Directs the department of public service to prepare written reports on the effect the COVID-19 state of emergency has on certain utilities of electric, gas, water, wastewater, and telephone service to commercial and residential customers in the state and on the affordability of services.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7554--B
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL, L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT directing the department of public service to prepare a written
report on the affordability of utility services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. In response to the
2 COVID-19 pandemic, chapters 108 and 126 of the laws of 2020 were adopted
3 to ensure that New Yorkers would not be deprived of gas, electric, water
4 service, helping households follow the vital state policy of "sheltering
5 in place." The moratorium prohibited termination of utility services at
6 a pivotal moment when it became evident that sanitary conditions were
7 required to combat the COVID-19 virus and keep New Yorkers safe and
8 healthy, especially seniors and the medically vulnerable. The legisla-
9 ture finds and declares that it is unknown to the state the number of
10 New Yorkers who had their services terminated or disconnected during the
11 pandemic. The legislature finds that many utility customers rely on
12 continuous service for heat, water, and electricity to power necessary
13 equipment, such as life-saving health care devices and other New Yorkers
14 require cooling during extreme heat conditions and heat during extreme
15 cold conditions, particularly when congregate care cooling and heating
16 facilities are not safe for use by medically vulnerable households. The
17 legislature finds that the state requires comprehensive data concerning
18 New Yorkers' ability to afford utility service, including the number of
19 New Yorkers who had their services terminated or who are currently at
20 risk of termination during the pandemic. The legislature finds that this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03808-16-2
A. 7554--B 2
1 data is critical to ascertain the effectiveness of the moratorium and
2 other COVID-19 consumer protections, as well as the disruptive effects
3 that the pandemic has had on utility customers' finances, and utility
4 finances and services, and the public health, safety and welfare of
5 millions of medically and financially vulnerable citizens. The legisla-
6 ture also finds that the permanent collection and reporting of utility
7 data is imperative to gain regular updates on and evaluate trends
8 concerning the scale and extent of terminations and utility debt across
9 the state, so that evidence-based policy can be properly crafted there-
10 after.
11 § 2. 1. As used in this act:
12 a. "Assistance program" shall mean any program offered to eligible
13 low-income customers to assist with the costs of electricity, gas, and
14 water, including but not limited to the low-income home energy assist-
15 ance program, any low-income affordability plans as provided by public
16 service commission case number 14-M-0565, and/or any other financial
17 assistance program provided through or by New York state or individual
18 utilities, counties or municipalities.
19 b. "COVID-19 state of emergency" shall mean the state disaster emer-
20 gency declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020.
21 c. "Commission" shall mean the public service commission.
22 d. "Municipality" shall have the same meaning as subdivision 16 of
23 section 2 of the public service law and shall include potable water
24 districts and potable water systems owned and/or operated by a city,
25 town, village, authority or other governmental subdivision.
26 e. "Utility" shall mean a municipality, utility corporation, steam
27 corporation, water-works corporation, an electric corporation as defined
28 in subdivision 13 of section 2 of the public service law, a gas corpo-
29 ration as defined in subdivision 11 of section 2 of the public service
30 law, a combination gas and electric corporation as defined in subdivi-
31 sion 14 of section 2 of the public service law, a steam corporation as
32 defined in subdivision 22 of section 2 of the public service law and any
33 other community water system as defined in 10 NYCRR § 5-1.1.
34 f. "Utility corporation" shall have the same meaning as subdivisions
35 23 and 24 of section 2 of the public service law.
36 g. "Water-works corporation" shall have the same meaning as subdivi-
37 sion 27 of section 2 of the public service law.
38 2. a. Every utility shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the public
39 service commission for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of this
40 act pursuant to sections 24, 25 and 26 of the public service law. The
41 commission shall adjudicate complaints and conduct investigations for
42 violation of this act in the manner provided by the provisions of arti-
43 cle 2 of the public service law.
44 b. Within 180 days after the effective date of this act, the commis-
45 sion shall prepare and submit to the governor and the legislature a
46 written report that shall make findings and recommendations concerning
47 the affordability of electric, gas, and water services to commercial and
48 residential customers in this state. An updated report shall be submit-
49 ted one year after the commission has submitted such initial report to
50 the governor and legislature. Without unreasonably exposing consumer
51 personally identifiable information in a manner that violates public
52 service law and public service commission practice or federal law, the
53 reports shall include but not be limited to the following, with all
54 information to be broken down by utility, type of service provided,
55 month, customer class and county:
A. 7554--B 3
1 (1) the number of customers and how that number compares to the previ-
2 ous year's number of customers on the same month and day;
3 (2) the number of disconnection notices sent due to non-payment,
4 disconnections due to non-payment, reconnections of customers that were
5 disconnected for non-payment, and how those numbers compare to the
6 previous year on the same month and day;
7 (3) the number of liens on real property placed, sold, or enforced due
8 to non-payment, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on
9 the same month and day, if applicable;
10 (4) the number of customers in arrears by 1-90 days, 90-180 days, and
11 greater than 180 days at the end of each month, the total dollar amount
12 of arrears, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on the
13 same month and day. Provided, however, that a utility or municipality
14 may petition the commission, in a form and manner to be determined by
15 the commission, to allow such utility or municipality to provide such
16 data in an alternative format if the specificity set forth in this act
17 cannot be obtained from an existing utility information technology
18 system and such data would result in the increase of customer utility
19 bills;
20 (5) the number of customers that became eligible for disconnection due
21 to bill non-payment but were not disconnected because of any legally
22 mandated or voluntary suspension of disconnections due to the COVID-19
23 state of emergency, or for any other statutory, regulatory or voluntary
24 reason irrespective of the COVID-19 emergency, or such other states of
25 emergency as may follow the end of the COVID-19 emergency;
26 (6) the number of customers enrolled in deferred payment agreements at
27 the end of each month;
28 (7) the number of customers that entered into, successfully completed,
29 or defaulted from a deferred payment agreement, and how those numbers
30 compare to the previous year on the same month and day;
31 (8) available customer assistance programs, including terms of eligi-
32 bility, and any enhancements to the programs that have been made or
33 are planned to address actual or anticipated increased demand;
34 (9) the number of customers that applied for financial assistance
35 under each applicable assistance program, and how those numbers compare
36 to the previous year on the same month and day;
37 (10) the number of customers receiving assistance under each assist-
38 ance program at the end of each month, the total dollar amount of
39 assistance provided for arrears, the total dollar amount of assistance
40 provided for current or future bills and the average amount per custom-
41 er, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on the same month
42 and day;
43 (11) the number of customers charged late fees, penalties, recon-
44 nection fees, interest, and any other charge associated with late
45 payment of a bill;
46 (12) the total dollar amount of late fees, penalties, interest, recon-
47 nection fees and any other charge associated with late payment per
48 customer, the average and median dollar amount billed to customer
49 accounts and the average and median utility usage per customer account;
50 (13) the methods and contents of general communications by utilities
51 to customer accounts concerning their rights and available assistance
52 programs, excluding any customer-specific communications; and
53 (14) the commission's assessment of whether existing customer assist-
54 ance programs are presently and will in the future be sufficient to meet
55 the financial needs of customer accounts in arrears who are unable to
A. 7554--B 4
1 pay those arrears in full, as well as the needs of customer accounts who
2 may be unable to pay bills for current service.
3 c. Following the commission's submission of the reports to the gover-
4 nor and legislature such reports shall be posted on the commission's
5 website and be subject to 30 days of public comment on affordability
6 from the date of the submission to the governor and the legislature. The
7 commission shall provide meaningful opportunities for public comment
8 from all persons who will be impacted by findings of the commission,
9 including persons living in disadvantaged communities and in rural
10 communities across the state in entirety. Within 90 days of the
11 submission of the initial report, the commission shall conduct at least
12 five public hearings in different regions of the state, as defined
13 by the empire state development corporation, and provide meaningful
14 opportunity for comment. The public hearings may be held virtually.
15 d. Each utility shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this
16 act, submit to the commission, in a form and manner determined by the
17 commission, the information required pursuant to paragraph b of this
18 subdivision. Six months after the submission of the initial report to
19 the governor and legislature, each utility shall submit to the commis-
20 sion, in a form and manner determined by the commission, the information
21 required pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision. Each utility shall
22 publish on its website the data it reports pursuant to this paragraph,
23 simultaneously with submission of the data to the commission.
24 3. If the data required by this act cannot reasonably be obtained from
25 an existing utility information technology system without an increase in
26 customer utility bills, a utility or municipality may petition the
27 commission, in a form and manner to be determined by the commission, to
28 provide the required data in an alternative format.
29 4. The commission shall publish on its website the reports required
30 pursuant to subdivision two of this section, simultaneously with the
31 submission of each report. The reports shall include the information
32 required pursuant to this section in a spreadsheet format.
33 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
34 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of
35 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
36 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in
37 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
38 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
39 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
40 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such
41 invalid provisions had not been included herein.
42 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
