S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10171
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 10, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Mamdani) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on  Corporations,  Authorities
   and Commissions
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public service law, in relation to enacting the
   "utility shutoff protection act"
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  This  act shall be known and may be cited as the "utility
 shutoff protection act".
   § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds and declares that:
   1. It is the duty of the legislature to ensure that New York residents
 are protected from utility disconnections for nonpayment during  periods
 of  extreme heat or cold, when they would be relying on air conditioning
 or heating the most.
   2. New York's utility shutoff moratorium during the COVID-19  pandemic
 provided crucial relief for millions of households, enabling zero utili-
 ty  shutoffs  in  2021, but the expiration of this COVID-19 moratorium -
 absent any accompanying legislation to curb  utility  companies'  record
 high  gas and electricity rates - has left New York residents at risk of
 having their power cut off for nonpayment. According to NY Department of
 Public Service (DPS) data, more than 180,000 New York households experi-
 enced gas or electricity shutoffs for nonpayment in 2023.
   3. This act serves as an expansion  of  existing  residential  utility
 protections  in New York state. Residential service cannot be terminated
 for nonpayment Friday through Sunday, on public holidays, the day before
 a holiday, or on a day before the utility business office is closed. New
 York also bans utility shutoffs during the two-week period that includes
 Christmas and New Year's Day. Altogether, state law  protects  residents
 from  utility  shutoffs  between  170 and 180 calendar days, or about 50
 percent of the year.
   4. This legislation provides much-needed coherence and  predictability
 to  the  presently  scattered  landscape  of private residential shutoff
 policies. Every utility  regulated  by  the  Public  Service  Commission
 (hereinafter,  "the  commission")  already  follows certain seasonal and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14554-04-4
 A. 10171                            2
 
 temperature-based restrictions on  disconnecting  residents,  but  these
 policies  vary  dramatically  across companies. Con Edison, which serves
 most of New York city and Westchester county, already suspends  residen-
 tial  shutoffs  on  204  calendar  days  per  year, on average, based on
 National Weather Service data. But  National  Grid-the  primary  utility
 provider  in  upstate  New  York  that  serves  2.2 million customers in
 Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, and most of the Mohawk valley and  the  north
 country-lacks  any  shutoff  protection  during colder weather. New York
 residents' safety during the hottest and  coldest  months  of  the  year
 should never depend on where they live or who their energy provider is.
   5.  Finally, this act aligns with the surge in utility shutoff morato-
 ria  nationwide,  as  the  climate  crisis  continues  to accelerate the
 frequency and severity of extreme weather. According to a 2023  Congres-
 sional Research Service report, 32 U.S. states have already enacted some
 level  of  seasonal  utility  shutoff  protections.  Wisconsin's "annual
 winter moratorium" bans residential  gas  or  electric  utility  discon-
 nections from November 1 to April 15, while Illinois similarly prohibits
 utilities from shutting off residential power or heat from December 1 to
 March 31.
   §  3. Section 2 of the public service law is amended by adding two new
 subdivisions 30 and 31 to read as follows:
   30. THE TERM "SUMMER PROTECTION SEASON", WHEN USED  IN  THIS  CHAPTER,
 SHALL  MEAN  THE  PERIOD BEGINNING UPON THE FIRST OF MAY AND ENDING UPON
 THE THIRTY-FIRST OF AUGUST IN EACH YEAR.
   31. THE TERM "WINTER PROTECTION SEASON", WHEN USED  IN  THIS  CHAPTER,
 SHALL  MEAN THE PERIOD BEGINNING UPON THE FIRST OF DECEMBER OF EACH YEAR
 AND ENDING UPON THE TWENTY-EIGHTH OF FEBRUARY OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
   § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 32 of the public service law  is  renum-
 bered subdivision 7 and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as follows:
   6. (A) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, RULE OR REGULATION,
 NO  RESIDENTIAL  UTILITY SERVICE SHALL BE TERMINATED BY A UTILITY CORPO-
 RATION OR MUNICIPALITY  FOR  NONPAYMENT  DURING  ANY  SUMMER  PROTECTION
 SEASON OR WINTER PROTECTION SEASON.
   (B)  BY  THE  FIRST  DAY  OF EVERY SUMMER PROTECTION SEASON AND WINTER
 PROTECTION SEASON, AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE  LAST  DAY  OF  EACH  SUCH
 PROTECTION SEASON, UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES SHALL RESTORE
 ALL  RESIDENTIAL  UTILITY  SERVICES THAT WERE OTHERWISE DISCONTINUED FOR
 NONPAYMENT. SUCH  UTILITY  CORPORATIONS  AND  MUNICIPALITIES  SHALL  NOT
 CHARGE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS ANY FEE FOR SUCH RESTORATION OF RESIDENTIAL
 UTILITY SERVICES.
   (C)  (I) THE COMMISSION SHALL SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR,
 THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF  THE  ASSEMBLY,
 CONTAINING  THE  FOLLOWING  INFORMATION  RELATED  TO RESIDENTIAL UTILITY
 SHUTOFFS: (1) A DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTIAL UTILITY  TERMINATIONS  BASED
 ON HOUSEHOLD INCOME, AGE, AND GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION; (2) A DISTRIBUTION OF
 THE  LENGTH OF TIME FOR RECONNECTING DISCONNECTED HOUSEHOLDS, AS WELL AS
 THE COST OF DEFERRED PAYMENT PLANS IN FURTHERANCE OF SUCH  RECONNECTION;
 (3)  DATA ON THE HEALTH, SAFETY, AND FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES THAT UTILITY
 TERMINATIONS HAVE ON RESIDENTS; AND (4) ANY OTHER INFORMATION  THAT  THE
 COMMISSION DEEMS APPROPRIATE.
   (II)  TO  OBTAIN  ACCURATE DATA, THE COMMISSION SHALL ESTABLISH PROCE-
 DURES EXPANDING THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF UTILITY  CORPORATIONS  AND
 MUNICIPALITIES  TO  INCLUDE  THE INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH
 (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH.
   (III) THE COMMISSION SHALL MAKE THE REPORT CREATED UNDER  SUBPARAGRAPH
 (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ON ITS WEBSITE.
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   (D)  THE  COMMISSION SHALL PROMULGATE ANY RULES AND REGULATIONS NECES-
 SARY TO:
   (I)  IMPLEMENT  THE  PROVISIONS OF PARAGRAPHS (A), (B) AND (C) OF THIS
 SUBDIVISION;
   (II) PROHIBIT UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES FROM  INCREASING
 THE  COSTS  OF ANY RESIDENTIAL UTILITY SERVICE AS A RESULT OF COMPLIANCE
 WITH THIS SECTION; AND
   (III) ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES
 DISCONTINUING ANY RESIDENTIAL UTILITY SERVICES FOR NONPAYMENT  UPON  THE
 CONCLUSION OF SUMMER PROTECTION SEASONS AND WINTER PROTECTION SEASONS.
   (E) NOTHING IN THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO WAIVE A RESIDEN-
 TIAL CUSTOMER'S OBLIGATION TO MAKE TIMELY PAYMENT FOR RESIDENTIAL UTILI-
 TY SERVICES, OR ANY PAYMENT FOR ARREARS.
   (F)  THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT APPLY TO ANY NON-RE-
 SIDENTIAL UTILITY SERVICES.
   § 5. Section 33 of the public service law is amended by adding  a  new
 subdivision 6 to read as follows:
   6.  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  SUBDIVISION SIX OF SECTION THIRTY-TWO OF THIS
 ARTICLE SHALL APPLY TO ANY MULTIPLE DWELLING OTHERWISE  SUBJECT  TO  THE
 PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   §  6.  Section 34 of the public service law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 5 to read as follows:
   5. THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION SIX OF  SECTION  THIRTY-TWO  OF  THIS
 ARTICLE  SHALL APPLY TO ANY TWO FAMILY DWELLING OTHERWISE SUBJECT TO THE
 PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
   § 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
 repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
 on or before such effective date.