N.Y. PBS Law § 65 — New York Code / Act PBS / Article 4 / Section 65
Safe and adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust discrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy
Status: in_force

§ 65. Safe and adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust\ndiscrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy. 1. Every\ngas corporation, every electric corporation and every municipality shall\nfurnish and provide such service, instrumentalities and facilities as\nshall be safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable. All\ncharges made or demanded by any such gas corporation, electric\ncorporation or municipality for gas, electricity or any service rendered\nor to be rendered, shall be just and reasonable and not more than\nallowed by law or by order of the commission. Every unjust or\nunreasonable charge made or demanded for gas, electricity or any such\nservice, or in connection therewith, or in excess of that allowed by law\nor by the order of the commission is prohibited.\n  2. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall\ndirectly or indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, drawback or other\ndevice or method, charge, demand, collect or receive from any person or\ncorporation a greater or less compensation for gas or electricity or for\nany service rendered or to be rendered or in connection therewith,\nexcept as authorized in this chapter, than it charges, demands, collects\nor receives from any other person or corporation for doing a like and\ncontemporaneous service with respect thereto under the same or\nsubstantially similar circumstances or conditions.\n  3. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall make\nor grant any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any\nperson, corporation or locality, or to any particular description of\nservice in any respect whatsoever, or subject any particular person,\ncorporation or locality or any particular description of service to any\nundue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect\nwhatsoever.\n  4. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a gas\ncorporation or electric corporation from establishing a sliding scale\nfor a fixed period for the automatic adjustment or charges for gas,\nelectricity or any service rendered or to be rendered and the dividends\nto be paid to stockholders of such gas corporation or electric\ncorporation, provided that the sliding scale shall first have been filed\nwith and approved by the commission; but nothing in this subdivision\nshall operate to prevent the commission after the expiration of such\nfixed period from fixing proper, just and reasonable rates and charges\nto be made for service as authorized in this article.\n  5. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit a gas\ncorporation or electrical corporation from establishing classifications\nof service based upon the quantity used, the time when used, the purpose\nfor which used, the duration of use or upon any other reasonable\nconsideration, and providing schedules of just and reasonable graduated\nrates applicable thereto. No such classification, schedule, rate or\ncharge shall be lawful unless it shall be filed with and approved by the\ncommission, and every such classification, rate or charge shall be\nsubject to change, alteration and modification by the commission.\n  6. Service charges prohibited. Every gas corporation shall charge for\ngas supplied a fair and reasonable price. No such corporation shall make\nor impose an additional charge or fee for service or for the\ninstallation of apparatus or the use of apparatus installed, except that\na charge may be made:\n  (a) where entry, inspection or examination as authorized by\nsubdivision nine of this section is denied;\n  (b) for reconnecting the service to a person or corporation if the\nservice to such person or corporation was disconnected, in accordance\nwith applicable legal requirements, for non-payment of bills for\nservice;\n  (b-1) for expenses reasonably incurred as determined by the commission\nin cases of meter tampering and theft of service. Such expenses shall\ninclude, but not be limited to, the cost of investigating, repairing and\nreplacing meters and pipes, and the cost of moving a meter and\ninstalling it in a secure location;\n  (c) for a remote meter reading device upon the request and consent of\nthe customer;\n  (d) for installation of capital improvements and fixtures to promote\nenergy efficiency upon the request and consent of the customer,\nincluding but not limited to the performance of qualified energy\nefficiency services for customers participating in green jobs-green New\nYork on-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of this article;\nor\n  (e) for the provision of thermal energy service.\n  7. No gas corporation or electric corporation shall sell or offer for\nsale any list of names of its customers.\n  8. Inspection of transmission pipelines conveying natural gas. Every\ngas corporation transmitting natural gas under permits or franchises\npermitting the laying or maintaining of pipelines conveying natural gas\nshall conduct a leak detection inspection using leak detection equipment\nor employing a visual inspection of such transmission pipelines annually\nor more frequently when ordered by the commission. A written report of\nevery such inspection shall be made available to the commission.\n  9. Buildings may be entered for the examination of meters, pipes,\nfittings, wires and works. (a) Any officer or agent of any gas\ncorporation, electric corporation or municipality for that purpose duly\nappointed and authorized by the corporation, upon exhibiting a\nphoto-identification badge and a written authority signed by the\npresident or vice-president and secretary or assistant secretary of the\ncorporation, or by the mayor or clerk of a municipal corporation or by\nthe chairman and secretary of a municipal board in control of a public\nutility, may enter, at all reasonable times, any store, building, room\nor place supplied with gas, electricity or water by such utility\ncorporation or municipality for the purpose of inspecting and examining\nthe meters, pipes, fittings, wires and works for supplying or regulating\nthe supply of gas or electricity and of ascertaining the quantity of gas\nor electricity supplied.\n  (b) If any person, at any time, directly or indirectly, shall prevent\nor hinder any such officer or agent from so entering any such premises,\nor from making any such inspection or examination at any reasonable\ntime, he or she shall forfeit to the corporation or municipality one\nhundred dollars for every such offense.\n  10. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any case where\nelectric corporations are permitted incremental seasonal differentials\nin rates or charges, such differentials shall not be imposed in any\nmonth upon any residential customer for the first two hundred fifty\nkilowatt hours used by such customer in such month; provided, however,\nthat the commission may promulgate rules to permit the imposition of\nsuch seasonal differentials where a customer requests a special rate\nthat may include a seasonal differential or where service is to be\nprovided to a residential customer for a temporary period not to exceed\nsix months.\n  (b) In any case where an electric corporation is permitted incremental\nseasonal differentials in rates or charges, such corporation shall, on\nor before such differential rates commence, inform any customer subject\nto such differential as to the commencement and termination dates of\nsuch differential rates and permit such customer to read his own meter\non such dates and forward the readings thereon to the corporation.\n  11. Civil actions. (a) Every gas corporation, electric corporation or\nmunicipality furnishing utility service may initiate a civil action to\ncollect a civil penalty against a user of non-residential service in\naccordance with this subdivision. Upon a showing in such action that a\nuser of non-residential service has knowingly accepted or received the\nuse and benefit of gas or electric service which has been prevented from\nbeing properly registered by a meter provided therefor, the utility may\nbe granted a civil penalty, in addition to the value of the unpaid\nservice, in an amount which the court in its discretion shall deem to be\njust and reasonable, which in no event shall be more than three times\nthe retail value of the gas or electric service accepted or received. In\nany action under this subdivision, proof that a meter has been\nintentionally prevented from properly registering gas or electric\nservice shall be prima facie proof that the user of non-residential\nservice who accepts or receives the use and benefit of such service has\ndone so with knowledge of the condition so existing, if the gas\ncorporation, electric corporation or municipality shall first present\nevidence that such person took possession of the benefitted premises and\nused the gas or electric service prior to the creation of the condition.\n  (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, a user of non-residential\nservice shall be a person benefitting from such service who is in\npossession of the premises to which the service is delivered.\n  (c) Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to this section in excess of\nthe actual damages sustained by the utility shall be taken into account\nby the public service commission in establishing future utility rates.\n  12. An electric corporation shall send annually to each residence it\nserves a form that may be used to notify the corporation that a person\nliving in the residence uses a life support system. For the purposes of\nthis subdivision, life support systems shall include, but not be limited\nto, hemodialysis equipment, respirators and apnea monitors. An electric\ncorporation shall maintain a current list of customers who use such life\nsupport systems and include the list in such electric corporation's\nsystem emergency plans.\n  13. (a) Every gas corporation or electric corporation furnishing\nutility services shall provide the following call center customer\nassistance receiving inquiries by phone or in writing on: customer\nfinancial responsibility; receiving requests to initiate or terminate\nservice; receiving requests for emergency services; shared metering;\ndetermining deposit required or billing rate; receiving meter and\nservice orders and access to meter requests; explaining company rates,\nregulations, policies, procedures, and common practices; initiating\ntrouble order forms and high bill investigations; inbound and/or\noutbound handling of payment and other credit arrangements such as\nobtaining deposits, financial statements and payment plans; collection\nassistance inquiries and referring customers to social service agencies\nand other assistance programs. This paragraph shall not apply to\ncommunications between departments to resolve a customer inquiry. For\npurposes of this section, "collection assistance inquiries" shall not\ninclude calls or activities related to the collection of debts that are\nreferred to third-party collection agencies or those involving the\ndirect pursuit of financial recovery on delinquent accounts.\n  (b) No gas or electric corporation shall close a call center or other\nfacility providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision or send such customer assistance outside such gas or\nelectric corporation's New York state service territory or outside of\nNew York state without notice, a hearing and approval before the\ncommission. Upon receipt of the notice required pursuant to this\nparagraph, the commission shall provide notice of the proceeding to\ninterested parties and the public; and shall promptly fix a date for the\ncommencement of a public hearing thereon not less than sixty days after\nsuch receipt. The testimony presented at such hearing may be presented\nin writing or orally, provided that the commission may make rules\ndesigned to exclude repetitive, redundant or irrelevant testimony while\ngiving all interested parties the opportunity to present their\ndocumentary and/or testimonial evidence. The commission shall make a\nrecord of all testimony in all contested hearings. For purposes of this\nsection "public hearing" means a public forum at a physical location,\nattended by commission members or their designees, where oral testimony\nis accepted and written testimony may be submitted for inclusion in the\nrecord. Such forum shall be open to parties to the proceeding and the\ngeneral public for the presentation of comments that shall be limited to\nrelevant facts directly related to the proceeding in question. Such\nhearing shall be commenced upon proper notice to the parties to the\nproceeding and the public at least thirty days prior to the scheduled\ndate. It shall be permissible for a gas or electric corporation to send\ncustomer assistance requests outside of such corporation's New York\nstate service territory or outside of New York state in the following\ncircumstances: (i) when a call center or customer assistance facility is\nunable to adequately respond to customer assistance requests due to\nnatural disaster, cyber attack, temporary loss of internet or phone\nconnection or power, a state or local declared emergency that impacts\nthe ability of a call center to manage customer assistance requests, or\ncustomer call volume that exceeds the capacity of the call center given\nnormal staffing levels; (ii) for the purpose of workforce training; or\n(iii) to initiate work flexibility policies that allow call center\nemployees to work from an approved alternative worksite other than a\ncall center location provided, however, before a gas or electric\ncorporation can establish policies for any call center employees that\nare represented by a bona fide labor organization through a collective\nbargaining agreement, such policies must have been mutually agreed to by\nthe corporation and the labor organization. Such work flexibility\npolicies shall not be considered a violation of this section. Any\ntransfer of customer assistance requests outside of New York state or\noutside of the corporation's New York state service territory pursuant\nto subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be temporary and only for\nthe duration of the emergency situation. A corporation must notify the\ncommission of any transfers within ten business days following an\nexemption claimed pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. For\nthe purposes of this paragraph, "New York state service territory" shall\nbe understood to refer to the designated geographic area served by the\ngas or electric corporation in accordance with its legal service\nobligations. The relocation of customer assistance calls to any of the\ncorporation's call centers within New York state in existence prior to\nthe effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand\ntwenty-five that amended this paragraph, regardless of the specific\nservice territory, shall not be considered a violation of this\nparagraph.\n  (c) This subdivision shall not apply to the collection of debt where\nby utility company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency\nor similar service companies.\n  (d) Every public utility under this subdivision shall provide the\ncommission an affidavit, annually, that no call centers or other\nfacilities providing customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of\nthis subdivision have been closed without notice and hearing before the\ncommission and that the utility has not relocated such customer\nassistance to another area of New York state or outside of New York\nstate without notice and hearing before the commission. The affidavit\nshall be submitted in such form and at such times and shall contain\ninformation as the commission, by rule or regulation, may prescribe.\n  14. In conjunction with a management and operations audit undertaken\npursuant to subdivision nineteen of section sixty-six of this article or\nupon its own motion, the commission shall review the capability,\nincluding but not limited to, the capability to implement emergency\nresponse plans and restoration, of each electric corporation to provide\nsafe, adequate, and reliable service. Upon good cause shown, and after a\nhearing in accordance with the commission's rules and regulations, the\ncommission may direct such corporation to comply with additional and\nmore stringent terms and conditions of service than existed prior to the\ncommencement of the management and operations audit, and may, in\naddition, assess the continued operation of such corporation as the\nprovider of electric service in its service territory and propose, and\nact upon, such measures as are necessary to ensure safe and adequate\nservice; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision limits the\ncommission's authority to undertake the actions set forth pursuant to\nsection twenty-four, twenty-five or twenty-five-a of this chapter.\n  15. The chief executive officer of each combination gas and electric\ncorporation shall certify to the commission on or before March fifteenth\nof each year that such corporation has internal controls, policies and\nprocedures designed to ensure compliance with the requirements of this\nchapter and any rules, regulations, orders and procedures adopted\nthereto, including the obligation that such corporation provide safe and\nadequate service.\n  16. Unauthorized changes in natural gas or electric service\nprohibited. (a) No supplier of gas or electric service or any person,\nfirm or corporation acting as such supplier's agent or representative\nshall on behalf of a customer make or direct any change in a supplier of\ngas or electric service unless such supplier, agent or representative\ncomplies with requirements to authorize and verify the change. The\ncommission shall have the authority to establish requirements for\nobtaining the authorization of a customer to effect a change in the\ncustomer's supplier of gas or electric service and for the verification\nof such change. In construing and enforcing the provisions of this\nsubdivision, the act of any person, firm or corporation acting as an\nagent or representative of a supplier of gas or electric service shall\nbe deemed to be the act of such supplier of gas or electric service. For\nthe purposes of this subdivision, "supplier of gas or electric service"\nshall include any person, firm or corporation that offers, sells or\ndelivers all or part of natural gas or electric service, including, but\nnot limited to, a gas or electric distribution company, a gas or\nelectric corporation, a gas or electricity provider, marketer,\naggregator or broker.\n  (b) The failure to comply with the provisions in this subdivision\nshall subject a supplier of gas or electric service to either the\njudicial penalty authorized in section twenty-five of this chapter for\nthe failure or neglect to obey or comply with a provision of this\nchapter or the administrative penalty established in this subdivision.\nIn seeking such judicial penalty or assessing such administrative\npenalty, the commission shall take into account the nature,\ncircumstances, extent, gravity and number of the violations, and with\nrespect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior\noffenses and repeated violations, and such other matters as may be\nappropriate and relevant.  The remedies provided by this subdivision\nshall be in addition to any other remedies provided by law.\n  (c) The commission, after opportunity for a hearing, shall have the\nauthority to assess directly an administrative penalty against any\nsupplier of gas or electric service for each violation of this\nsubdivision or order of the commission implementing or enforcing the\nprovisions of this subdivision. Such penalty shall not exceed one\nthousand dollars for each violation associated with each meter service\npoint. All moneys recovered from any administrative penalty shall be\npaid into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.\n  (d) Whenever the commission determines that any supplier of gas or\nelectric service is violating or about to violate any provision of this\nsubdivision or any regulation or order of the commission implementing or\nenforcing the provisions of this subdivision, or has failed to pay any\npenalty assessed pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision, the\ncommissioner shall have power to bring an action or enforcement\nproceeding as provided by section twenty-six of this chapter.\n