What's happening
This bill requires utilities to offer real time smart meters to residential customers, allowing greater control over electricity usage and pricing.
Why it matters
Empowers consumers with granular data and control. By mandating that smart meters provide real-time information on both usage and pricing, residents can make informed choices about when and how much electricity to use, potentially saving money and conserving energy.
Enables dynamic pricing and demand response. Real-time smart meters can communicate with home appliances and adjust their usage based on price signals, helping to flatten demand spikes, prevent grid overloads, and encourage off-peak energy use.
Promotes market competition and choice. Residents are not limited to their utility for meter installation; they can choose from certified third-party providers, which may drive innovation and better pricing in the metering and energy service market.
Creates new regulatory and market frameworks. The bill requires the public service commission to certify meter providers, set billing structures, and oversee local pilot programs, potentially spurring the development of new energy management businesses and giving county governments a direct role in launching local initiatives.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Residential electricity customers
They could keep their current meters or buy or rent real-time smart meters, with participating customers paying usage- and time-based charges, a flat fee and a surcharge for exceeding service capacity.
Public Service Commission
It would certify smart-meter businesses, approve all charges, establish pilot programs and set rules for program operation and approval.
Electric utilities and third-party meter providers
Regulated transfer and delivery utilities could negotiate nonparticipation for at least ten years and receive a meter decommissioning fee, while new meter service providers and community providers could offer meters in that market.
County legislatures and boards of supervisors
They could petition for accelerated smart-meter pilots and local programs, with local program applications subject to public hearings and decision deadlines.
Headline styles
Let Residents Choose Smart Meters
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3093
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 19, 2017
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to providing real time smart metering technology to residential electricity customers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature intends to provide residential customers with the ability to control and manage electricity usage and the time of usage in their homes. The implementation of a real time pricing smart meter program should help to conserve energy and prevent peak-time system overloads. The expansion of the use of real time pricing smart meters from the commercial and industrial markets to the residential market should benefit consumers with reduced monthly costs and stimulate market competition.
§ 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 39-a to read as follows:
§ 39-a. Real time pricing smart metering. 1. As used in this section, the term "real time smart meter" or "meter" shall mean a metering device that has the following capabilities:
(a) coupled with an in-home display device that can display real time usage or demand and real time pricing in useful comparisons including, but not limited to, means such as side by side bar graphs or color coded systems that reflect changing utility demand and pricing;
(b) recording and storing and interpreting kilowatt per hour user rates in one-half hour intervals;
(c) communicating real time pricing thresholds to home appliances to reduce appliance usage as determined by the ratepayer or in agreements with an energy provider;
(d) being read remotely or receiving data from, but not limited to, the internet, wireless fidelity network, broadband over power line,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06103-01-7
S. 3093 2
power line carrier, ethernet, phone line, wireless cell phone line, radio frequency or other communications system;
(e) storing usage data up to three months;
(f) detecting a loss of power to a customer with immediate communication of such loss to the energy provider; and
(g) providing data analysis on such as historical consumption patterns, utilization rates, power outages, peak demand times and power requirements, costs per kilowatt hour, pricing, and usage history.
2. (a) The commission shall promote the utilization of real time smart meters by residential electricity customers in this state. Furthermore, it shall provide for the certification of companies who install, rent, sell, maintain, repair, alter or replace such meters.
(b) Residential electricity customers shall have the option to continue with their present utility metering system or acquiring a real time smart meter. Such meter may be purchased or rented from the supplier of electricity or from a third party certified by the commission to transact such business. Purchases may be made by cash or by financing for a term of up to twenty years. Rental agreements may also be entered into on an annual or term of years basis.
(c) (i) The cost of electricity for a residential customer who elects to change to a real time smart meter shall be based on:
(1) the customer's electricity usage and time of usage; and
(2) a flat fee that shall incorporate: (A) a generation bid cost; and (B) service size costs based on the residential customer's service size capacity as determined by the supplier of electricity.
(ii) An additional surcharge shall be levied on such residential customer if such electricity usage exceeds the service size capacity.
(iii) The variable costs shall be paid by a residential customer for electricity used as indicated by the real time smart meter and the flat fee costs shall be paid by such customer, as determined by the supplier of electricity and approved by the commission, as part of the regular billing cycle.
(d) The commission shall approve all charges, including variable rates, fixed rates and surcharges.
3. Electricity transfer and delivery utilities regulated by the commission may reach agreement with the commission to forego participation in the real time smart meter program for at least ten years. During this period of time new meter service providers and community providers would have the opportunity to provide such meters in this market. If such an agreement is entered into, such utilities shall be allowed to receive a meter decommissioning fee. The meter decommissioning fee shall be an amount agreed upon by such utility and the commission.
4. The commission shall establish real time smart metering pilot programs. A county legislature or board of supervisors may petition that the commission approve the operation of a real time smart metering pilot program within its jurisdiction on an accelerated basis. Such petition shall set forth the parameters of the pilot program including the customers of such county to be served, technologies to be used and provide detailed performance measures to be used including energy conservation goals.
§ 3. The public service commission shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this act. Such rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, establishing criteria for the operation and approval of all smart metering programs, including those applications submitted by county governments to establish their
S. 3093 3
own real time smart metering programs. A county legislature or board of supervisors may petition the public service commission for approval to establish a local real time smart metering program on or after the three hundred sixty-fifth day after this act shall have become a law. If such petition is denied, the public service commission shall provide in writing the reasons for such denial and provide the conditions and criteria the public service commission maintains would lead to a subsequent application approval. Any county application shall have a public hearing conducted on such application within 120 days of submission of such application to the public service commission and a decision rendered within 120 days after the public hearing has been concluded.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the two hundred seventieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately the public service commission is authorized to adopt any rules or regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act on or before such date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to providing real time smart metering technology to residential electricity customers
Purpose or general idea of bill
To facilitate the use of "smart metering" of electricity by residential users so that households can reduce the cost of electrical services by utilizing electricity during off-peak times, which is cheaper than using electricity during high peak demand times.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 states the legislative intent.
Section 2 adds a new section to the Public Service Law, Section 39-a, which encourages the use of real time pricing smart metering for residential consumers. Larger commercial and industrial users of electricity already have access to this new metering technology. This section provides:
*definitions for what the new "smart meters" must be able to do so that residential consumers can easily compare on a 1/2 hour basis the amount of electricity the consumer uses and the price of such electricity at the time of use;
*authorization for the Public Service Commission (PSC) to certify companies that can sell, maintain, or repair such smart meters; * permission for electric utility companies and independent vendors to sell, maintain, or repair such smart meters; and
*the ability for the Public Service Commission to establish pilot projects to counties that wish to establish such smart metering projects.
Justification
Smart metering programs already exist for large commercial and industrial users of electricity, which have proven successful in New York and throughout the United States as a means to control costs, conserve energy, and prevent service disruptions. Smart metering and demand response programs could provide residential electricity consumers with electricity rate price signals so that such consumers would have accurate knowledge to properly alter their behavior and utilize electricity during cheaper off-peak times of the day.
This would have two benefits. First, the cost of electricity could be reduced for residential customers because it would be utilized when the price of electricity was low. Second, shifting the demand for electricity from peak times would reduce the stress that is placed on electrical generating plants, transmission lines, and the national electrical grid to provide more power during peak usage times. This, in turn, would reduce the likelihood of blackouts and other service disruptions that can happen when power plants and transmission lines are forced to Produce large amounts of. electricity at or above their normal generating capacity.
Prior legislative history
2015-16: S.774 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications 2013-14: S.1642 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications 2011-12: S.1084 - Referred to Energy & Telecommunications 2009-10: S.8380/A.7349 - Referred to Energy & Telecommunications 2007-08: S:4969-A/A.8111-A - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the 270th day after it has became law, with provisions.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.