A 7963: Eliminates late fees for residential utility customers; provides that no late payment charges may be imposed on residential customers.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7963 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY April 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAPIA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to eliminating late fees for residential utility customers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 42 of the public service law, as added by chapter 2 713 of the laws of 1981 and subdivision 3 as added by chapter 388 of the 3 laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows: 4 § 42. Other charges. 1. A utility corporation or municipality may 5 impose late payment charges not in excess of one and one-half percent 6 per month on the unpaid balance of any bill including any interest ther- 7 eon, provided, however, that no such late payment charge may be imposed 8 on any residential customer, regardless of whether the bill is the 9 subject of a pending complaint. Any such late payment [charge, however, 10 may not be imposed if the bill is the subject of a pending complaint 11 with the utility or municipality provided, however, that such] charge 12 may be imposed retroactively, only in the case of non-residential 13 customers, if the complaint is finally resolved in favor of the utility 14 or municipality. 15 2. [Except as provided in subdivision one of this section, no] No 16 utility corporation or municipality may charge any residential customer 17 a late payment charge, penalty, fee, interest, or other charge of any 18 kind for any late payment, collection effort, service disconnection or 19 deferred payment agreement occasioned by the customer's failure to pay 20 timely for gas or electric service. 21 3. The rights and responsibilities of residential customers partic- 22 ipating in green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery pursuant to 23 section sixty-six-m of this chapter shall be substantially comparable to 24 those of electric and gas customers not participating in on-bill recov- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11200-01-5 
 A. 7963 2 1 ery, and charges for on-bill recovery shall be treated as charges for 2 utility service for the purpose of this article, provided that: 3 (a) all determinations and safeguards related to the termination and 4 reconnection of service shall apply to on-bill recovery charges billed 5 by a utility pursuant to such section; 6 (b) in the event that the responsibility for making utility payments 7 has been assumed by occupants of a multiple dwelling pursuant to section 8 thirty-three of this article or by occupants of a two-family dwelling 9 pursuant to section thirty-four of this article, such occupants shall 10 not be billed for any arrears of on-bill recovery charges or any 11 prospective on-bill recovery charges, which shall remain the responsi- 12 bility of the incurring customer; 13 (c) deferred payment agreements pursuant to section thirty-seven of 14 this article shall be available to customers participating in on-bill 15 recovery on the same terms as other customers, and the utility shall 16 retain the same discretion to defer termination of service as for any 17 other delinquent customer; 18 (d) where a customer has a budget billing plan or levelized payment 19 plan pursuant to section thirty-eight of this article, the utility shall 20 recalculate the payments under such plan to reflect the projected 21 effects of installing energy efficiency measures as soon as practicable 22 after receipt of information on the energy audit and qualified energy 23 efficiency services selected; 24 (e) on-bill recovery charges shall not be subject to the provisions of 25 section forty-one of this article; 26 (f) [late payment charges on unpaid on-bill recovery charges shall be 27 determined as provided in this section, or as otherwise consented to by 28 the customer in the agreement for green jobs-green New York on-bill 29 recovery and any such charges shall be remitted to the New York state 30 energy research and development authority] no late payment charges shall 31 be imposed on unpaid on-bill recovery charges for residential customers; 32 (g) notwithstanding the provisions of section forty-three of this 33 article, when a complaint is related solely to work performed under the 34 green jobs-green New York program or to the appropriate amount of 35 on-bill recovery charges, the utility shall only be required to inform 36 the customer of the complaint handling procedures of the New York state 37 energy research and development authority, which shall retain responsi- 38 bility for handling such complaints, and such complaints shall not be 39 deemed to be complaints about utility service in any other commission 40 action or proceeding; and 41 (h) billing information provided pursuant to section forty-four of 42 this article shall include information on green jobs-green New York 43 on-bill recovery charges, including the basis for such charges, and any 44 information or inserts provided by the New York state energy research 45 and development authority related thereto. In addition, at least annual- 46 ly the authority shall provide the utility with information for inclu- 47 sion or insertion in the customer's bill that sets forth the amount and 48 duration of remaining on-bill recovery charges and the authority's 49 contact information and procedures for resolving customer complaints 50 with such charges. 51 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.