§ 65. Safe and adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust
discrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy. 1. Every
gas corporation, every electric corporation and every municipality shall
furnish and provide such service, instrumentalities and facilities as
shall be safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable. All
charges made or demanded by any such gas corporation, electric
corporation or municipality for gas, electricity or any service rendered
or to be rendered, shall be just and reasonable and not more than
allowed by law or by order of the commission. Every unjust or
unreasonable charge made or demanded for gas, electricity or any such
service, or in connection therewith, or in excess of that allowed by law
or by the order of the commission is prohibited.

2. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall
directly or indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, drawback or other
device or method, charge, demand, collect or receive from any person or
corporation a greater or less compensation for gas or electricity or for
any service rendered or to be rendered or in connection therewith,
except as authorized in this chapter, than it charges, demands, collects
or receives from any other person or corporation for doing a like and
contemporaneous service with respect thereto under the same or
substantially similar circumstances or conditions.

3. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall make
or grant any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any
person, corporation or locality, or to any particular description of
service in any respect whatsoever, or subject any particular person,
corporation or locality or any particular description of service to any
undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect
whatsoever.

4. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a gas
corporation or electric corporation from establishing a sliding scale
for a fixed period for the automatic adjustment or charges for gas,
electricity or any service rendered or to be rendered and the dividends
to be paid to stockholders of such gas corporation or electric
corporation, provided that the sliding scale shall first have been filed
with and approved by the commission; but nothing in this subdivision
shall operate to prevent the commission after the expiration of such
fixed period from fixing proper, just and reasonable rates and charges
to be made for service as authorized in this article.

5. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a gas
corporation or electrical corporation from establishing classifications
of service based upon the quantity used, the time when used, the purpose
for which used, the duration of use or upon any other reasonable
consideration, and providing schedules of just and reasonable graduated
rates applicable thereto. No such classification, schedule, rate or
charge shall be lawful unless it shall be filed with and approved by the
commission, and every such classification, rate or charge shall be
subject to change, alteration and modification by the commission.

6. Service charges prohibited. Every gas corporation shall charge for
gas supplied a fair and reasonable price. No such corporation shall make
or impose an additional charge or fee for service or for the
installation of apparatus or the use of apparatus installed, except that
a charge may be made:

(a) where entry, inspection or examination as authorized by
subdivision nine of this section is denied;

(b) for reconnecting the service to a person or corporation if the
service to such person or corporation was disconnected, in accordance
with applicable legal requirements, for non-payment of bills for
service;

(b-1) for expenses reasonably incurred as determined by the commission
in cases of meter tampering and theft of service. Such expenses shall
include, but not be limited to, the cost of investigating, repairing and
replacing meters and pipes, and the cost of moving a meter and
installing it in a secure location;

(c) for a remote meter reading device upon the request and consent of
the customer;

(d) for installation of capital improvements and fixtures to promote
energy efficiency upon the request and consent of the customer,
including but not limited to the performance of qualified energy
efficiency services for customers participating in green jobs-green New
York on-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of this article;
or

(e) for the provision of thermal energy service.

7. No gas corporation or electric corporation shall sell or offer for
sale any list of names of its customers.

8. Inspection of transmission pipelines conveying natural gas. Every
gas corporation transmitting natural gas under permits or franchises
permitting the laying or maintaining of pipelines conveying natural gas
shall conduct a leak detection inspection using leak detection equipment
or employing a visual inspection of such transmission pipelines annually
or more frequently when ordered by the commission. A written report of
every such inspection shall be made available to the commission.

9. Buildings may be entered for the examination of meters, pipes,
fittings, wires and works. (a) Any officer or agent of any gas
corporation, electric corporation or municipality for that purpose duly
appointed and authorized by the corporation, upon exhibiting a
photo-identification badge and a written authority signed by the
president or vice-president and secretary or assistant secretary of the
corporation, or by the mayor or clerk of a municipal corporation or by
the chairman and secretary of a municipal board in control of a public
utility, may enter, at all reasonable times, any store, building, room
or place supplied with gas, electricity or water by such utility
corporation or municipality for the purpose of inspecting and examining
the meters, pipes, fittings, wires and works for supplying or regulating
the supply of gas or electricity and of ascertaining the quantity of gas
or electricity supplied.

(b) If any person, at any time, directly or indirectly, shall prevent
or hinder any such officer or agent from so entering any such premises,
or from making any such inspection or examination at any reasonable
time, he or she shall forfeit to the corporation or municipality one
hundred dollars for every such offense.

10. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any case where
electric corporations are permitted incremental seasonal differentials
in rates or charges, such differentials shall not be imposed in any
month upon any residential customer for the first two hundred fifty
kilowatt hours used by such customer in such month; provided, however,
that the commission may promulgate rules to permit the imposition of
such seasonal differentials where a customer requests a special rate
that may include a seasonal differential or where service is to be
provided to a residential customer for a temporary period not to exceed
six months.

(b) In any case where an electric corporation is permitted incremental
seasonal differentials in rates or charges, such corporation shall, on
or before such differential rates commence, inform any customer subject
to such differential as to the commencement and termination dates of
such differential rates and permit such customer to read his own meter
on such dates and forward the readings thereon to the corporation.

11. Civil actions. (a) Every gas corporation, electric corporation or
municipality furnishing utility service may initiate a civil action to
collect a civil penalty against a user of non-residential service in
accordance with this subdivision. Upon a showing in such action that a
user of non-residential service has knowingly accepted or received the
use and benefit of gas or electric service which has been prevented from
being properly registered by a meter provided therefor, the utility may
be granted a civil penalty, in addition to the value of the unpaid
service, in an amount which the court in its discretion shall deem to be
just and reasonable, which in no event shall be more than three times
the retail value of the gas or electric service accepted or received. In
any action under this subdivision, proof that a meter has been
intentionally prevented from properly registering gas or electric
service shall be prima facie proof that the user of non-residential
service who accepts or receives the use and benefit of such service has
done so with knowledge of the condition so existing, if the gas
corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall first present
evidence that such person took possession of the benefitted premises and
used the gas or electric service prior to the creation of the condition.

(b) For the purposes of this subdivision, a user of non-residential
service shall be a person benefitting from such service who is in
possession of the premises to which the service is delivered.

(c) Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to this section in excess of
the actual damages sustained by the utility shall be taken into account
by the public service commission in establishing future utility rates.

12. An electric corporation shall send annually to each residence it
serves a form that may be used to notify the corporation that a person
living in the residence uses a life support system. For the purposes of
this subdivision, life support systems shall include, but not be limited
to, hemodialysis equipment, respirators and apnea monitors. An electric
corporation shall maintain a current list of customers who use such life
support systems and include the list in such electric corporation's
system emergency plans.

13. (a) Every gas corporation or electric corporation furnishing
utility services shall provide the following call center customer
assistance receiving inquiries on: customer financial responsibility;
receiving requests to initiate or terminate service; receiving requests
for emergency services; determining deposit required or billing rate;
receiving meter and service orders and access to meter requests;
explaining company rates, regulations, policies, procedures, and common
practices; initiating trouble order forms and high bill investigations;
handling payment and other credit arrangements such as obtaining
deposits, financial statements and payment plans; and referring
customers to social service agencies and other assistance programs.

(b) No gas or electric corporation shall close a call center or other
facility providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of
this subdivision or relocate such customer assistance to another area of
New York state or outside of New York state without notice and hearing
before the commission. Upon receipt of the notice required pursuant to
this paragraph, the commission shall provide notice of the proceeding to
interested parties and the public; and shall promptly fix a date for the
commencement of a public hearing thereon not less than sixty days after
such receipt. The testimony presented at such hearing may be presented
in writing or orally, provided that the commission may make rules
designed to exclude repetitive, redundant or irrelevant testimony while
giving all interested parties the opportunity to present their
documentary and/or testimonial evidence. The commission shall make a
record of all testimony in all contested hearings. For purposes of this
section "public hearing" means a public forum at a physical location,
attended by commission members or their designees, where oral testimony
is accepted and written testimony may be submitted for inclusion in the
record. Such forum shall be open to parties to the proceeding and the
general public for the presentation of comments that shall be limited to
relevant facts directly related to the proceeding in question. Such
hearing shall be commenced upon proper notice to the parties to the
proceeding and the public at least thirty days prior to the scheduled
date.

(c) This subdivision shall not apply to the collection of debt where
by utility company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency
or similar service companies.

(d) Every public utility under this subdivision shall provide the
commission an affidavit, annually, that no call centers or other
facilities providing customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of
this subdivision have been closed without notice and hearing before the
commission and that the utility has not relocated such customer
assistance to another area of New York state or outside of New York
state without notice and hearing before the commission. The affidavit
shall be submitted in such form and at such times and shall contain
information as the commission, by rule or regulation, may prescribe.

14. In conjunction with a management and operations audit undertaken
pursuant to subdivision nineteen of section sixty-six of this article or
upon its own motion, the commission shall review the capability,
including but not limited to, the capability to implement emergency
response plans and restoration, of each electric corporation to provide
safe, adequate, and reliable service. Upon good cause shown, and after a
hearing in accordance with the commission's rules and regulations, the
commission may direct such corporation to comply with additional and
more stringent terms and conditions of service than existed prior to the
commencement of the management and operations audit, and may, in
addition, assess the continued operation of such corporation as the
provider of electric service in its service territory and propose, and
act upon, such measures as are necessary to ensure safe and adequate
service; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision limits the
commission's authority to undertake the actions set forth pursuant to
section twenty-four, twenty-five or twenty-five-a of this chapter.

15. The chief executive officer of each combination gas and electric
corporation shall certify to the commission on or before March fifteenth
of each year that such corporation has internal controls, policies and
procedures designed to ensure compliance with the requirements of this
chapter and any rules, regulations, orders and procedures adopted
thereto, including the obligation that such corporation provide safe and
adequate service.

16. Unauthorized changes in natural gas or electric service
prohibited. (a) No supplier of gas or electric service or any person,
firm or corporation acting as such supplier's agent or representative
shall on behalf of a customer make or direct any change in a supplier of
gas or electric service unless such supplier, agent or representative
complies with requirements to authorize and verify the change. The
commission shall have the authority to establish requirements for
obtaining the authorization of a customer to effect a change in the
customer's supplier of gas or electric service and for the verification
of such change. In construing and enforcing the provisions of this
subdivision, the act of any person, firm or corporation acting as an
agent or representative of a supplier of gas or electric service shall
be deemed to be the act of such supplier of gas or electric service. For
the purposes of this subdivision, "supplier of gas or electric service"
shall include any person, firm or corporation that offers, sells or
delivers all or part of natural gas or electric service, including, but
not limited to, a gas or electric distribution company, a gas or
electric corporation, a gas or electricity provider, marketer,
aggregator or broker.

(b) The failure to comply with the provisions in this subdivision
shall subject a supplier of gas or electric service to either the
judicial penalty authorized in section twenty-five of this chapter for
the failure or neglect to obey or comply with a provision of this
chapter or the administrative penalty established in this subdivision.
In seeking such judicial penalty or assessing such administrative
penalty, the commission shall take into account the nature,
circumstances, extent, gravity and number of the violations, and with
respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior
offenses and repeated violations, and such other matters as may be
appropriate and relevant. The remedies provided by this subdivision
shall be in addition to any other remedies provided by law.

(c) The commission, after opportunity for a hearing, shall have the
authority to assess directly an administrative penalty against any
supplier of gas or electric service for each violation of this
subdivision or order of the commission implementing or enforcing the
provisions of this subdivision. Such penalty shall not exceed one
thousand dollars for each violation associated with each meter service
point. All moneys recovered from any administrative penalty shall be
paid into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.

(d) Whenever the commission determines that any supplier of gas or
electric service is violating or about to violate any provision of this
subdivision or any regulation or order of the commission implementing or
enforcing the provisions of this subdivision, or has failed to pay any
penalty assessed pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, the
commissioner shall have power to bring an action or enforcement
proceeding as provided by section twenty-six of this chapter.