NY Pub Serv L § 65 (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBS - Public Service Article 4 - Provisions Relating to Gas and Electric Corporations; Regulation of Price of Gas and Electricity 65 - Safe and Adequate Service; Just and Reasonable Charges; Unjust Discrimination; Unreasonable Preference; Protection of Privacy.

§ 65. Safe  and  adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust discrimination; unreasonable preference; protection of privacy. 1. Every gas corporation, every electric corporation and every municipality shall furnish and provide such service, instrumentalities  and  facilities  as shall  be safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable. All charges  made  or  demanded  by  any  such  gas  corporation,   electric corporation or municipality for gas, electricity or any service rendered or  to  be  rendered,  shall  be  just  and reasonable and not more than allowed  by  law  or  by  order  of  the  commission.  Every  unjust  or unreasonable  charge  made  or demanded for gas, electricity or any such service, or in connection therewith, or in excess of that allowed by law or by the order of the commission is prohibited.   2. No gas corporation,  electric  corporation  or  municipality  shall directly  or  indirectly, by any special rate, rebate, drawback or other device or method, charge, demand, collect or receive from any person  or corporation a greater or less compensation for gas or electricity or for any  service  rendered  or  to  be  rendered or in connection therewith, except as authorized in this chapter, than it charges, demands, collects or receives from any other person or corporation for doing  a  like  and contemporaneous   service   with  respect  thereto  under  the  same  or substantially similar circumstances or conditions.   3. No gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality shall make or grant any undue  or  unreasonable  preference  or  advantage  to  any person,  corporation  or  locality,  or to any particular description of service in any respect whatsoever, or  subject  any  particular  person, corporation  or locality or any particular description of service to any undue  or  unreasonable  prejudice  or  disadvantage  in   any   respect whatsoever.   4.  Nothing  in  this  chapter  shall  be  taken  to  prohibit  a  gas corporation or electric corporation from establishing  a  sliding  scale for  a  fixed  period  for  the automatic adjustment or charges for gas, electricity or any service rendered or to be rendered and the  dividends to  be  paid  to  stockholders  of  such  gas  corporation  or  electric corporation, provided that the sliding scale shall first have been filed with and approved by the commission; but  nothing  in  this  subdivision shall  operate  to  prevent  the commission after the expiration of such fixed period from fixing proper, just and reasonable rates  and  charges to be made for service as authorized in this article.   5.  Nothing  in  this  chapter  shall  be  taken  to  prohibit  a  gas corporation or electrical corporation from establishing  classifications of service based upon the quantity used, the time when used, the purpose for  which  used,  the  duration  of  use  or  upon any other reasonable consideration, and providing schedules of just and reasonable  graduated rates  applicable  thereto.  No  such  classification, schedule, rate or charge shall be lawful unless it shall be filed with and approved by the commission, and every such  classification,  rate  or  charge  shall  be subject to change, alteration and modification by the commission.   6.  Service charges prohibited. Every gas corporation shall charge for gas supplied a fair and reasonable price. No such corporation shall make or  impose  an  additional  charge  or  fee  for  service  or  for   the installation of apparatus or the use of apparatus installed, except that a charge may be made:  (a)   where   entry,   inspection  or  examination  as  authorized  by subdivision nine of this section is denied;  (b) for reconnecting the service to a person  or  corporation  if  the service  to  such  person or corporation was disconnected, in accordance with  applicable  legal  requirements,  for  non-payment  of  bills  for service;  (b-1) for expenses reasonably incurred as determined by the commission in  cases  of  meter tampering and theft of service. Such expenses shall include, but not be limited to, the cost of investigating, repairing and replacing meters  and  pipes,  and  the  cost  of  moving  a  meter  and installing it in a secure location;  (c)  for a remote meter reading device upon the request and consent of the customer; or  (d) for installation of capital improvements and fixtures  to  promote energy  efficiency  upon  the  request  and  consent  of  the  customer, including but  not  limited  to  the  performance  of  qualified  energy efficiency  services for customers participating in green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of this article.   7. No gas corporation or electric corporation shall sell or offer  for sale any list of names of its customers.   8.  Inspection  of transmission pipelines conveying natural gas. Every gas corporation transmitting natural gas  under  permits  or  franchises permitting  the laying or maintaining of pipelines conveying natural gas shall conduct a leak detection inspection using leak detection equipment or employing a visual inspection of such transmission pipelines annually or more frequently when ordered by the commission. A written  report  of every such inspection shall be made available to the commission.   9.  Buildings  may  be  entered  for the examination of meters, pipes, fittings, wires  and  works.  (a)  Any  officer  or  agent  of  any  gas corporation,  electric corporation or municipality for that purpose duly appointed  and  authorized  by  the  corporation,  upon   exhibiting   a photo-identification  badge  and  a  written  authority  signed  by  the president or vice-president and secretary or assistant secretary of  the corporation,  or  by the mayor or clerk of a municipal corporation or by the chairman and secretary of a municipal board in control of  a  public utility,  may  enter, at all reasonable times, any store, building, room or place supplied  with  gas,  electricity  or  water  by  such  utility corporation  or municipality for the purpose of inspecting and examining the meters, pipes, fittings, wires and works for supplying or regulating the supply of gas or electricity and of ascertaining the quantity of gas or electricity supplied.  (b) If any person, at any time, directly or indirectly, shall  prevent or  hinder any such officer or agent from so entering any such premises, or from making any such inspection  or  examination  at  any  reasonable time,  he  or  she  shall forfeit to the corporation or municipality one hundred dollars for every such offense.   10. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any case  where electric  corporations  are permitted incremental seasonal differentials in rates or charges, such differentials shall  not  be  imposed  in  any month  upon  any  residential  customer  for the first two hundred fifty kilowatt hours used by such customer in such month;  provided,  however, that  the  commission  may  promulgate rules to permit the imposition of such seasonal differentials where a customer  requests  a  special  rate that  may  include  a  seasonal  differential  or where service is to be provided to a residential customer for a temporary period not to  exceed six months.  (b) In any case where an electric corporation is permitted incremental seasonal  differentials  in rates or charges, such corporation shall, on or before such differential rates commence, inform any customer  subject to  such  differential  as  to the commencement and termination dates of such differential rates and permit such customer to read his  own  meter on such dates and forward the readings thereon to the corporation.   11.  Civil actions. (a) Every gas corporation, electric corporation or municipality furnishing utility service may initiate a civil  action  to  collect  a  civil  penalty  against a user of non-residential service in accordance with this subdivision. Upon a showing in such action  that  a user  of  non-residential service has knowingly accepted or received the use and benefit of gas or electric service which has been prevented from being  properly registered by a meter provided therefor, the utility may be granted a civil penalty, in addition  to  the  value  of  the  unpaid service, in an amount which the court in its discretion shall deem to be just  and  reasonable,  which in no event shall be more than three times the retail value of the gas or electric service accepted or received. In any  action  under  this  subdivision,  proof  that  a  meter  has  been intentionally  prevented  from  properly  registering  gas  or  electric service shall be prima facie proof  that  the  user  of  non-residential service  who accepts or receives the use and benefit of such service has done so with  knowledge  of  the  condition  so  existing,  if  the  gas corporation,  electric  corporation  or municipality shall first present evidence that such person took possession of the benefitted premises and used the gas or electric service prior to the creation of the condition.  (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, a  user  of  non-residential service  shall  be  a  person  benefitting  from  such service who is in possession of the premises to which the service is delivered.  (c) Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to this section in excess  of the  actual damages sustained by the utility shall be taken into account by the public service commission in establishing future utility rates.   12. An electric corporation shall send annually to each  residence  it serves  a  form that may be used to notify the corporation that a person living in the residence uses a life support system. For the purposes  of this subdivision, life support systems shall include, but not be limited to,  hemodialysis equipment, respirators and apnea monitors. An electric corporation shall maintain a current list of customers who use such life support systems and include the  list  in  such  electric  corporation's system emergency plans.   13.  (a)  Every  gas  corporation  or  electric corporation furnishing utility services  shall  provide  the  following  call  center  customer assistance  receiving  inquiries  on: customer financial responsibility; receiving requests to initiate or terminate service; receiving  requests for  emergency  services;  determining deposit required or billing rate; receiving meter  and  service  orders  and  access  to  meter  requests; explaining  company rates, regulations, policies, procedures, and common practices; initiating trouble order forms and high bill  investigations; handling  payment  and  other  credit  arrangements  such  as  obtaining deposits,  financial  statements  and  payment  plans;   and   referring customers to social service agencies and other assistance programs.  (b)  No gas or electric corporation shall close a call center or other facility providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision or relocate such customer assistance to another area of New York state or outside of New York state without notice  and  hearing before  the  commission. Upon receipt of the notice required pursuant to this paragraph, the commission shall provide notice of the proceeding to interested parties and the public; and shall promptly fix a date for the commencement of a public hearing thereon not less than sixty days  after such  receipt.  The testimony presented at such hearing may be presented in writing or orally,  provided  that  the  commission  may  make  rules designed  to exclude repetitive, redundant or irrelevant testimony while giving  all  interested  parties  the  opportunity  to   present   their documentary  and/or  testimonial  evidence.  The commission shall make a record of all testimony in all contested hearings. For purposes of  this section  "public  hearing"  means a public forum at a physical location, attended by commission members or their designees, where oral  testimony  is  accepted and written testimony may be submitted for inclusion in the record. Such forum shall be open to parties to the  proceeding  and  the general public for the presentation of comments that shall be limited to relevant  facts  directly  related  to  the proceeding in question. Such hearing shall be commenced upon proper notice  to  the  parties  to  the proceeding  and  the  public at least thirty days prior to the scheduled date.  (c) This subdivision shall not apply to the collection of  debt  where by  utility  company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency or similar service companies.   14. In conjunction with a management and operations  audit  undertaken pursuant to subdivision nineteen of section sixty-six of this article or upon  its  own  motion,  the  commission  shall  review  the capability, including but not limited to,  the  capability  to  implement  emergency response  plans and restoration, of each electric corporation to provide safe, adequate, and reliable service. Upon good cause shown, and after a hearing in accordance with the commission's rules and  regulations,  the commission  may  direct  such  corporation to comply with additional and more stringent terms and conditions of service than existed prior to the commencement of  the  management  and  operations  audit,  and  may,  in addition,  assess  the  continued  operation  of such corporation as the provider of electric service in its service territory and  propose,  and act  upon,  such  measures  as are necessary to ensure safe and adequate service; provided, however, that nothing in this subdivision limits  the commission's  authority  to  undertake the actions set forth pursuant to section twenty-four, twenty-five or twenty-five-a of this chapter.   15. The chief executive officer of each combination gas  and  electric corporation shall certify to the commission on or before March fifteenth of  each  year that such corporation has internal controls, policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the requirements  of  this chapter  and  any  rules,  regulations,  orders  and  procedures adopted thereto, including the obligation that such corporation provide safe and adequate service.   16.  Unauthorized  changes  in  natural  gas   or   electric   service prohibited.  (a)  No  supplier of gas or electric service or any person, firm or corporation acting as such supplier's  agent  or  representative shall on behalf of a customer make or direct any change in a supplier of gas  or  electric  service unless such supplier, agent or representative complies with requirements to  authorize  and  verify  the  change.  The commission  shall  have  the  authority  to  establish  requirements for obtaining the authorization of a customer to  effect  a  change  in  the customer's  supplier of gas or electric service and for the verification of such change. In construing  and  enforcing  the  provisions  of  this subdivision,  the  act  of  any person, firm or corporation acting as an agent or representative of a supplier of gas or electric  service  shall be deemed to be the act of such supplier of gas or electric service. For the  purposes of this subdivision, "supplier of gas or electric service" shall include any person, firm or  corporation  that  offers,  sells  or delivers  all or part of natural gas or electric service, including, but not limited to, a  gas  or  electric  distribution  company,  a  gas  or electric   corporation,   a   gas  or  electricity  provider,  marketer, aggregator or broker.  (b) The failure to comply with  the  provisions  in  this  subdivision shall  subject  a  supplier  of  gas  or  electric service to either the judicial penalty authorized in section twenty-five of this  chapter  for the  failure  or  neglect  to  obey  or  comply with a provision of this chapter or the administrative penalty established in  this  subdivision. In  seeking  such  judicial  penalty  or  assessing  such administrative  penalty,  the  commission  shall   take   into   account   the   nature, circumstances,  extent,  gravity  and number of the violations, and with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses  and  repeated  violations,  and  such  other matters as may be appropriate and relevant.   The remedies provided  by  this  subdivision shall be in addition to any other remedies provided by law.  (c)  The  commission,  after opportunity for a hearing, shall have the authority to assess  directly  an  administrative  penalty  against  any supplier  of  gas  or  electric  service  for  each  violation  of  this subdivision or order of the commission  implementing  or  enforcing  the provisions  of  this  subdivision.  Such  penalty  shall  not exceed one thousand dollars for each violation associated with each  meter  service point.  All  moneys  recovered  from any administrative penalty shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.  (d) Whenever the commission determines that any  supplier  of  gas  or electric  service is violating or about to violate any provision of this subdivision or any regulation or order of the commission implementing or enforcing the provisions of this subdivision, or has failed to  pay  any penalty  assessed  pursuant  to  the provisions of this subdivision, the commissioner  shall  have  power  to  bring  an  action  or  enforcement proceeding as provided by section twenty-six of this chapter.