Assembly Bill A5563

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5563

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            February 28, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M. of A. KOLB -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Energy

AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to phasing out tran-
  sition fees

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Section 65 of the public service law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 6-a to read as follows:
  6-A.  TRANSITION FEES. (A) EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND
FOURTEEN: NO ELECTRIC UTILITY SHALL CHARGE A TRANSITION RATE THAT VARIES
BY FIFTY PERCENT OR GREATER FROM MONTH-TO-MONTH.
  (B) ANY ELECTRIC UTILITY WHOSE TRANSITION RATE VARIES BY FIFTY PERCENT
OR GREATER FROM MONTH-TO-MONTH MUST PROVIDE THE CUSTOMER WITH  A  BUDGET
PLAN,  WHEREIN  SUCH  BUDGET PLAN INCLUDES A RATE SCHEDULE THAT WILL NOT
VIOLATE PARAGRAPH (A) OF THIS SUBDIVISION.
  (C) NO ELECTRIC UTILITY SHALL CHARGE A TRANSITION FEE IN  ADDITION  TO
OR  IN  SUBSTITUTION  OF  A TRANSITION FEE CALCULATED USING A TRANSITION
RATE.
  (D) EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN:  NO  ELECTRIC
UTILITY  SHALL  CHARGE  A  TRANSITION  RATE THAT EXCEEDS THE MEAN OF THE
TRANSITION RATE CHARGED FROM JANUARY, TWO THOUSAND TWELVE  TO  DECEMBER,
TWO THOUSAND TWELVE.
  (E) EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN: NO ELECTRIC
UTILITY SHALL CHARGE A TRANSITION FEE.
  (F)  FOR  THE  PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE FOLLOWING TERMS SHALL
HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS: (I) "TRANSITION RATE" SHALL BE  DEFINED  AS
THE PRICE PER KILOWATT HOUR CHARGED BY THE ELECTRIC UTILITY TO CALCULATE
THE TRANSITION FEE.
  (II)  "TRANSITION FEE" SHALL BE DEFINED AS ANY FEE CHARGED BY AN ELEC-
TRIC UTILITY FOR THE ELECTRIC UTILITY'S COSTS, LIABILITIES, AND  INVEST-
MENTS,  SUCH AS UNECONOMIC ASSETS, THAT ELECTRIC UTILITIES WOULD REASON-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05750-02-3
              

A. 5563                             2

ABLY EXPECT TO RECOVER IF THE FORMER REGULATORY STRUCTURE CONTINUED  AND
THAT  WILL  NOT  BE RECOVERED AS A RESULT OF RESTRUCTURED INDUSTRY REGU-
LATION THAT ALLOWS RETAIL CHOICE OF ELECTRICITY SUPPLIERS.
  (III)  "BUDGET  PLAN"  SHALL  BE  DEFINED AS A PLAN DESIGNED TO REDUCE
FLUCTUATIONS IN CUSTOMERS' BILLS DUE TO SEASONAL  PATTERNS  OF  CONSUMP-
TION.  UNLESS  OTHERWISE  AUTHORIZED  BY THE COMMISSION, AS DESCRIBED IN
SECTION SIXTY-SIX OF THIS ARTICLE, EACH SUCH PLAN SHALL BE BASED ON  THE
CUSTOMER'S  RECENT  TWELVE-MONTH EXPERIENCE, ADJUSTED FOR KNOWN CHANGES.
IF TWELVE MONTHS OF BILLING DATA ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE CUSTOMER THEN
TWELVE MONTHS OF BILLING DATA FOR THE PREMISES SHALL BE USED. IF  TWELVE
MONTHS OF BILLING DATA ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE PREMISES THEN THE UTIL-
ITY SHALL ESTIMATE FUTURE CONSUMPTION OVER THE NEXT TWELVE-MONTH PERIOD.
EACH SUCH PLAN SHALL PROVIDE THAT BILLS CLEARLY IDENTIFY CONSUMPTION AND
STATE  THE  AMOUNTS  THAT  WOULD BE DUE WITHOUT A BUDGET PLAN. EACH SUCH
PLAN SHALL PROVIDE THAT BILLS BE SUBJECT TO REGULAR REVIEW FOR CONFORMI-
TY WITH ACTUAL BILLINGS. EACH SUCH PLAN SHALL BE FILED WITH THE  COMMIS-
SION  AND  ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE PLAN SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO THE
COMMISSION FOR REVIEW BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.