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Senate Bill S8946

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires that gas and electric corporations provide in-person customer service representatives and maintain a publicly accessible outage and emergency tracking website

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Energy And Telecommunications Committee

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2025-S8946 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:
Public Service Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§65 & 66, Pub Serv L

2025-S8946 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires that gas and electric corporations provide in-person customer service representatives and maintain a publicly accessible outage and emergency tracking website.

2025-S8946 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8946 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8946
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 20, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by Sen. OBERACKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed  to  be  committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
   cations
 
 AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring gas and
   electric corporations provide  in-person  customer  service  represen-
   tatives and maintain a publicly accessible outage and emergency track-
   ing website

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 13 of section 65 of the public
 service law, as amended by chapter 107 of the laws of 2025,  is  amended
 to read as follows:
   (a)  Every  gas corporation or electric corporation furnishing utility
 services shall provide the following  call  center  customer  assistance
 receiving  inquiries  by  phone  or  in  writing  on: customer financial
 responsibility; receiving requests to  initiate  or  terminate  service;
 receiving  requests  for  emergency  services;  PROVIDING INFORMATION ON
 OUTAGES AND EMERGENCIES; shared metering; 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; inbound and/or outbound handling of  payment  and  other
 credit arrangements such as obtaining deposits, financial statements and
 payment  plans;  collection assistance inquiries and referring customers
 to social service agencies and  other  assistance  programs.  SUCH  CALL
 CENTER  SHALL ALWAYS HAVE AVAILABLE IN-PERSON CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESEN-
 TATIVES TO RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO INQUIRIES  BY  PHONE.  This  paragraph
 shall  not  apply  to  communications  between  departments to resolve a
 customer inquiry. For purposes of this section,  "collection  assistance
 inquiries"  shall  not  include  calls  or  activities  related  to  the
 collection of debts that are referred to third-party collection agencies
 or those involving the direct pursuit of financial  recovery  on  delin-
 quent accounts.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13660-01-5

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