BILL NUMBER: S9469

SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

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

 
PURPOSE:

To protect ratepayers from excessive fluctuations by requiring actual
meter readings in most instances in utility bills from month-to-month
and requiring the Public Service Commission (PSC) to institute a best
practices estimation formula that can be used as a utility industry
standard in New York State for statutorily accepted instances of bill
estimation

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: A new subdivision is added to require actual meter readings
for billing purposes with the exception of statutorily accepted
              

instances of bill estimation, AND; the PSC shall require each utility
corporation and municipality within six months to submit to the commis-
sion a model procedure for the calculation of estimated bills that
incorporates best practices and technology and accounts for any bathers
to the use of actual meter readings. On or before November first, two
thousand twenty-three, the commission shall promulgate rules and regu-
lations to incorporate and adopt such model procedures for utility
corporations and municipalities.

Section 2: Effective Date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

As home heating and cooling costs continue to increase, and while many
are still facing the financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, it is imperative that we give ratepayers as much stability as possi-
ble in their month-over-month utility bills. There are widespread
reports that utility companies are relying heavily on estimated billing
practices causing excessively high swings in bills month to month, often
to the difference of hundreds of dollars in additional unforeseen, and
regularly inaccurate, costs. The fact is, many ratepayers can't afford
such high estimations, especially when they're not based on previous
usage data and when utility prices are already rising. For many house-
holds, these bills far exceed their monthly budgets, causing people to
choose between paying their utility bills and other important expenses,
with the underlying issue that these ratepayers don't even end up owing
these significantly higher bills.

This legislation seeks to protect ratepayers from excessive fluctuations
by requiring utility bills to reflect actual month-over-month meter
readings, and requires the Public Service Commission (PSC) to institute
a best practices estimation formula that can be used as a utility indus-
try standard in New York State for statutorily accepted instances of
bill estimation.

This is an opportunity to create long-term employment opportunities that
would be required to collect accurate monthly energy usage now, with an
eye towards retraining this workforce for future jobs in the energy
delivery sector, as needed. This is a win for ratepayers and an invest-
ment in our local economies by creating more reliable, good-paying jobs.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPACT:

None to state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.