2023 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;
(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;
or
(e) for the provision of thermal energy service.
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.
(d)  Every  public  utility  under  this subdivision shall provide the
commission an  affidavit,  annually,  that  no  call  centers  or  other
facilities  providing  customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of
this subdivision have been closed without notice and hearing before  the
commission  and  that  the  utility  has  not  relocated  such  customer
assistance to another area of New York state  or  outside  of  New  York
state  without  notice  and hearing before the commission. The affidavit
shall be submitted in such form and at  such  times  and  shall  contain
information as the commission, by rule or regulation, may prescribe.
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.