Bill Text: NY A04573 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Directs the department of public service to prepare a written report on the affordability of water services for commercial and residential customers within 180 days of effectiveness; requires an updated report to be submitted one year after the initial report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-07-15 - enacting clause stricken [A04573 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A04573-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Directs the department of public service to prepare a written report on the affordability of water services for commercial and residential customers within 180 days of effectiveness; requires an updated report to be submitted one year after the initial report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-07-15 - enacting clause stricken [A04573 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A04573-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4573 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, L. ROSENTHAL, THIELE, STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT directing the department of public service to prepare a written report on the affordability of utility services The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declaration. In response to the 2 COVID-19 pandemic, chapters 108 and 126 of the laws of 2020 were adopted 3 to ensure that New Yorkers would not be deprived of gas, electric, water 4 service, helping households follow the vital state policy of "sheltering 5 in place." The moratorium prohibited termination of utility services at 6 a pivotal moment when it became evident that sanitary conditions were 7 required to combat the COVID-19 virus and keep New Yorkers safe and 8 healthy, especially seniors and the medically vulnerable. The legisla- 9 ture finds and declares that it is unknown to the state the number of 10 New Yorkers who had their services terminated or disconnected during the 11 pandemic. The legislature finds that many utility customers rely on 12 continuous service for heat, water, and electricity to power necessary 13 equipment, such as life-saving health care devices and other New Yorkers 14 require cooling during extreme heat conditions and heat during extreme 15 cold conditions, particularly when congregate care cooling and heating 16 facilities are not safe for use by medically vulnerable households. The 17 legislature finds that the state requires comprehensive data concerning 18 New Yorkers' ability to afford utility service, including the number of 19 New Yorkers who had their services terminated or who are currently at 20 risk of termination during the pandemic. The legislature finds that this 21 data is critical to ascertain the effectiveness of the moratorium and 22 other COVID-19 consumer protections, as well as the disruptive effects 23 that the pandemic has had on utility customers' finances, and utility 24 finances and services, and the public health, safety and welfare of EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01633-01-3A. 4573 2 1 millions of medically and financially vulnerable citizens. The legisla- 2 ture also finds that the permanent collection and reporting of utility 3 data is imperative to gain regular updates on and evaluate trends 4 concerning the scale and extent of terminations and utility debt across 5 the state, so that evidence-based policy can be properly crafted there- 6 after. 7 § 2. 1. As used in this act: 8 a. "Assistance program" shall mean any program offered to eligible 9 low-income customers to assist with the costs of electricity, gas, and 10 water, including but not limited to the low-income home energy assist- 11 ance program, any low-income affordability plans as provided by public 12 service commission case number 14-M-0565, and/or any other financial 13 assistance program provided through or by New York state or individual 14 utilities, counties or municipalities. 15 b. "COVID-19 state of emergency" shall mean the state disaster emer- 16 gency declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020. 17 c. "Commission" shall mean the public service commission. 18 d. "Municipality" shall have the same meaning as subdivision 16 of 19 section 2 of the public service law and shall include potable water 20 districts and potable water systems owned and/or operated by a city, 21 town, village, authority or other governmental subdivision. 22 e. "Utility" shall mean a municipality, utility corporation, steam 23 corporation, water-works corporation, an electric corporation as defined 24 in subdivision 13 of section 2 of the public service law, a gas corpo- 25 ration as defined in subdivision 11 of section 2 of the public service 26 law, a combination gas and electric corporation as defined in subdivi- 27 sion 14 of section 2 of the public service law, a steam corporation as 28 defined in subdivision 22 of section 2 of the public service law and any 29 other community water system as defined in 10 NYCRR § 5-1.1. 30 f. "Utility corporation" shall have the same meaning as subdivisions 31 23 and 24 of section 2 of the public service law. 32 g. "Water-works corporation" shall have the same meaning as subdivi- 33 sion 27 of section 2 of the public service law. 34 2. a. Every utility shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the public 35 service commission for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of this 36 act pursuant to sections 24, 25 and 26 of the public service law. The 37 commission shall adjudicate complaints and conduct investigations for 38 violation of this act in the manner provided by the provisions of arti- 39 cle 2 of the public service law. 40 b. Within 180 days after the effective date of this act, the commis- 41 sion shall prepare and submit to the governor and the legislature a 42 written report that shall make findings and recommendations concerning 43 the affordability of electric, gas, and water services to commercial and 44 residential customers in this state. An updated report shall be submit- 45 ted one year after the commission has submitted such initial report to 46 the governor and legislature. Without unreasonably exposing consumer 47 personally identifiable information in a manner that violates public 48 service law and public service commission practice or federal law, the 49 reports shall include but not be limited to the following, with all 50 information to be broken down by utility, type of service provided, 51 month, customer class and county: 52 (1) the number of customers and how that number compares to the previ- 53 ous year's number of customers on the same month and day; 54 (2) the number of disconnection notices sent due to non-payment, 55 disconnections due to non-payment, reconnections of customers that wereA. 4573 3 1 disconnected for non-payment, and how those numbers compare to the 2 previous year on the same month and day; 3 (3) the number of liens on real property placed, sold, or enforced due 4 to non-payment, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on 5 the same month and day, if applicable; 6 (4) the number of customers in arrears by 1-90 days, 90-180 days, and 7 greater than 180 days at the end of each month, the total dollar amount 8 of arrears, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on the 9 same month and day. Provided, however, that a utility or municipality 10 may petition the commission, in a form and manner to be determined by 11 the commission, to allow such utility or municipality to provide such 12 data in an alternative format if the specificity set forth in this act 13 cannot be obtained from an existing utility information technology 14 system and such data would result in the increase of customer utility 15 bills; 16 (5) the number of customers that became eligible for disconnection due 17 to bill non-payment but were not disconnected because of any legally 18 mandated or voluntary suspension of disconnections due to the COVID-19 19 state of emergency, or for any other statutory, regulatory or voluntary 20 reason irrespective of the COVID-19 emergency, or such other states of 21 emergency as may follow the end of the COVID-19 emergency; 22 (6) the number of customers enrolled in deferred payment agreements at 23 the end of each month; 24 (7) the number of customers that entered into, successfully completed, 25 or defaulted from a deferred payment agreement, and how those numbers 26 compare to the previous year on the same month and day; 27 (8) available customer assistance programs, including terms of eligi- 28 bility, and any enhancements to the programs that have been made or 29 are planned to address actual or anticipated increased demand; 30 (9) the number of customers that applied for financial assistance 31 under each applicable assistance program, and how those numbers compare 32 to the previous year on the same month and day; 33 (10) the number of customers receiving assistance under each assist- 34 ance program at the end of each month, the total dollar amount of 35 assistance provided for arrears, the total dollar amount of assistance 36 provided for current or future bills and the average amount per custom- 37 er, and how those numbers compare to the previous year on the same month 38 and day; 39 (11) the number of customers charged late fees, penalties, recon- 40 nection fees, interest, and any other charge associated with late 41 payment of a bill; 42 (12) the total dollar amount of late fees, penalties, interest, recon- 43 nection fees and any other charge associated with late payment per 44 customer, the average and median dollar amount billed to customer 45 accounts and the average and median utility usage per customer account; 46 (13) the methods and contents of general communications by utilities 47 to customer accounts concerning their rights and available assistance 48 programs, excluding any customer-specific communications; and 49 (14) the commission's assessment of whether existing customer assist- 50 ance programs are presently and will in the future be sufficient to meet 51 the financial needs of customer accounts in arrears who are unable to 52 pay those arrears in full, as well as the needs of customer accounts who 53 may be unable to pay bills for current service. 54 c. Following the commission's submission of the reports to the gover- 55 nor and legislature such reports shall be posted on the commission's 56 website and be subject to 30 days of public comment on affordabilityA. 4573 4 1 from the date of the submission to the governor and the legislature. The 2 commission shall provide meaningful opportunities for public comment 3 from all persons who will be impacted by findings of the commission, 4 including persons living in disadvantaged communities and in rural 5 communities across the state in entirety. Within 90 days of the 6 submission of the initial report, the commission shall conduct at least 7 five public hearings in different regions of the state, as defined 8 by the empire state development corporation, and provide meaningful 9 opportunity for comment. The public hearings may be held virtually. 10 d. Each utility shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this 11 act, submit to the commission, in a form and manner determined by the 12 commission, the information required pursuant to paragraph b of this 13 subdivision. Six months after the submission of the initial report to 14 the governor and legislature, each utility shall submit to the commis- 15 sion, in a form and manner determined by the commission, the information 16 required pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision. Each utility shall 17 publish on its website the data it reports pursuant to this paragraph, 18 simultaneously with submission of the data to the commission. 19 3. If the data required by this act cannot reasonably be obtained from 20 an existing utility information technology system without an increase in 21 customer utility bills, a utility or municipality may petition the 22 commission, in a form and manner to be determined by the commission, to 23 provide the required data in an alternative format. 24 4. The commission shall publish on its website the reports required 25 pursuant to subdivision two of this section, simultaneously with the 26 submission of each report. The reports shall include the information 27 required pursuant to this section in a spreadsheet format. 28 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 29 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 30 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 31 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 32 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 33 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 34 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 35 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 36 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 37 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
