Permits the rendering of an estimated bill from a utility corporation or municipality under certain circumstances; requires each utility corporation and municipality within six months to submit to the commission a model for the calculation of and procedures for estimated bills that incorporates best practices and technology and accounts for any barriers to the use of actual meter readings.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5969A
SPONSOR: Jacobson 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 OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To protect ratepayers by mitigating excessive fluctuations in utility
bills by requiring utility bills to reflect actual month-to-month meter
readings and requiring 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.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 1 and 2 of section 39 of the Public Service
Law by requiring that the approved estimation procedure for utility
bills is limited to the criteria listed under subdivision 1(a) of
section 39 of the Public Service Law.
Subdivision 1(b) states that estimated bills shall not be issued to a
customer for any consecutive billing period unless the customer does not
provide access to the meter or there is a declared state of emergency.
Subdivision (c) states that outside of the criteria for rendering esti-
mated billing under subdivision 1(a) of this section, all other bills
shall use actual meter readings.
Subdivision (d) states that a customer shall not be charged for any
supply or delivery costs associated with an estimated bill that does not
comply with this section nor recover revenue from any of its customers
that it is precluded from collecting under this section.
ing availability of the remote reading of meters should also cut down
the need for estimated bills. Utility companies should make the remote
reading of meters universal.
This bill will limit estimated billing to only specific criteria listed
under subdivision 1(a) of section 39 of the Public Service Law. All
other utility bills shall use actual meter readings however such read-
ings may be obtained. It will also require the Public Service Commission
to review current practices and come up with a new standard, a model
procedure, for estimated billing.
Most importantly, a utility cannot bill for consecutive estimated bill-
ings unless the customer does not provide access or there is a declared
state of emergency.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021:2022: A10511 - Referred to Assembly Corporations, Authorities and
Commissions Committee 59469 - Passed Senate
2023-2024: A888C, 51851E - Passed both houses; vetoed by Governor
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and eightieth day after it
shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 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.
Subdivision (e) states nothing in this subdivision shall be interpreted
as preempting settlements with the commission or department that are
stricter than those contained in this subdivision.
Subdivision (f) states that a reading from an advanced metering infras-
tructure enabled meter will be considered an actual reading.
A new subdivision 1-a is added to Section 39 of the Public Service Law
which requires each utility corporation and municipality within six
months to submit to the commission a model procedure for the calculation
of estimated bills that incorporates best practices and technology and
accounts for any barriers to the use of actual meter readings. On or
before November first, two-thousand twenty-six, the commission shall
promulgate rules and regulations to incorporate and adopt such model
procedures for utility corporations and municipalities.
Subdivision 2 is amended to require utility companies that could not
obtain an actual meter reading to take reasonable actions to obtain one
for the subsequent billing period. Reasonable actions are expanded to
include an offer the customer the opportunity to submit an actual meter
reading by telephone or electronic transmission such as a photo of the
meter reading.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date which is on the one hundred and
eightieth day after the bill becomes a law. Effective immediately, 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.
JUSTIFICATION:
The only thing worse than receiving your utility bill is receiving an
unexpected bill which is extremely high because it is an estimated bill
or because the previous estimated bills were too low so when the meter
is finally read, the bill is very high to make up for the low estimates
in the past.
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 addi-
tional 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. This makes budgeting nearly impossible for consumers. The grow-
