N.Y. Public Service Law § 18-a: Costs and expenses of the commission and department and the assessment of such costs and expenses

§ 18-a. Costs and expenses of the commission and department and the

assessment of such costs and expenses. 1. All costs and expenses of the

department and commission shall be paid pursuant to appropriation on the

certification of the chairman of the department and upon the audit and

warrant of the comptroller. The state treasury shall be reimbursed

therefore by payments to be made thereto from all moneys collected

pursuant to this chapter. The total of such costs and expenses shall be

borne by the public utility companies (including for the purposes of

this section municipalities other than municipalities as defined in

section eighty-nine-l of this chapter), corporations (including the

power authority of the state of New York), and persons subject to the

commission's regulation, to be assessed in the manner provided in

subdivisions two, three and four of this section and section two hundred

seventeen of this chapter.

1-a. All costs and expenses of the department related to the

department's responsibilities under section three-b of this chapter

shall be paid pursuant to appropriation on the certification of the

chairman of the department and upon the audit and warrant of the

comptroller. For the state fiscal year beginning on April first, two

thousand fourteen and each state fiscal year thereafter, payments are to

be made from all moneys collected from the Long Island power authority

pursuant to this section. The total of such costs and expenses shall be

assessed on such authority in the manner provided in subdivisions two,

three and four of this section.

2. (a) The chairman of the department shall estimate prior to the

start of each state fiscal year the total costs and expenses, including

the compensation and expenses of the commission and the department,

their officers, agents and employees, and including the cost of

retirement contributions, social security, health and dental insurance,

survivor's benefits, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and

other fringe benefits required to be paid by the state for the personnel

of the commission and the department, and including all other items of

maintenance and operation expenses, and all other direct and indirect

costs. Based on such estimates, the chairman shall determine the amount

to be paid by each assessed public utility company and the Long Island

power authority and a bill shall be rendered to each such public utility

company and authority.

(b) The bill for each public utility company and the Long Island power

authority shall be rendered on or before February first preceding each

fiscal year, and shall be for the amount equal to the product of the

aforesaid estimated costs and expenses of conducting the department's

and commission's total operations during the fiscal year for which

billing is being made multiplied by the proportion which compares:

(1) the gross operating revenues, over and above five hundred thousand

dollars, for that utility company or the authority derived from

intrastate utility operations in the last preceding calendar year, or

other twelve month period as determined by the chairman, to:

(2) the total of the gross operating revenues, derived from intrastate

utility operations for all utility companies and the authority in the

state which revenues are included under subparagraph one of this

paragraph.

For the purposes of calculating the commodity cost component of its

gross operating revenue, where the utility delivers to end-use customers

electricity and/or natural gas commodities that are sold to such

customers by a third party, such utility shall include in its revenues

an estimate of the sales revenue for the electric and/or natural gas

commodities that it delivers, including all such commodities sold to

end-use customers by third parties, in such manner as to assure that all

end-use delivery customers, regardless of the entity from which they

purchase their electric and/or natural gas commodities, bear a fair and

proportionate share of the assessment imposed herein, as the commission

may determine.

(c) The minimum assessment for any utility company, as well as the

Long Island power authority, whose gross revenues from intrastate

utility operations are in excess of five hundred thousand dollars in the

preceding calendar year shall be two hundred dollars.

(d) The amount of such bill for fiscal years beginning on or after

April first, nineteen hundred eighty-three so rendered shall be paid by

such public utility company and such authority to the department on or

before April first; provided, however, that any such utility company or

such authority may elect to make partial payments for such costs and

expenses on March tenth of the preceding fiscal year and on September

tenth of such fiscal year. Each such partial payment shall be a sum

equal to fifty percentum of the estimate of costs and expenses to be

assessed against such utility company or authority under the provisions

of this subdivision and shall not be less than two hundred dollars.

(e) During the course of any state fiscal year, the chairman may

increase or decrease the estimate of costs and expenses. In such case,

revised bills shall be sent to each public utility company and such

authority, and such increase or decrease shall be equally apportioned

against the remaining payments for such fiscal year.

(f) On or before October tenth of each year, the chairman shall

compute the actual costs and expenses of the department and the

commission and adjustments or other corrections as needed for the

preceding state fiscal year and, after deducting the amounts recovered

pursuant to subdivisions three and four of this section, shall, on or

before October twentieth, send to each public utility company and/or the

authority affected thereby a statement setting forth the amount due and

payable by, or the amount standing to the credit of, such public utility

company and/or the authority. Any amount owing by any public utility

company and/or the authority shall be paid not later than thirty days

following the date such statement is received. Any such amount standing

to the credit of any public utility company shall be refunded by the

commission or, at the option of such utility company, shall be applied

as a credit against any succeeding payment due.

(g) The total amount which may be charged to any public utility

company and the Long Island power authority under authority of this

subdivision for any state fiscal year shall not exceed one per centum of

such public utility company's or authority's gross operating revenues

derived from intrastate utility operations in the last preceding

calendar year, or other twelve month period as determined by the

chairman; provided, however, that no corporation or person that is

subject to the jurisdiction of the commission only with respect to

safety, or the power authority of the state of New York, shall be

subject to the general assessment provided for under this subdivision.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one of this section, for

telephone corporations as defined in subdivision seventeen of section

two of this article, the total amount which may be charged such

corporations for department expenses under the authority of subdivision

one of this section for any state fiscal year shall not exceed one-third

of one percentum of such corporation's gross operating revenue, over and

above five hundred thousand dollars, derived from intrastate utility

operations in the last preceding calendar year, or other twelve month

period as determined by the chairman.

(h) On-bill recovery charges billed pursuant to section sixty-six-m of

this chapter shall be excluded from any determination of an entity's

gross operating revenues derived from intrastate utility operations for

purposes of this section.

3. In the case of corporations or persons subject to the jurisdiction

of the commission only with respect to safety, the chairman of the

department shall ascertain from time to time, but not less than once in

each fiscal year, all direct and indirect costs of investigating (a) the

safety of the pipelines conveying gas at pressures in excess of one

hundred twenty-five pounds per square inch gauge or conveying liquid

petroleum products of such corporations or persons and (b) the safety of

any gas plant of corporations manufacturing pipeline quality gas and

subject to the safety jurisdiction of the commission by virtue of the

proviso to exception (b) of subdivision eleven of section two of this

chapter. The chairman shall for each investigation assess such costs

against such corporations or persons whose pipelines or plants have been

investigated. Bills for such an investigation may be rendered from time

to time but not less than once in each fiscal year, and the amount of

such bills shall be paid by the appropriate corporation or person to the

department within thirty days from the date of rendition. The total

amount which may be charged to any corporation or person for any state

fiscal year as the cost of investigating the safety of pipelines shall

not exceed one hundred dollars times the sum of the products obtained by

multiplying the mileage (to the nearest tenth) of each section of any

such pipeline in the state in use at the end of the preceding calendar

year by its nominal diameter in feet (to the nearest tenth). The total

amount which may be charged to any pipeline quality gas manufacturing

company for any state fiscal year as the costs of investigating the

safety of the plant of such company shall not exceed one-third of one

per centum of the estimate of the average annual gross revenues from the

sales of manufactured gas over a three-year period of operation or

anticipated operation, as determined by the chairman, of such pipeline

quality gas manufacturing company.

* 4. In the case of the power authority of the state of New York, the

chairperson of the department shall ascertain from time to time, but not

less than once in each fiscal year, all direct and indirect costs of

investigating requests by the power authority of the state of New York

to establish new, major electric transmission facilities and major

renewable energy facilities or to establish new, major electric

generating facilities. The chairperson shall for each such investigation

assess such costs against the power authority of the state of New York.

Bills for such an investigation may be rendered from time to time, but

not less than once in each fiscal year, and the amount of such bills

shall be paid by the power authority of the state of New York to the

department within thirty days from the date of rendition.

* NB Effective until December 31, 2040

* 4. In the case of the power authority of the state of New York, the

chairman of the department shall ascertain from time to time, but not

less than once in each fiscal year, all direct and indirect costs of

investigating requests by the power authority of the state of New York

to establish new, major utility transmission facilities as defined in

article seven of this chapter or to establish new, major steam electric

generating facilities as defined in article eight of this chapter. The

chairman shall for each such investigation assess such costs against the

power authority of the state of New York. Bills for such an

investigation may be rendered from time to time, but not less than once

in each fiscal year, and the amount of such bills shall be paid by the

power authority of the state of New York to the department within thirty

days from the date of rendition.

* NB Effective December 31, 2040

4-a. In the case of research, development and demonstration of new

energy technologies, the director of the budget may enter into

contracts, subject to the availability of appropriations, with the New

York state energy research and development authority for the costs of

such research, development and demonstration beyond such amounts as may

be available to the New York state energy research and development

authority for such purposes from bonds, grants or other sources. On or

before February first preceding each fiscal year, the chairman of the

authority shall estimate and transmit to the chairman of the department

of public service the total costs of authority research, development and

demonstration projected to be authorized by contracts with the director

of the budget for such fiscal year. The chairman of the department shall

apportion the costs of such research, development and demonstration in

accordance with the billing procedures of this section among gas

corporations and electric corporations as defined in section two of this

chapter. Such apportionment shall be excluded from the general

assessment provided for under subdivision two of this section. The total

amount which may be charged to any gas corporation and electric

corporation for any state fiscal year shall be .6 cents per one thousand

cubic feet for gas sold and .006 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity

sold by such corporations in their intrastate utility operations the

last preceding calendar year.

4-b. In the case of research, development and demonstration of new

energy technologies, the director of the budget may enter into

contracts, subject to the availability of appropriations, with the New

York state energy research and development authority for the costs of

such research, development and demonstration beyond such amounts as may

be available to the New York state energy research and development

authority for such purposes from bonds, grants or other sources,

including the power authority of the state of New York. Not later than

November first preceding each fiscal year, the energy research and

development authority and the power authority of the state of New York

shall agree as to a specific level of financial support to be provided

by the power authority of the state of New York for the energy research

and development authority's energy research development and

demonstration activities for such fiscal year. Such level of financial

support shall be incorporated in the annual budget request submitted by

the energy research and development authority and shall be reflected as

an offset to recommended appropriations for research, development and

demonstration of new energy technologies; provided, however, that the

sum of such recommended appropriations and such offset shall not exceed

twelve million dollars. One hundred per centum of the costs of such

research, development and demonstration not supplemented by bonds,

grants or other sources, not to exceed nine million six hundred thousand

dollars, shall be apportioned in accordance with the billing procedures

of this section, provided, that such costs shall be apportioned among

gas corporations and electric corporations as defined in section two of

this chapter and shall be excluded from the general assessment provided

for under subdivision two of this section. The total amount which may be

charged to any gas corporation and electric corporation for any state

fiscal year shall be .6 cents per one thousand cubic feet for gas sold

and .006 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity sold by such

corporations in their intrastate utility operations the last preceding

calendar year.

5. On demand made within thirty days of the rendition of any bill

pursuant to subdivision two, three or four of this section, the party so

charged shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard as to the amount

thereof. Any amounts of such bills not paid within thirty days from the

date of determination upon such hearings, or, if none shall be demanded,

on the date upon which such payment is due, shall bear interest at a

rate to be prescribed by regulation of the commission. Such rate shall

be not less than six percentum per annum nor more than the rate of

interest prescribed by the superintendent of financial services pursuant

to the provisions of section fourteen-a of the banking law in effect on

the day immediately preceeding the date on which the provisions of this

subdivision as amended become effective, but if the commission has not

set such rate, interest at six percentum per annum shall apply. Any

interest rate set by the commission shall become effective not less than

sixty days after such rate is promulgated.