Requires reporting by the public service commission on consumer protections adopted by electric corporations and municipalities; the adequacy of the public service commissions assistance to customers facing disconnection of utility service.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
666
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. AVELLA -- 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 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 fifteen, 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03373-01-3
S. 666 2
1 payments from customers seeking to connect service or avoid discon-
2 nection;
3 (d) the effectiveness and availability of the commission's shutoff
4 hotline in receiving calls from customers facing termination of elec-
5 tric, gas and steam service and the call volume to such hotline in each
6 utility service territory;
7 (e) the monthly number of electric and natural gas customers who
8 previously received utility bill assistance from the Home Energy Assist-
9 ance Program whose service was terminated for bill collection purposes
10 in each utility service area in the previous calendar year, provided
11 further that the commission shall require each utility to provide such
12 information while maintaining customer confidentiality; and
13 (f) any proposed legislative remedies necessary to increase customer
14 awareness of such hotline.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
