S 4336: Requires gas and electric utilities to make available to landlords or lessors, upon request of prospective tenants or lessees, information concerning gas and electric charges incurred for residential rental premises.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4336 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni- cations AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to making gas and electric billing information for residential rental premises available upon request The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 2 66-x to read as follows: 3 § 66-x. Gas and electric billing information for residential rental 4 premises. Every gas corporation, electric corporation and municipality 5 shall make available to any landlord or lessor of residential rental 6 premises, within ten days of receipt of a written or internet request 7 therefor from any prospective tenant or lessee thereof, prior to the 8 commencement of tenancy or execution of a lease, information consisting 9 of the average monthly charges incurred at such premises for gas or 10 electric service or both for the life of the dwelling unit or the 11 preceding two year period, whichever is shorter. Prospective tenants or 12 lessees shall provide their name, address, driver's license number or 13 social security number or taxpayer identification number or non-driver 14 ID card or any official documented or undocumented immigration identifi- 15 cation, signature, and acknowledge that this billing information 16 requested may only be used for the purpose of determining prior gas and 17 electric usage as a factor in deciding to occupy the dwelling unit. Each 18 prospective tenant or lessee is limited to a total of five requests in a 19 calendar year within the state of New York. Such information shall be 20 identified solely by the address of the dwelling unit, and no other 21 information identifying the owner, lessee, or other occupant of the 22 dwelling unit shall be utilized for, or made available in connection 23 with, the furnishing of billing information pursuant to this section. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05592-01-5 
 S. 4336 2 1 Such information shall be furnished to both the landlord or lessor and 2 to the prospective tenant or lessee with an imposition of a five dollar 3 charge to the prospective tenant or lessee requesting the billing infor- 4 mation payable to the gas corporation, electric corporation and munici- 5 pality providing such information. 6 § 2. The public service commission is directed to: (a) create a proc- 7 ess whereby a prospective tenant or lessee may obtain by written request 8 or by the internet to the gas corporation, electric corporation and 9 municipality the average monthly electric and gas charges for the life 10 of the dwelling unit or the preceding two year period, whichever is 11 shorter, prior to the commencement of tenancy or execution of a lease 12 while maintaining the privacy of the current tenant or lessor; (b) 13 ensure the request is made only for the purpose of deciding whether to 14 occupy a dwelling unit; and (c) determine the cost of providing the 15 information by the utility and assess a fee to the prospective tenant or 16 lessee requesting the information payable to the gas corporation, elec- 17 tric corporation and municipality providing the information. 18 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 19 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 20 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 21 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 22 completed on or before such effective date.