New York Assembly Bill A03083

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/23/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Enacts the "disadvantaged communities commitment act"; requires investor-owned energy utilities to collect and publish data on disadvantaged communities in certain service areas and file such statistics with the public service commission.

Summary

This bill, titled the “disadvantaged communities commitment act,” would require investor-owned energy utilities in New York to collect, publish, and file annual statistics about disadvantaged communities in their service areas. The required reporting would be organized by census tract and would include information such as the number of residential customers served by electric only, gas only, or both; enrollment in energy assistance and home energy assistance programs; participation in budget billing; average arrears; active deferred payment agreements; and other bill-relief or assistance programs. The bill also requires utilities to post the data on customer-facing websites, make it downloadable in CSV format, and keep each year’s statistics available online for three years. The first filing would cover the prior calendar year when the law takes effect, and thereafter the reports would be due annually by January 31. Violations would be subject to penalties or sanctions under existing Public Service Law enforcement provisions.

Impact

The bill would amend the Public Service Law by adding a new section requiring investor-owned gas and electric utilities to disclose standardized data on disadvantaged communities and customer assistance usage. It would create a new reporting obligation for utilities and a corresponding oversight role for the Department of Public Service and the Public Service Commission, while also tying noncompliance to existing penalty provisions. The practical effect would be greater transparency about utility service conditions, arrears, and assistance program participation in disadvantaged communities, with implications for utilities, regulators, consumer advocates, and customers in those communities.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to have a generally supportive policy framing centered on transparency, accountability, and attention to disadvantaged communities. The bill’s sponsors present it as a data-reporting and disclosure measure rather than a substantive rate or service mandate, which may make it broadly appealing to consumer and environmental justice advocates. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no documented opposition or recorded legislative sentiment in the available materials.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are likely to be the administrative burden on investor-owned utilities, the scope and granularity of the required reporting, and the compliance costs associated with collecting and maintaining census-tract-level data and website postings. Utilities or industry stakeholders may also question whether the reporting requirements duplicate existing filings or whether some data elements could be difficult to standardize across service areas. On the other hand, supporters are likely to emphasize that the bill improves transparency and helps identify where customers in disadvantaged communities are experiencing arrears or relying on assistance programs.