NY State Senate Bill 2021-S7579A

Senate Bill S7579A

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Permits the rendering of an estimated bill from a utility corporation or municipality under certain circumstances

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Energy And Telecommunications Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 11, 2022	print number 7579a
Feb 11, 2022	amend and recommit to energy and telecommunications
Jan 05, 2022	referred to energy and telecommunications
Dec 08, 2021	referred to rules

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2021-S7579 - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8806
Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §39, Pub Serv L

2021-S7579 - Summary

Permits the rendering of an estimated bill from a utility corporation or municipality under certain circumstances; directs the public service commission to create a model procedure for the calculation of estimated bills which shall be used by municipalities and utility corporations.

2021-S7579 - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7579

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 by mitigating excessive fluctuations 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.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1:   A new subdivision is added to the current circumstances
             under which a bill estimation can be used that limits such
             estimations to 3 billing periods per year, AND;
             Requires the PSC to institute a best practices estimation

             formula that would be used as a utility industry standard
             in New York State by November 1, 2022.

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 by mitigating excessive
fluctuations in utility bills from month-to-month and will require 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 while limiting the number of times per year an estimated billing
formula can be used

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPACT:

None to state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

2021-S7579 - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7579
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 8, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 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:
 
   Section  1.  Subdivision 1 of section 39 of the public service law, as
 amended by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, is amended and a new  subdi-
 vision 1-a is added to read as follows:
   1.  A utility corporation or municipality may, in accordance with such
 requirements as the commission may impose by regulation, render an esti-
 mated bill for any billing period if: (a) the  procedure  used  by  such
 utility  or  municipality  for  calculating  estimated  bills  has  been
 approved by the commission, and the bill clearly indicates  that  it  is
 based  on  an estimated reading and (b) the utility owning the meter and
 providing the meter reading data on which the  estimated  bill  will  be
 based or the municipality has made reasonable effort to obtain an actual
 meter  reading or (c) circumstances beyond the control of the utility or
 municipality made an actual reading of the meter extremely difficult  or
 (d) circumstances indicate a reported reading is likely to be erroneous,
 or  (e)  an estimated reading is prescribed or authorized by the commis-
 sion for a billing period between periods when actual meter readings are
 scheduled or for seasonal or short term customers, OR (F) THE  AFOREMEN-
 TIONED  COMMISSION  APPROVED  ESTIMATION  PROCEDURE CAN ONLY BE USED FOR
 THREE BILLING CYCLES IN A CALENDAR YEAR.
   1-A. THE COMMISSION SHALL REVIEW ALL PROCEDURES USED BY UTILITY CORPO-
 RATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THIS STATE TO CALCULATE  ESTIMATED  BILLS,
 AND SHALL CREATE AND DISTRIBUTE TO SUCH UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICI-
 PALITIES  A MODEL PROCEDURE FOR THE CALCULATION OF SUCH ESTIMATED BILLS.
 UPON RECEIPT OF SUCH MODEL PROCEDURE FOR THE  CALCULATION  OF  ESTIMATED
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13530-03-1

 S. 7579                             2
 
 BILLS, A UTILITY CORPORATION OR MUNICIPALITY SHALL USE SUCH MODEL PROCE-
 DURE  FOR  THE CALCULATION OF ALL ESTIMATED BILLS ESTIMATED ON AND AFTER
 SUCH RECEIPT.  ON OR BEFORE NOVEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO, THE
 PUBLIC  SERVICE COMMISSION SHALL ISSUE AN ORDER CREATING A NEW PROCEDURE
 FOR THE CALCULATION OF SUCH ESTIMATED BILLS AND A UTILITY CORPORATION OR
 MUNICIPALITY SHALL ADOPT SUCH PROCEDURE IMMEDIATELY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S7579A (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A8806
Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §39, Pub Serv L

2021-S7579A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2021-S7579A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7579A

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; Requires the PSC to institute a best
practices estimation formula that would be used as a utility industry
standard in New York State by November 1, 2022.

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.

2021-S7579A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7579--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 8, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules  --  recommitted  to
   the  Committee  on  Energy  and  Telecommunications in accordance with
   Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill  amended,  ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

 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:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 39 of the public service  law,  as
 amended  by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, is amended and a new subdi-
 vision 1-a is added to read as follows:
   1. A utility corporation or municipality may, in accordance with  such
 requirements as the commission may impose by regulation, render an esti-
 mated  bill  for  any  billing period if: (a) the procedure used by such
 utility  or  municipality  for  calculating  estimated  bills  has  been
 approved  by  the  commission, and the bill clearly indicates that it is
 based on an estimated reading and (b) the utility owning the  meter  and
 providing  the  meter  reading  data on which the estimated bill will be
 based or the municipality has made reasonable effort to obtain an actual
 meter reading or (c) circumstances beyond the control of the utility  or
 municipality  made an actual reading of the meter extremely difficult or
 (d) circumstances indicate a reported reading is likely to be erroneous,
 or (e) an estimated reading is prescribed or authorized by  the  commis-
 sion for a billing period between periods when actual meter readings are
 scheduled  or  for  seasonal  or  short term customers.   OUTSIDE OF THE
 AFOREMENTIONED CRITERIA FOR ESTIMATED BILLING PURSUANT TO THIS  SECTION,
 ALL  OTHER  BILLS SHALL USE ACTUAL METER READINGS, HOWEVER SUCH READINGS
 MAY BE OBTAINED.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13530-05-2
 S. 7579--A                          2

 
   1-A. THE COMMISSION SHALL REVIEW ALL PROCEDURES USED BY UTILITY CORPO-
 RATIONS AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THIS STATE TO CALCULATE  ESTIMATED  BILLS,
 AND SHALL CREATE AND DISTRIBUTE TO SUCH UTILITY CORPORATIONS AND MUNICI-
 PALITIES  A MODEL PROCEDURE FOR THE CALCULATION OF SUCH ESTIMATED BILLS.
 UPON  RECEIPT  OF  SUCH MODEL PROCEDURE FOR THE CALCULATION OF ESTIMATED
 BILLS, A UTILITY CORPORATION OR MUNICIPALITY SHALL USE SUCH MODEL PROCE-
 DURE FOR THE CALCULATION OF ALL ESTIMATED BILLS ESTIMATED ON  AND  AFTER
 SUCH  RECEIPT.   ON OR BEFORE NOVEMBER FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE,
 THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION SHALL ISSUE AN ORDER CREATING A NEW PROCE-
 DURE FOR THE CALCULATION OF SUCH ESTIMATED BILLS AND  A  UTILITY  CORPO-
 RATION OR MUNICIPALITY SHALL ADOPT SUCH PROCEDURE IMMEDIATELY.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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