S 9422: Allows surplus or uncommitted funds in the New York state climate investment account to be returned to ratepayers; establishes a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and a two-year green energy tax holiday; relates to audits of utility corporations; authorizes the public service commission to reconsider rate increases; grants customers the right to decline smart meters and prohibits such customers from being penalized or charged exercising such right; directs the public service commission to conduct a study analyzing the economic impact of the use of smart meters; relates to costs and expenses of the department of public service and the public service commission; directs the public service commission to develop a formula to determine the average cost to comply with the provisions set forth in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law; provides for a ratepayer protection tax credit; repeals certain provisions of law relating to the assessment of costs and expenses of the department of public service and the public service commission.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9422  IN SENATE March 11, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GRIFFO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to the use of funds in the New York state climate investment account; to amend the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to establishing a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday; to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a two-year green energy tax holiday; to amend the public service law, in relation to legislative hearings and audits of utilities and reconsideration of rate increases; directing the public service commission to conduct a study analyzing the economic impact of the use of smart meters; to amend the public service law, in relation to costs and expenses of the department of public service and the public service commission; to amend the tax law, in relation to providing for a ratepayer protection tax credit; to repeal certain provisions of the public service law relating to the assessment of costs and expenses of the department of public service and the public service commission; and providing for the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 99-qq of the 2 state finance law, as added by section 2 of part TT of chapter 56 of the 3 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 4 (c) The New York climate action fund climate investment account shall 5 consist of moneys received by the state pursuant to paragraph (c) of 6 subdivision twenty-five of section eighteen hundred fifty-four of the 7 public authorities law, and all other moneys appropriated, credited, or 8 transferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law. 9 Moneys of the account shall be made available for the purposes of 10 assisting the state in transitioning to a less carbon intensive economy, 11 including but not limited to: (i) purposes which are consistent with the 12 general findings of the scoping plan prepared pursuant to section 13 75-0103 of the environmental conservation law; (ii) administrative and 14 implementation costs, auction design and support costs, program design, EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15092-02-6 
 S. 9422 2 1 evaluation, and other associated costs; and (iii) measures which prior- 2 itize disadvantaged communities by supporting actions consistent with 3 the requirements of paragraph d of subdivision three of section 75-0109 4 and of section 75-0117 of the environmental conservation law, identified 5 through community decision-making and stakeholder input, including early 6 action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in disadvantaged communities; 7 provided, however, that any surplus or uncommitted funds remaining in 8 the account at the end of each fiscal year that were collected by utili- 9 ties on a bill-as-you-go basis pursuant to the clean energy fund frame- 10 work ordered by the public service commission, including any such funds 11 collected by utilities but not transferred to such account or trans- 12 ferred to the New York state energy research and development authority 13 shall be credited to ratepayer accounts. 14 § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 47-a to read as 15 follows: 16 § 47-a. Utility bill tax and surcharge holiday. (a) Definitions. For 17 the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following 18 meanings: 19 (1) "Applicable period" shall mean the period beginning fourteen days 20 after the effective date of this section and ending one year after such 21 beginning date. 22 (2) "Utility company" shall have the same meaning as such term is 23 defined in section two of the public service law. 24 (b) (1) Exemption from taxation. Notwithstanding any other provision 25 of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the following taxes imposed 26 on utility customers during the applicable period shall be exempt; gross 27 receipts tax and sales tax. 28 (2) Exemption from surcharges. Notwithstanding any other provision of 29 law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the following surcharges 30 imposed on utility customers made during the applicable period shall be 31 exempt; system benefits charge, temporary state assessment/incremental 32 state assessment charge and the renewable portfolio standard charge. 33 (c) Price reduction. During the applicable period the utility company 34 shall reduce the price of services by the amount of tax and surcharges 35 in excess that would have been collected from the customer if the 36 service had not been exempt from tax and surcharges pursuant to subdivi- 37 sion (b) of this section. 38 § 3. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 47-b to read as 39 follows: 40 § 47-b. Green energy tax holiday. Notwithstanding any rule, law, regu- 41 lation, or order of the public service commission to the contrary, no 42 tariff or surcharge assessed for the construction or implementation of 43 renewable energy systems, as defined by section sixty-six-p of the 44 public service law, electric vehicle ready infrastructure, as defined by 45 section 11-104 of the energy law, or electric vehicle charging stations, 46 as defined by section 11-104 of the energy law, may be imposed on any 47 utility ratepayer for a period of two years after the effective date of 48 this act. 49 § 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 89-l to 50 read as follows: 51 § 89-l. Utility bill tax and surcharge holiday. Within forty-five days 52 after the applicable period as defined by subdivision (a) of section 53 forty-seven-a of the tax law, the comptroller, in consultation with the 54 director of the division of the budget, shall transfer from the general 55 fund an amount equal to the amount that would have otherwise been depos- 56 ited in such accounts if the exemptions defined in paragraph one of 
 S. 9422 3 1 subdivision (b) of section forty-seven-a of the tax law had not been 2 authorized. 3 § 5. Section 66 of the public service law is amended by adding a new 4 subdivision 19-a to read as follows: 5 19-a. The commission shall promulgate rules and regulations relating 6 to audits of utility corporations and attendance and participation of 7 such corporations at legislative hearings. Such rules and regulations 8 shall provide that utility corporations may be subject to audits by 9 appropriate state agencies, including, but not limited to the state 10 comptroller's office and the department of financial services, and that 11 such corporations may be subject to state legislative hearings regarding 12 rate increases and energy costs. 13 § 6. Subdivision 12 of section 66 of the public service law is amended 14 by adding a new paragraph (n) to read as follows: 15 (n) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the commis- 16 sion shall be authorized to reconsider a rate increase that has been 17 approved and implemented pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and 18 to reinstate the rate prior to such increase or to reduce the amount of 19 such rate increase if the commission finds that such previously approved 20 rate increase is having a larger financial impact on customers than 21 anticipated when approving such rate increase. 22 § 7. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 67-b 23 to read as follows: 24 § 67-b. Smart meters; right of refusal. 1. It shall be the right of 25 every customer of an electric and/or gas corporation to decline the 26 permission of such customer's electric and/or gas corporation to: (a) 27 replace an existing meter at such customer's premises that is assigned 28 to such customer's account with a smart meter; or (b) install any two- 29 way smart meter device at such customer's property without such custom- 30 er's consent. No customer of an electric and/or gas corporation shall be 31 charged a penalty, fee, or service charge for exercising such right 32 pursuant to this section. 33 2. For the purposes of this section, "smart meter" shall mean a 34 metering device that electronically measures energy usage by a customer 35 and transmits such usage data to a utility for the purposes of billing 36 and monitoring. 37 § 8. a. The public service commission shall conduct a study to 38 analyze the economic impact, if any, of the use of smart meters. Such 39 study shall analyze the correlation, if any, between the installation of 40 smart meters and rising energy usage and rates, and any discrepancies 41 therein. 42 b. Within one year of the effective date of this act, the commission 43 shall issue a report on its findings and any recommendations pursuant to 44 such study and deliver such report to the governor and the legislature. 45 The commission shall also publish such report on the commission's 46 website. 47 § 9. Subdivision 1 of section 18-a of the public service law, as 48 amended by section 2 of part NN of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is 49 amended to read as follows: 50 [1.] All costs and expenses of the department and commission shall be 51 paid pursuant to appropriation by the legislature on the certification 52 of the [chairman] chair of the department and upon the audit and warrant 53 of the comptroller. The state treasury shall be reimbursed therefore by 54 payments to be made thereto from all moneys collected pursuant to this 55 chapter. The total of such costs and expenses shall be borne by the 56 public utility companies (including for the purposes of this section 
 S. 9422 4 1 municipalities other than municipalities as defined in section eighty- 2 nine-l of this chapter), corporations (including the power authority of 3 the state of New York), and persons subject to the commission's regu- 4 lation, to be assessed in the manner provided in [subdivisions two, 5 three and four of this section and] section two hundred seventeen of 6 this chapter. 7 § 10. Subdivisions 1-a, 2, 3, 4, 4-a, 4-b and 5 of section 18-a of the 8 public service law are REPEALED. 9 § 11. Section 5 of the public service law is amended by adding a new 10 subdivision 7 to read as follows: 11 7. (a) The commission, in consultation with the comptroller, shall 12 develop a formula to determine the average cost, on a per ratepayer 13 basis, to comply with the provisions set forth in article seventy-five 14 of the environmental conservation law, or any other rule or regulation 15 promulgated by a state agency prior to the effective date of this subdi- 16 vision, or any subsequent action taken thereafter, to meet the emissions 17 goals set forth by article seventy-five of the environmental conserva- 18 tion law. 19 (b) Beginning March first, two thousand twenty-six, the commission, 20 thirty days prior to issuing any order, directive, rule, or regulation, 21 shall disclose to the public through public notice and on their website 22 the cost, as determined by the formula developed by the commission per 23 this subdivision, of any order, directive, rule, or regulation issued to 24 comply with article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law 25 by the commission. 26 § 12. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 27 (bbb) to read as follows: 28 (bbb) Ratepayer protection credit. (1) Allowance of credit. An indi- 29 vidual taxpayer whose annual gross income does not exceed two hundred 30 fifty thousand dollars shall be allowed a credit against tax imposed by 31 this article for the cost of the implementation of article seventy-five 32 of the environmental conservation law as determined by subdivision seven 33 of section five of the public service law. 34 (2) Carryover of credit and refundability. If the amount of the cred- 35 it, and carryovers of such credit, allowable under this subsection for 36 any taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for such year, such 37 excess amount may be carried over to the five taxable years next follow- 38 ing the taxable year with respect to which the credit is allowed and may 39 be deducted from the taxpayer's tax for such year or years. For taxable 40 years beginning on or after January first, two thousand twenty-seven, if 41 the amount of the credit allowable under this subsection shall exceed 42 the taxpayer's tax liability for such year, the excess shall be treated 43 as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in accordance with 44 the provisions of section six hundred eighty-six of this article, 45 provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon. 46 § 13. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 187-s to read as 47 follows: 48 § 187-s. Ratepayer protection credit. 1. Allowance of credit. A 49 taxpayer shall be allowed a credit for the cost of the implementation of 50 article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law as determined 51 by subdivision seven of section five of the public service law against 52 the taxes imposed by sections one hundred eighty-three, one hundred 53 eighty-four and former section one hundred eighty-six of this article; 54 provided, however, that the amount of such credit allowable against the 55 tax imposed by section one hundred eighty-four of this article shall be 56 the excess of the amount of such credit over the amount of any credit 
 S. 9422 5 1 allowed by this section against the tax imposed by section one hundred 2 eighty-three of this article. 3 2. Carryovers. In no event shall the credit under this section be 4 allowed in an amount which will reduce the tax payable to less than the 5 applicable minimum tax fixed by section one hundred eighty-three or 6 former section one hundred eighty-six of this article. If, however, the 7 amount of credit allowable under this section for any taxable year 8 reduces the tax to such amount, any amount of credit not deductible in 9 such taxable year may be carried over to the following year or years and 10 may be deducted from the taxpayer's tax for such year or years. 11 § 14. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the 12 provisions of section one of this act shall apply to the 2026 fiscal 13 year retroactively, and to fiscal years beginning on or after such 14 fiscal year; provided further, however, that section eight of this act 15 shall expire and be deemed repealed two years after such effective date.