N.Y. Public Service Law § 42: Other charges

§ 42. Other charges. 1. A utility corporation or municipality may

impose late payment charges not in excess of one and one-half percent

per month on the unpaid balance of any bill including any interest

thereon. Any such late payment charge, however, may not be imposed if

the bill is the subject of a pending complaint with the utility or

municipality provided, however, that such charge may be imposed

retroactively if the complaint is finally resolved in favor of the

utility or municipality.

2. Except as provided in subdivision one of this section, no utility

corporation or municipality may charge any residential customer a late

payment charge, penalty, fee, interest, or other charge of any kind for

any late payment, collection effort, service disconnection or deferred

payment agreement occasioned by the customer's failure to pay timely for

gas or electric service.

3. The rights and responsibilities of residential customers

participating in green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery pursuant to

section sixty-six-m of this chapter shall be substantially comparable to

those of electric and gas customers not participating in on-bill

recovery, and charges for on-bill recovery shall be treated as charges

for utility service for the purpose of this article, provided that:

(a) all determinations and safeguards related to the termination and

reconnection of service shall apply to on-bill recovery charges billed

by a utility pursuant to such section;

(b) in the event that the responsibility for making utility payments

has been assumed by occupants of a multiple dwelling pursuant to section

thirty-three of this article or by occupants of a two-family dwelling

pursuant to section thirty-four of this article, such occupants shall

not be billed for any arrears of on-bill recovery charges or any

prospective on-bill recovery charges, which shall remain the

responsibility of the incurring customer;

(c) deferred payment agreements pursuant to section thirty-seven of

this article shall be available to customers participating in on-bill

recovery on the same terms as other customers, and the utility shall

retain the same discretion to defer termination of service as for any

other delinquent customer;

(d) where a customer has a budget billing plan or levelized payment

plan pursuant to section thirty-eight of this article, the utility shall

recalculate the payments under such plan to reflect the projected

effects of installing energy efficiency measures as soon as practicable

after receipt of information on the energy audit and qualified energy

efficiency services selected;

(e) on-bill recovery charges shall not be subject to the provisions of

section forty-one of this article;

(f) late payment charges on unpaid on-bill recovery charges shall be

determined as provided in this section, or as otherwise consented to by

the customer in the agreement for green jobs-green New York on-bill

recovery and any such charges shall be remitted to the New York state

energy research and development authority;

(g) notwithstanding the provisions of section forty-three of this

article, when a complaint is related solely to work performed under the

green jobs-green New York program or to the appropriate amount of

on-bill recovery charges, the utility shall only be required to inform

the customer of the complaint handling procedures of the New York state

energy research and development authority, which shall retain

responsibility for handling such complaints, and such complaints shall

not be deemed to be complaints about utility service in any other

commission action or proceeding; and

(h) billing information provided pursuant to section forty-four of

this article shall include information on green jobs-green New York

on-bill recovery charges, including the basis for such charges, and any

information or inserts provided by the New York state energy research

and development authority related thereto. In addition, at least

annually the authority shall provide the utility with information for

inclusion or insertion in the customer's bill that sets forth the amount

and duration of remaining on-bill recovery charges and the authority's

contact information and procedures for resolving customer complaints

with such charges.