Bill Text: NJ A4817 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires electric and gas public utilities to establish "Energy Bill Watch" program and include certain information in bills and notices to customers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-09-19 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A4817 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4817-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblywoman HEATHER SIMMONS
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblyman CODY D. MILLER
District 4 (Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires electric and gas public utilities to establish "Energy Bill Watch" program and include certain information in bills and notices to customers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning electric and gas public utilities and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Electric public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that distributes electricity to end users within this State.
"Gas public utility" means a public utility, as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13, that distributes gas to end users within this State.
"Smart meter" means a metering device that employs smart meter technology to measure, record, and transmit utility usage data to both a public utility and a customer for billing and other purposes. "Smart meter" shall include a basic hourly interval meter, a meter with one-way communication, and a real-time meter with built-in, two-way communication capable of recording and transmitting instantaneous utility usage data.
"Smart meter customer" means a customer of an electric or gas public utility whose electricity or gas usage is measured using a smart meter.
2. a. No later than 90 days following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), each electric public utility and each gas public utility that uses smart meters to record customers' electricity or gas usage information shall establish a program, which program shall be called "Energy Bill Watch," to notify a smart meter customer when the customer's electricity or gas usage exceeds certain thresholds as provided in subsection b. of this section.
b. Under an "Energy Bill Watch" program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, an electric public utility or a gas public utility shall, at a minimum:
(1) notify a customer on the 10th day of each billing cycle if the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage exceeds the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage from the previous billing cycle;
(2) notify a customer on the 20th day of, or at such points as the customer designates in, each billing cycle, if the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage exceeds the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage from the previous billing cycle;
(3) provide a customer the option to set a threshold dollar value for the cost of electric or gas service at which the electric or gas public utility will notify the customer that the customer has reached the threshold dollar value based on the customer's electric or gas usage for that billing cycle; and
(4) provide a customer with the cost in dollars of the customer's average monthly electricity or gas usage and the amount in kilowatt hours or therms of the customer's average monthly electricity or gas usage in each notice provided pursuant to this subsection.
c. An electric public utility or a gas public utility shall:
(1) advertise the electric public utility or gas public utility's "Energy Bill Watch" program through multiple methods, including, but not limited to:
(a) electronic mail;
(b) posts on social media platforms;
(c) the electric public utility or gas public utility's Internet website; and
(d) bills to customers who possess smart meters;
(2) notify all smart meter customers via text message when the electric public utility or gas public utility's "Energy Bill Watch" program is available for customers and include in the notification the choice to opt out of the program. If the electric public utility or gas public utility does not possess a smart meter customer's mobile telephone number, the electric public utility or gas public utility shall send the notification via electronic mail;
(3) automatically enroll all smart meter customers in the program; and
(4) include in a customer's first notice, guidance on how the customer can customize notifications or opt out of the "Energy Bill Watch" program.
3. An electric public utility or a gas public utility shall include, at a minimum, the following information in each bill issued to a customer:
(1) the dollar amount charged to the customer by the electric public utility or gas public utility in the previous billing cycle;
(2) the dollar amount charged to the customer by the electric public utility or gas public utility in the current billing cycle; and
(3) the difference between the amount charged in the previous billing cycle and the current billing cycle.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires each electric public utility and each gas public utility that uses smart meters to establish an "Energy Bill Watch" program to notify a smart meter customer when the customer's electricity or gas usage exceeds certain thresholds as provided in the bill. Under an "Energy Bill Watch" program, an electric public utility or gas public utility is required to: (1) notify a customer on the 10th day of each billing cycle if the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage exceeds the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage from the previous billing cycle; (2) notify a customer on the 20th day of, or at such points as the customer designates in, each billing cycle, if the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage exceeds the customer's average daily electricity or gas usage from the previous billing cycle; (3) provide a customer the option to set a threshold dollar value for the cost of electric or gas service at which the electric public utility or gas public utility will notify the customer that the customer has reached the threshold dollar value based on the customer's electric or gas usage for that billing cycle; and (4) provide a customer with the cost in dollars of the customer's average monthly electricity or gas usage and the amount in kilowatt hours or therms of the customer's average monthly electricity or gas usage in each notice.
Under this bill, an electric public utility or gas public utility is required to: (1) advertise the electric public utility or gas public utility's "Energy Bill Watch" program through multiple methods, as specified in the bill; (2) notify all smart meter customers when the electric public utility or gas public utility's "Energy Bill Watch" program is available for customers; (3) automatically enroll all smart meter customers in the program; and (4) include in a customer's first notice, guidance on how the customer can customize notifications or opt out of the "Energy Bill Watch" program.
This bill also requires that certain information be included in all bills from an electric public utility or gas public utility to a customer, including but not limited to: (1) the dollar amount charged to the customer by the electric public utility or gas public utility in the previous billing cycle; (2) the dollar amount charged to the customer by the electric public utility or gas public utility in the current billing cycle; and (3) the difference between the amount charged in the previous billing cycle and the current billing cycle.
