What's happening
This bill requires utilities to offer payment plans for overdue bills after a state emergency, preventing service termination for past-due amounts.
Why it matters
Helps residents avoid immediate utility shutoffs. during vulnerable periods after state emergencies (like pandemics or natural disasters), giving people time to recover financially instead of facing sudden loss of essential services.
Requires utilities to allow customers to pay overdue bills in manageable monthly installments. spread out based on the customer’s typical usage—without additional late fees, reducing financial stress for those hit hardest by emergencies.
Directs the Public Service Commission to establish clear, uniform procedures. for how utilities must handle both disconnections and restorations after an emergency, which can protect consumers from inconsistent practices and ensure fair treatment statewide.
Allows utilities to seek damages in certain cases. , but only if those claims don’t conflict with the new protections, balancing consumer protections with utility company rights and encouraging reasonable payment arrangements.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Spread Out Utility Back Payments
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8252
IN SENATE
April 27, 2020
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 the annualization of past-due utility payments after an emergency order is lifted
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 32 of the public service law, as added by chapter 686 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
6. Special procedures following a state disaster emergency order. After a duly-declared order issued pursuant to section twenty-eight of the executive law is formally lifted, including but not limited to a state disaster emergency order issued for a pandemic, no utility corporation or municipality shall terminate the service of a residential customer because of arrears owed to the utility corporation or municipality. The utility corporation or municipality shall provide such customer with the right to annualize past due payments incurred during the emergency order, minus late fees, in monthly installments not to exceed three months average billing. The commission shall provide special procedures, in accordance with this subdivision, to be followed by a utility corporation or municipality with respect to the termination or restoration of services after an emergency order is lifted.
7. Implementation of the provisions of this section shall not limit the contractual remedies for damages which might be available to the terminating utility provided that an award of such damages is not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this article.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16225-01-0
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 the annualization of past-due utility payments after an emergency order is lifted
Purpose or general idea of bill
To prevent the termination of service and the collection of the total amount of past-due utility payments once the emergency order or utility moratorium is lifted.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 provides for a new subdivision 6 that would prevent utility corporation or municipality from terminating the service(s) of residen- tial customers because of past due payments. The utility corporation or municipality must provide the customer with the right to annualize past due payments incurred during the emergency order, minus late fees, in monthly installments.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
Justification
The proposed legislation seeks to alleviate the on-coming financial burden that awaits many New Yorkers who have been unemployed since the appearance of COVID19 and the issuance of the Governor's executive order. Many New Yorkers were financially struggling prior to COVID-19, and many New Yorkers will undoubtable face immense financial struggle once the Governor-s emergency order and utility moratorium is lifted; this bill aims to provide a structured payment method that allows New York residents to sufficiently balance past-due payments
Legislative history
New Bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.