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After a 13-year legal battle that has been to the U.S. Supreme Court and back, Wisconsin customers who overpaid millions of dollars for natural gas nearly two decades ago are about to get their day in court.

During the energy crisis of the early 2000s, natural gas prices soared as a result of what federal authorities determined was price manipulation. As a result, Wisconsin businesses, governments and other organizations that bought gas on the open market overpaid by more than $100 million.

Eight organizations are seeking to recover triple the overpayment or the entire cost of the purchases, which could be as high as $2 billion, as part of a class-action suit that attorney Bob Gegios said could benefit the entire state.

“It’s our view that there’s been a very significant harm in Wisconsin,” Gegios said, noting the money could have been used to pay salaries, fund research and expansion, build schools and roads or lower taxes.

Deregulation in the 1990s had allowed large consumers to buy fuel directly from interstate pipelines and other wholesalers. To determine fair market value, customers relied on privately published price indexes based on information reported by natural gas traders.