Bill Text: NY S02182 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Engrossed) 2025-01-27 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [S02182 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S02182-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2182 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 15, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. HINCHEY -- 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 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. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 39 of the public service 2 law, as amended by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, are amended and a 3 new subdivision 1-a is added to read as follows: 4 1. (a) A utility corporation or municipality may, in accordance with 5 such requirements as the commission may impose by regulation, only 6 render an estimated bill for [any] a billing period if[: (a)] the proce- 7 dure used by such utility or municipality for calculating estimated 8 bills has been approved by the commission, [and] the bill clearly indi- 9 cates that it is based on an estimated reading, and [(b)] at least one 10 of the following conditions is met: 11 (i) the utility owning the meter and providing the meter reading data 12 on which the estimated bill will be based or the municipality has made 13 reasonable effort to obtain an actual meter reading and is unable to 14 obtain one or [(c)] 15 (ii) circumstances beyond the control of the utility or municipality 16 made an actual reading of the meter extremely difficult or [(d)] 17 (iii) circumstances indicate a reported reading is likely to be erro- 18 neous, or [(e)] 19 (iv) an estimated reading is prescribed or authorized by the commis- 20 sion for a billing period between periods when actual meter readings are 21 scheduled or for seasonal or short term customers. 22 (b) In addition to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivi- 23 sion, a utility corporation or municipality shall not issue an estimated EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06267-01-5S. 2182 2 1 bill to a customer for any consecutive billing period under any circum- 2 stances, unless the utility is unable to obtain an actual meter reading 3 due to (i) the customer's failure to provide reasonable access to the 4 meter for an actual reading, or (ii) a declaration of a state of emer- 5 gency which prevents the ability to obtain an actual meter reading. 6 (c) Outside of the criteria for rendering estimated billing pursuant 7 to this section, all other bills shall use actual meter readings. 8 (d) A utility corporation or municipality shall not charge a customer 9 for any supply or delivery costs associated with an estimated bill that 10 does not comply with this section nor be able to recover from any of its 11 customers any revenue that the utility is precluded from collecting from 12 an individual customer by this section. Nothing in this subdivision 13 shall be interpreted or otherwise construed as preempting settlements 14 with the commission or department that are more strict than those 15 contained in this subdivision. 16 1-a. The commission shall require each utility corporation and munici- 17 pality within six months after the effective date of this subdivision to 18 submit to the commission a revised model for the calculation of and 19 procedures for estimated billing that complies with this article, incor- 20 porates best practices and technology, and accounts for any barriers to 21 the use of actual meter readings. No later than November first, two 22 thousand twenty-six, the commission shall promulgate rules and regu- 23 lations to incorporate and adopt such model procedures for utility 24 corporations and municipalities. 25 2. Where a utility corporation owning the meter and supplying meter 26 reading data for a bill or a municipality fails to gain access to a 27 meter [for a period of four months or two billing periods, whichever is28greater], the corporation or municipality shall take reasonable actions 29 to obtain an actual meter reading for the subsequent billing period. 30 Such additional actions may include, but not be limited to: making an 31 appointment with the customer or such other person who controls access 32 to the meter for a reading at a time other than within normal business 33 hours, offering the customer the opportunity to [phone in a] submit an 34 actual meter reading by telephone or electronic transmission, which may 35 include submission of a photograph of such meter reading, or providing a 36 card to the customer on which [he or she] such customer may record the 37 reading and mail it to the utility or municipality. 38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 39 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 40 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 41 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 42 completed on or before such effective date.
