Bill Text: NY S01200 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relates to requiring the establishment of automatic payment plans; requires utility companies headquartered in New York to establish a statewide program to provide eligible participants with affordable payment plans.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-28 - referred to ways and means [S01200 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S01200-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         1200--A

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 10, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations  --  committee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee

        AN ACT to amend the public service law, in  relation  to  requiring  the
          establishment of automatic payment plans

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a  new  section
     2  66-v to read as follows:
     3    § 66-v. Utility automatic payment plans. 1.  Within one hundred eighty
     4  days  of  the  effective date of this section, notwithstanding any other
     5  provision of law, the commission is authorized and directed  to  require
     6  utility  companies  headquartered  in  New York to establish a statewide
     7  program to provide eligible participants with affordable payment  plans.
     8  Utility  companies shall automatically provide appropriate payment plans
     9  to qualifying low income individuals who provide documentation of  their
    10  eligibility  status.    The fiscal impact of such a program shall not be
    11  borne by customers and shall not be added to bills rendered by the util-
    12  ity company to customers. Enrollment shall  be  available  at  any  time
    13  during  the  year.  For  the purposes of this section, "utility company"
    14  shall mean a utility company  that  provides  electric,  gas,  or  steam
    15  service.
    16    2. (a) The commission shall engage with utility companies to establish
    17  automated  file  matching  mechanisms  that will provide, via electronic
    18  means, utility companies with a list of eligible participants within the
    19  utility company's service territory. The commission shall  provide  such
    20  information  to  such  utility  companies  no less than semi-annually. A
    21  utility company which offers such a payment plan program shall conspicu-
    22  ously advertise the availability of such plan on  the  website  of  such
    23  utility company.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04261-02-3
        S. 1200--A                          2

     1    (b)  The commission shall also create a mechanism by which an individ-
     2  ual's documentation is submitted and reasonably  and  promptly  reviewed
     3  for  qualification as proper documentation of the individual's eligibil-
     4  ity status. Such mechanism shall also provide for electronic  submission
     5  of documentation.
     6    3. An individual or household shall be determined to be eligible for a
     7  payment  plan  if such individual or household provides documentation of
     8  eligibility for any of the following programs:
     9    (a) temporary assistance for needy families (family assistance);
    10    (b) safety net assistance (public assistance);
    11    (c) supplemental security income (SSI);
    12    (d) supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP);
    13    (e) low income home energy assistance program;
    14    (f) veteran's disability pension;
    15    (g) veteran's surviving spouse pension;
    16    (h) child health plus;
    17    (i) lifeline;
    18    (j) home energy assistance program (HEAP);
    19    (k) direct vendor or utility guarantee;
    20    (l) temporary assistance to needy families (TANF);
    21    (m) social security disability insurance (SSDI);
    22    (n) emergency rental assistance program (ERAP); and
    23    (o) any  other  income-based  assistance  program  identified  by  the
    24  commission.
    25    4. (a) When devising payment plans, the utility company shall consider
    26  the circumstances and financial condition of the customer including:
    27    (i) The amount due, if any, on the account;
    28    (ii) The customer's ability to pay;
    29    (iii) The customer's payment history;
    30    (iv) The anticipated energy assistance benefits for which the customer
    31  may be eligible;
    32    (v) The circumstances which resulted in the past due bills;
    33    (vi)  Hardships  which  may result from the lack of utility service to
    34  the customer; and
    35    (vii) Any other relevant factors related to the circumstances  of  the
    36  customer.
    37    (b)  A utility company shall permit each customer a period of not less
    38  than twenty-one days from the date the bill was sent  to  pay  in  full,
    39  unless  the  customer  and  the utility company agree on a different due
    40  date. A utility company shall  not  withdraw  funds  from  a  customer's
    41  account  before the due date in cases where a customer uses an automatic
    42  bill payment plan unless the customer agrees to a different period.
    43    5. The attorney general may bring a civil action against  any  utility
    44  companies  that  violate  this  section to enjoin such violation and may
    45  recover a civil penalty of up to one hundred dollars  per  violation  of
    46  this  section or, for a pattern or practice of such violations, of up to
    47  one thousand dollars per violation.   A violation shall  be  judged  per
    48  individual account.
    49    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    50  have become a law.