Relates to establishing minimum standards for payment plans for eligible customers; requires the public service commission to set standards for payment plans for certain customers including reasonableness of agreements and timelines for payment; establishes eligibility.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4105A
SPONSOR: Cunningham TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to establishing
minimum standards for payment plans for eligible customers
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To direct the Public Service Commission to set minimum standards for
payment plans established by utility companies in the state.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the public service law. Authorizes and directs the
Public Service Commission to set standards for payment plans set up by
utilities for eligible customers. Subdivision 1 requires such standards
to include whether a payment is reasonable considering the household
income, payment history, size of the bill and other factors.
Subdivision 2 describes minimum payment plan terms including requiring
that payment plans:
*allow installments as low as $10;
*give customers 21 days from which the bill sent to pay it in full;
*prevent a customer from having service terminated unless certain
actions are taken by the customer or unless it is necessary;
*provide an option to spread a rate increase or significant supply cost
increase over the remainder of the payment plan.
Subdivision 3 sets the requirements for establishing eligibility for a
customer.
Section two provides for an effective date thirty days after the bill
shall have become a law.
JUSTIFICATION:
During a long period of inflation and extraordinarily high energy rates
payment plans should be more accessible and available to individuals who
have demonstrated the need. Payment plans should be tools to help low-
income families and those struggling to pay their bills better structure
to do so instead of tools for generational debt. This legislation
directs the Public Service Commission to establish standards that utili-
ty companies must abide by when providing payment plans so that custom-
ers are not harmed by the terms.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.4497/S.1199 - Reported to Ways and Means
2021-22: A.10479/S.8984 - Referred to Energy
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Thirty days after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4105--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CUNNINGHAM, SANTABARBARA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Energy -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to establishing
minimum standards for payment plans for eligible customers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section
2 37-b to read as follows:
3 § 37-b. Minimum standards for payment plans. 1. The commission is
4 authorized and directed to set minimum standards for payment plans for
5 eligible customers set up by utility companies. Such standards shall
6 include whether a payment agreement, including any down payment require-
7 ments, is reasonable. Reasonableness shall be determined by considering
8 the current household income, ability to pay, payment history including
9 prior defaults on similar agreements, the size of the bill, the amount
10 of time and the reasons why the bill has been outstanding, and any
11 special circumstances creating extreme hardships within the household.
12 The utility company may require the person to confirm financial diffi-
13 culty with an acknowledgment from another state or local agency.
14 2. (a) A payment agreement under this section shall provide for
15 installments as low as ten dollars per month and no down payment,
16 provided the customer or applicant demonstrates financial need for such
17 terms.
18 (b) Each utility company shall permit each customer a period of not
19 less than twenty-one days from the date the bill was sent to pay in
20 full, unless the customer and the utility agree on a different due date.
21 A utility company shall not withdraw funds from a customer's account
22 before the due date in cases where a customer uses an automatic bill
23 payment plan unless the customer agrees to a different period.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03272-02-5
A. 4105--A 2
1 (c) While enrolled in a residential payment plan, a residential
2 customer's utility service may not be terminated unless the residential
3 customer violates a rule of the utility company on file with the commis-
4 sion, disconnection is necessary for reasons of health, safety, or state
5 or national emergencies, or termination is ordered by the commission.
6 (d) Payment plans shall be offered to allow a customer to pay past-due
7 amounts over a period of time, unless the amounts due relate to theft of
8 service, tampering, an unauthorized use of service, or failure to abide
9 by the terms of a time-payment plan.
10 (e) In the event a rate change approved by the commission becomes
11 effective or in the event the supply portion of a customer's bill will
12 be twenty percent or higher than the supply cost over two consecutive
13 billing cycles, while a residential customer is enrolled in and in
14 compliance with a payment plan, such customer shall be provided the
15 option to spread the effect of the rate change ratably over the remain-
16 der of the payment plan period. Included with the first adjusted bill,
17 the utility company shall provide notice to the customer explaining the
18 reason for the change and showing a calculation of how the utility
19 company arrived at the new monthly payment.
20 3. An individual or household shall be determined to be eligible for a
21 payment plan under this section if such individual or household provides
22 documentation of eligibility to the utility company for any of the
23 following programs, provided such documentation is dated no later than
24 three hundred sixty-five days preceding the date of the payment plan:
25 (a) temporary assistance for needy families (family assistance);
26 (b) safety net assistance (public assistance);
27 (c) supplemental security income (SSI);
28 (d) supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP);
29 (e) veterans disability pension and survivors benefits;
30 (f) child health plus;
31 (g) lifeline;
32 (h) home energy assistance program (HEAP);
33 (i) direct vendor or utility guarantee;
34 (j) social security disability insurance (SSDI);
35 (k) Medicaid;
36 (l) federal public housing assistance;
37 (m) bureau of Indian affairs general assistance;
38 (n) Head Start;
39 (o) tribal TANF;
40 (p) food distribution program on Indian reservation (FDPIR); and
41 (q) any other income-based assistance program identified by the
42 commission and/or the office of temporary and disability assistance.
43 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
44 have become a law.
