insidious, I would say, the way this has developed," he said. "It wasn't part of the explanation. Something like this could have gone through with 99 percent of this body not knowing what they voted on and I have a real problem with that."

The House will take up the matter next week. Smith hopes the body will remove the clause before sending it to the Senate, which also must approve the legislation.

Tim Pettit, a spokesman for Duke Power, said the utility has no opinion about the limited liability clause.

"To this point, our review of that legislation has focused on the operational aspects, and we support the intent of the bill to provide that uniform safety net," he said.

The bill creates special protections for those 65 and older, disabled or seriously ill and poor. Utilities would have to notify the customer and, if requested, a friend or relative multiple times before service could be disconnected.

Power couldn't be turned off in winter months under the if the average low temperature is forecast to be 32 or below in the next 48 hours or if the forecast low is 20 degrees or less.

Lawmakers crafted the bill following the death of 89-year-old Elizabeth Verdin of Greenville, who died of hypothermia in December 2004 after her power was disconnected for nonpayment.

Customers still have to pay their bills under the legislation. But utilities cannot shut off power during extreme temperatures.

Utility crews would be required under the bill to make a "good faith" effort to make personal contact with any special needs customer, the account holder or a representative before they could disconnect the power when the temperatures aren't extreme, under the legislation.

The bill requires that utilities accept the bill's requirements or submit their own plan by Sept. 1 to the state Office of Regulatory Staff, the agency that represents consumers' interests in utility regulatory matters. If the agency rejects the utility's proposal, the utility must operate under the bill's regulations, according to the legislation.