Directs the public service commission to undertake a study of consumer protections adopted by electric corporations and utilities; includes reporting on the adequacy of the public service commission's assistance to customers facing disconnection of utility service.
This bill directs the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) to conduct an immediate study of consumer protections used by electric corporations and municipalities that provide utility service. The study must examine how well utilities notify customers in arrears about ways to avoid termination of electric, gas, or steam service, including deferred payment agreements, and assess the PSC’s assistance to customers negotiating those agreements. It also requires the PSC to review the number of deferred payment plans by service territory, instances where utilities may have demanded more than legally allowed down payments or payment terms, the effectiveness of the PSC’s shutoff hotline, hotline call volume by territory, and the number of customers who previously received Home Energy Assistance Program support but later had service terminated for collection purposes.
The bill further requires the PSC to seek input from utilities, municipalities, consumer advocates, and the public, and to publish the report on its website. The report may include recommendations for improving consumer protection policies and increasing awareness of the shutoff hotline. If the PSC does not submit the study by November 15, 2026, the bill imposes a temporary moratorium on utility terminations of electric, gas, or steam service for residential customers in arrears who have entered into an agreement for service, running from December 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.
The bill would not immediately change substantive utility termination rules, but it would require the PSC to gather and disclose detailed information about arrearage protections, deferred payment practices, and disconnections across utility territories. It would also compel utilities to provide customer-level data in a confidentiality-preserving way and could lead to future legislative or regulatory changes based on the report’s findings. The fallback moratorium provision creates a potential temporary restriction on service shutoffs if the PSC misses the reporting deadline, affecting electric, gas, and steam utilities and residential customers in arrears who have payment agreements.
The bill appears generally consumer-protection oriented, with its focus on preventing disconnections, improving notice, and evaluating the adequacy of assistance for customers facing utility shutoff. The inclusion of public reporting, stakeholder comments, and possible policy recommendations suggests an intent to build support around transparency and accountability rather than immediate punitive regulation. No vote or committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded opposition or support beyond the bill’s structure and stated purpose.
The main points of potential contention are the reporting burden on utilities, the scope of customer data collection, and the conditional moratorium on terminations if the PSC fails to complete the study on time. Utilities may object to the administrative requirements, confidentiality concerns, or the possibility of a shutdown moratorium that limits collection efforts. Consumer advocates are likely to support the bill’s emphasis on notice, deferred payment access, hotline effectiveness, and protections for low-income customers and HEAP recipients.