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A07778 Summary:

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A07778 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7778
 
                               2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                      May 16, 2011
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  LINARES,  SIMOTAS,  CAHILL  -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Energy
 
        AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring report-
          ing by the public service commission on consumer  protections  adopted
          by electric corporations and municipalities
 

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 32 of the public service law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
     3    7. The commission shall, not later than November fifteenth, two  thou-
     4  sand  twelve,  and  at  least  once  annually thereafter, provide to the
     5  governor, the temporary president of the  senate,  the  speaker  of  the
     6  assembly,  the  chair of the senate committee on energy and telecommuni-
     7  cations and the chair of the  assembly  committee  on  energy  a  report
     8  detailing  consumer  protections  adopted  by  electric corporations and
     9  municipalities ("utilities") pursuant to this article, and the  adequacy

    10  of  the  commission's  assistance  to  customers facing disconnection of
    11  utility service. The report shall include, but  not  be  limited  to  an
    12  analysis of:
    13    (a)  the  effectiveness  of  current  utility procedures for notifying
    14  customers in arrears on utility charges of how  they  may  avoid  termi-
    15  nation  of electric, gas or steam service, including the availability of
    16  deferred payment agreements;
    17    (b) the adequacy of the commission's assistance to customers negotiat-
    18  ing deferred payment agreements with utilities in lieu of  disconnection
    19  of  service,  including  the amount of deferred payment plans by utility
    20  service territory;
    21    (c) the number of incidences, if any, in which utilities have required

    22  more than the lawfully  allowed  level  of  down  payments  or  deferred
    23  payments  from  customers  seeking  to  connect service or avoid discon-
    24  nection;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11688-01-1
        A. 7778                             2
 
     1    (d) the effectiveness and availability  of  the  commission's  shutoff
     2  hotline  in  receiving  calls from customers facing termination of elec-
     3  tric, gas and steam service and the call volume to such hotline in  each
     4  utility service territory;
     5    (e)  the  monthly  number  of  electric  and natural gas customers who

     6  previously received utility bill assistance from the Home Energy Assist-
     7  ance Program whose service was terminated for bill  collection  purposes
     8  in  each  utility  service  area in the previous calendar year, provided
     9  further that the commission shall require each utility to  provide  such
    10  information while maintaining customer confidentiality; and
    11    (f)  any  proposed legislative remedies necessary to increase customer
    12  awareness of such hotline.
    13    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.