Senate Bill S9118

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9118
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 4, 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  termination  of
   service, deferred payment plans and quarterly billing
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 32 of the public
 service law, as added by chapter 713 of the laws of 1981, is amended  to
 read as follows:
   (d) is sent a final notice of termination no less than [fifteen] THIR-
 TY days before the termination date shown on the notice. Any such notice
 shall,  at  a  minimum,  clearly  state  the  reason  for termination of
 service; how termination may be avoided; that the utility corporation or
 municipality has available procedures for handling complaints; a summary
 of the protections available  under  this  article;  that  any  customer
 eligible  for such protections should contact the utility corporation or
 municipality; and such other provisions as the commission may require. A
 utility corporation or municipality may not  issue  a  final  notice  of
 termination  unless  at least [twenty] FORTY-FIVE days have elapsed from
 the date payment was due. The commission may increase the number of days
 before which a final notice of termination may be sent.
   § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision  3  of  section  32  of  the  public
 service  law, as added by chapter 713 of the laws of 1981, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (b) Customers who are elderly,  blind,  or  disabled.  The  commission
 shall  provide special procedures to be followed by a utility or munici-
 pality with respect to the termination or restoration of  service  to  a
 residence where the customer is known to or identified to the utility to
 be  blind,  disabled,  or sixty-two years of age or older; provided that
 all the remaining residents of the household are sixty-two years of  age
 or older, [eighteen] TWENTY-ONE years of age or under, or blind or disa-
 bled.  The  commission  shall  afford reasonable protections to elderly,
 blind or disabled customers, including a requirement  that  the  utility
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14674-01-6
 S. 9118                             2
 
 corporation  or  municipality make a diligent effort to contact by tele-
 phone or in person an adult resident at the customer's premises at least
 seventy-two hours prior to termination of service. The commission  shall
 also  establish reasonable procedures for identifying customers eligible
 for the protections of this section.
   § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 37 of the public service law, as amended
 by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
   1. No utility corporation or municipality shall terminate or refuse to
 take all actions within such corporation or municipality's control  and,
 where  applicable,  consistent  with the provisions of the agreement for
 commodity service, if any, between the  corporation  and  the  customer,
 provided  such  provisions  are consistent with this article, to restore
 service to a residential customer, because of arrears owed  the  utility
 corporation  or  municipality, unless the utility or municipality offers
 such customer a deferred payment agreement for such  arrears;  provided,
 however,  that a deferred payment agreement under this article shall not
 be available to any customer  who  the  commission  determines  has  the
 resources  available  to  pay  [his]  THE  CUSTOMER'S bill, and provided
 further, however, that any such agreement may provide for  the  customer
 to  make a downpayment of the arrears, provided that no such downpayment
 shall exceed [one-half] ONE-THIRD of the amount of  arrears  or  [three]
 SIX  months average billing, whichever is less. In addition, the commis-
 sion shall provide by regulation that (a) all  deferred  payment  agree-
 ments  authorized by this article be fair and equitable, considering the
 customer's financial circumstances; (b) that  such  agreements  obligate
 customers to make timely payment of current charges for service together
 with payment of arrears during the pendency of the agreements; that such
 agreements may be renegotiated and amended where the customer can demon-
 strate  that  there  have  been  significant changes in [his or her] THE
 CUSTOMER'S financial circumstances which have arisen due  to  conditions
 beyond  the  customer's  control,  and  that, if the customer receives a
 utility service by the receipt of portions of such service from each  of
 two  or more utility corporations and is billed for such service through
 a single bill, the payments pursuant to the deferred  payment  agreement
 for  current charges shall be allocated to each such utility corporation
 based on the current charges owing to each and the payments for  arrears
 shall  be  allocated  equitably on a pro-rata basis between such utility
 corporations based on the amount of arrears owing to each.
   § 4. Subdivision 2 of section 38 of the public service law,  as  added
 by chapter 716 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Every  utility corporation or municipality shall offer residential
 customers who are [sixty-two] FIFTY-FIVE years of age or  older,  as  an
 alternative  to monthly billing, a plan for payment on a quarterly basis
 of charges for gas and electric service rendered by such corporation  or
 municipality,  provided  that  such customer's average annual billing is
 not more than one hundred fifty dollars.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate-
 ly,  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.