N.Y. Public Service Law § 44: Utility bills; informational notices

§ 44. Utility bills; informational notices. 1. Every utility

corporation or municipality shall assure that bills for service to

residential customers adequately explain the charges for service in

clear and understandable form and language. The commission may, from

time to time, specify the form and content of such bills to further the

objectives of this subdivision.

2. The public service commission and the state board of elections

shall coordinate a voluntary program with public utilities whereby at

the time service is initiated to a residential customer, a utility

corporation or municipality may provide each such customer with a voter

registration and a change-of-residence registration form.

3. At the time that service is initiated to a residential customer,

and at least once every year thereafter, a utility corporation or

municipality shall provide each such customer with an additional notice

which summarizes the rights and obligations of residential customers

relating to the rendition of service. At the time any such notice is

provided a customer, a utility corporation or municipality shall inquire

as to the customer's eligibility for the protection afforded the

elderly, blind, disabled and other customers under this article. The

commission shall, by regulation, establish procedures to assure, to the

extent practicable, that residential customers served by more than one

utility corporation or municipality for gas service or for electric

service shall not receive duplicative annual notices in connection with

such gas service or in connection with such electric service.

4. The commission shall require every utility corporation or

municipality providing service to a county wherein at least twenty

percent of the population regularly speak a language other than English

according to the most recent federal census to offer, at the request of

a residential customer residing in such a county, to prepare and send to

such customer its messages on bills and notices in both English and the

other language.

5. At least once a year, every utility corporation, energy services

company or municipality shall provide its customers with a notice that

billing statements are available in large print format. Upon written

request by a customer, a utility corporation, energy services company or

municipality shall provide the customer's billing statements in the

large print format commencing no later than sixty days after the date

upon which the request is received by the utility corporation, energy

services company or municipality. The provisions of this subdivision

shall apply only to printed statements. For the purposes of this

section, "large print" shall mean a printed font size of sixteen or

greater to illuminate billing information. For the purposes of this

section, "energy services company" or "ESCO" shall mean an entity

eligible to sell energy services to end-use customers using the

transmission or distribution system of a utility corporation.

6. Upon customer request, every utility corporation, energy services

company or municipality shall provide copies of previous billing

statements and/or statements verifying that such person requesting the

document is a customer of such utility corporation, energy services

company or municipality. Utility companies, energy services companies

and municipalities shall not impose any fee, charge or surcharge for

such requests.

7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as part of every

billing statement, any utility corporation that serves more than fifteen

thousand customers in the state shall provide the average daily usage

per month or the monthly usage at the customer's address for the prior

thirteen months. Additionally, notwithstanding any conflicting provision

of law, upon request by the customer, such utility corporation shall

provide monthly billing charge amounts at such customer's address for

the thirteen months prior to the current billing period, no later than

thirty days after such request is made.