Permits the rendering of an estimated bill from a utility corporation or municipality under certain circumstances; requires each utility corporation and municipality within six months to submit to the commission a model procedure for the calculation of estimated bills that incorporates best practices and technology and accounts for any barriers to the use of actual meter readings.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1851--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sens. HINCHEY, LIU, MURRAY, ROLISON -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Energy and Telecommunications -- reported favorably from said commit-
tee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading,
passed by Senate and delivered to the Assembly, recalled, vote recon-
sidered, restored to third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading -- recommitted to
the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications in accordance with
Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to permitting the
rendering of an estimated bill from a utility corporation or munici-
pality under certain circumstances
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 39 of the public service law, as
2 amended by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, is amended and a new subdi-
3 vision 1-a is added to read as follows:
4 1. A utility corporation or municipality may, in accordance with such
5 requirements as the commission may impose by regulation, render an esti-
6 mated bill for any billing period if: (a) the procedure used by such
7 utility or municipality for calculating estimated bills has been
8 approved by the commission, and the bill clearly indicates that it is
9 based on an estimated reading and (b) the utility owning the meter and
10 providing the meter reading data on which the estimated bill will be
11 based or the municipality has made reasonable effort to obtain an actual
12 meter reading or (c) circumstances beyond the control of the utility or
13 municipality made an actual reading of the meter extremely difficult or
14 (d) circumstances indicate a reported reading is likely to be erroneous,
15 or (e) an estimated reading is prescribed or authorized by the commis-
16 sion for a billing period between periods when actual meter readings are
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02154-06-4
S. 1851--B 2
1 scheduled or for seasonal or short term customers. Outside of the
2 aforementioned criteria for estimated billing pursuant to this section,
3 all other bills shall use actual meter readings, however such readings
4 may be obtained, provided that such readings are taken in accordance
5 with the provisions of this section. To the extent practicable, any
6 additional costs required to achieve actual meter readings pursuant to
7 this subdivision shall not be passed onto the customer.
8 1-a. The commission shall require each utility corporation and munici-
9 pality within six months after the effective date of this subdivision to
10 submit to the commission a model procedure for the calculation of esti-
11 mated bills that incorporates best practices and technology and accounts
12 for any barriers to the use of actual meter readings. On or before
13 November first, two thousand twenty-five, the commission shall promul-
14 gate rules and regulations to incorporate and adopt such model proce-
15 dures for utility corporations and municipalities.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
