Bill Text: NY S08693 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-01 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S08693 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S08693-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8693

                    IN SENATE

                                      March 1, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  CLEARE -- 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 requiring inve-
          stor-owned energy utilities to collect and publish data  on  disadvan-
          taged communities in certain service areas

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
     2  the "disadvantaged communities commitment act".
     3    §  2.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section 28 to
     4  read as follows:
     5    § 28. Disadvantaged communities. 1. For the purposes of this section:
     6    (a) "Investor-owned energy utility" shall mean  any  gas  corporation,
     7  electric corporation, or combination gas and electric corporation.
     8    (b) "Disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as defined
     9  in subdivision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation
    10  law.
    11    2.  The  department  shall require every investor-owned energy utility
    12  publish on its customer facing website, and file  with  the  commission,
    13  statistics from the previous year regarding each disadvantaged community
    14  by  census tract in its service area. Such statistics shall include, but
    15  not be limited to, the:
    16    (a) number of residential customers who are electric only;
    17    (b) number of residential customers who are gas only;
    18    (c) number of residential electric and gas customers;
    19    (d) number of residential  customers  enrolled  in  energy  assistance
    20  program (EAP);
    21    (e) number of residential customers enrolled in home energy assistance
    22  program (HEAP);
    23    (f) number of residential customers enrolled in budget billing;
    24    (g) average amount of arrears amongst residential customers;
    25    (h)  number  of  residential  customers  with  active deferred payment
    26  agreements; and

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14401-04-4
        S. 8693                             2

     1    (i) number of residential customers  impacted  by  any  other  program
     2  designed  to  provide  relief  or assistance in paying or lowering their
     3  bills.
     4    3.  (a)  Such  statistics  required in subdivision two of this section
     5  shall be published with the commission and remain  posted  on  an  inve-
     6  stor-owned energy utility's customer facing website three years from the
     7  date  such  statistics  are published. Further, such statistics shall be
     8  downloadable on  an  investor-owned  energy  utility's  customer  facing
     9  website in a comma-separated value (csv) format.
    10    (b)  Such statistics required in subdivision two of this section shall
    11  be posted and filed for the prior  calendar  year  upon  the  date  this
    12  section  takes  effect.  No later than January thirty-first and annually
    13  thereafter, each investor-owned energy utility shall  publish  and  file
    14  such statistics in accordance with this section.
    15    4.  For  each month an investor-owned energy utility is found to be in
    16  violation of this section, penalties  or  sanctions  shall  be  assessed
    17  pursuant  to  section  twenty-five  or twenty-five-a of this article, as
    18  applicable.
    19    § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    20  have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
    21  repeal  of  any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of
    22  this act on its effective date are authorized to be made  and  completed
    23  on or before such date.