STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8012 IN SENATE January 5, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to the finality of certain utility charges and the contents of utility bills; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public service law relating to the finality of certain utility charges and the contents of utility bills, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4234-A and A. 4055-A, in relation to the effectiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 41 of the public service law, as 2 amended by a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public service 3 law relating to the finality of certain utility charges and the contents 4 of utility bills, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4234-A and 5 A. 4055-A, is amended to read as follows: 6 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, [no] if a utility 7 corporation or municipality [shall charge] does not render a residential 8 customer for gas or electric service [which was rendered more than two], 9 with the exception of a seasonal or short-term customer as defined by 10 rule of the commission, a monthly bill for gas and/or electric services 11 used by such customer during that monthly period, or, in the case of 12 bi-monthly meter reads, during that month and the prior month, within 13 three months [prior to the mailing of the first bill to the customer for 14 such service unless] from the end date of such monthly billing period, 15 then, such residential customer shall not be charged for such gas and 16 electric services which were not billed to the customer as provided 17 herein, unless the failure of the corporation or municipality to bill 18 sooner was not due to the neglect of the corporation or municipality or 19 was due to the culpable conduct of the customer. If the customer remains 20 liable for such service, the utility shall permit payments to be made 21 under an installment payment plan, provided, however, that the utility 22 or municipality may require prompt payment if the non-billing resulted 23 from the culpable conduct of the customer. Any such installment payment EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04105-06-4
S. 8012 2 1 plan may provide for a downpayment of up to one-half of the amounts due 2 from the customer, or three months average billing, whichever is less. 3 § 2. Section 41-a of the public service law, as added by a chapter of 4 the laws of 2023 amending the public service law relating to the finali- 5 ty of certain utility charges and the contents of utility bills, as 6 proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4234-A and A. 4055-A, is renum- 7 bered section 66-w and is amended to read as follows: 8 § 66-w. Finality of charges; small non-residential customers. 9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law[, no utility corporation or 10 municipality shall charge a non-residential customer for gas or electric 11 service which was rendered more than two months prior to the mailing of 12 the first bill to the customer for such service unless the failure of 13 the corporation or municipality to bill sooner was not due to the negli- 14 gence or neglect of the corporation or municipality or was due to the 15 culpable conduct of the customer] if a utility corporation or munici- 16 pality does not render a small non-residential customer for gas or elec- 17 tric service, with the exception of a seasonal or short-term customer as 18 defined by rule of the commission, a monthly bill for gas and/or elec- 19 tric services used by such customer during that monthly period, or, in 20 the case of bi-monthly meter reads, during that month and the prior 21 month, within three months from the end date of such monthly billing 22 period, then, such small non-residential customer shall not be charged 23 for such gas and electric services which were not billed to the customer 24 as provided herein, unless the failure of the corporation or munici- 25 pality to bill sooner was not due to the neglect of the corporation or 26 municipality or was due to the culpable conduct of the customer. The 27 commission shall promulgate regulations necessary to effectuate the 28 purposes of this section. For the purposes of this section, "small non- 29 residential customer" means non-residential electric customers that are 30 non-demand billed customers and non-residential gas customers that use 31 less than or equal to 750 dekatherms per year. Such term shall not 32 include street lighting accounts. 33 § 3. Subdivision 7 of section 44 of the public service law, as added 34 by a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public service law relat- 35 ing to the finality of certain utility charges and the contents of util- 36 ity bills, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 4234-A and A. 37 4055-A, is amended to read as follows: 38 7. [As] Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as part of every 39 billing statement, [the] any utility corporation [or municipality] that 40 serves more than fifteen thousand customers in the state shall provide 41 [both in graph and written form, for the prior two years of the customer 42 or the prior customers at the same address, the monthly usage of the 43 customer, the monthly unit charges for usage, and the monthly billing 44 charge amount to the customer. This requirement shall apply to both 45 residential and non-residential customers] the average daily usage per 46 month or the monthly usage at the customer's address for the prior thir- 47 teen months. Additionally, notwithstanding any conflicting provision of 48 law, upon request by the customer, such utility corporation shall 49 provide monthly billing charge amounts at such customer's address for 50 the thirteen months prior to the current billing period, no later than 51 thirty days after such request is made. 52 § 4. Section 4 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the public 53 service law relating to the finality of certain utility charges and the 54 contents of utility bills, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 55 4234-A and A. 4055-A, is amended to read as follows:
S. 8012 3 1 § 4. This act shall take effect on the [first of January next succeed- 2 ing the date upon which] one hundred eightieth day after it shall have 3 become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 4 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 5 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 6 on or before such effective date. 7 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 8 sections one, two, and three of this act shall take effect on the same 9 date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending 10 the public service law relating to the finality of certain utility 11 charges and the contents of utility bills, as proposed in legislative 12 bills numbers S. 4234-A and A. 4055-A, takes effect.