Enacts the "disadvantaged communities commitment act"; requires investor-owned energy utilities to collect and publish data on disadvantaged communities in certain service areas and file such statistics with the public service commission.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7556
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring inve-
stor-owned energy utilities to collect and publish data on disadvan-
taged communities in certain service areas
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "disadvantaged communities commitment act".
3 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 28 to
4 read as follows:
5 § 28. Disadvantaged communities. 1. For the purposes of this section:
6 (a) "Investor-owned energy utility" shall mean any gas corporation,
7 electric corporation, or combination gas and electric corporation.
8 (b) "Disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as defined
9 in subdivision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation
10 law.
11 2. The department shall require every investor-owned energy utility
12 publish on its customer facing website, and file with the commission,
13 statistics from the previous year regarding each disadvantaged community
14 by census tract in its service area. Such statistics shall include, but
15 not be limited to, the:
16 (a) number of residential customers who are electric only;
17 (b) number of residential customers who are gas only;
18 (c) number of residential electric and gas customers;
19 (d) number of residential customers enrolled in energy assistance
20 program (EAP);
21 (e) number of residential customers enrolled in home energy assistance
22 program (HEAP);
23 (f) number of residential customers enrolled in budget billing;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00516-01-5
S. 7556 2
1 (g) average amount of arrears amongst residential customers;
2 (h) number of residential customers with active deferred payment
3 agreements; and
4 (i) number of residential customers impacted by any other program
5 designed to provide relief or assistance in paying or lowering their
6 bills.
7 3. (a) Such statistics required in subdivision two of this section
8 shall be published with the commission and remain posted on an inve-
9 stor-owned energy utility's customer facing website three years from the
10 date such statistics are published. Further, such statistics shall be
11 downloadable on an investor-owned energy utility's customer facing
12 website in a comma-separated value (csv) format.
13 (b) Such statistics required in subdivision two of this section shall
14 be posted and filed for the prior calendar year upon the date this
15 section takes effect. No later than January thirty-first and annually
16 thereafter, each investor-owned energy utility shall publish and file
17 such statistics in accordance with this section.
18 4. For each month an investor-owned energy utility is found to be in
19 violation of this section, penalties or sanctions shall be assessed
20 pursuant to section twenty-five or twenty-five-a of this article, as
21 applicable.
22 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
23 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
24 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
25 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
26 on or before such date.
