Bill Text: NY S08626 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to call centers for gas and electric corporations; sets penalties for violations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-06 - returned to senate [S08626 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S08626-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8626--A IN SENATE February 22, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sens. MANNION, ADDABBO, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, PARKER, RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to call centers for gas and electric corporations The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 13 of section 65 of 2 the public service law, paragraph (a) as added by chapter 330 of the 3 laws of 2010 and paragraph (b) as amended by chapter 520 of the laws of 4 2014, are amended to read as follows: 5 (a) Every gas corporation or electric corporation furnishing utility 6 services shall provide the following call center customer assistance 7 receiving inquiries and associated office tasks by phone, in writing, or 8 any electronic communication, including but not limited to emails, 9 texts, and chats on: customer financial responsibility; receiving appli- 10 cation requests to initiate or terminate service; receiving requests for 11 emergency services; shared metering; determining deposit required or 12 billing rate; receiving meter and service orders and access to meter 13 requests; explaining company rates, regulations, policies, procedures, 14 and common practices; initiating trouble order forms and high bill 15 investigations; inbound and/or outbound handling of payment and other 16 credit arrangements such as obtaining deposits, financial statements and 17 payment plans; collection assistance inquiries and referring customers 18 to social service agencies and other assistance programs. For purposes 19 of this section, each individual phone call, writing, email, text, chat, 20 or any other communication shall count as an independent instance of 21 customer assistance, and therefore each shall trigger a gas or electric 22 corporation's duties under paragraph (b) of this subdivision. 23 (b) (i) No gas or electric corporation shall close a call center or 24 other facility providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph 25 (a) of this subdivision or [relocate] send such customer assistance [toEXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13564-06-4S. 8626--A 2 1another area of] outside such gas or electric corporation's New York 2 state service territory or outside of New York state without notice 3 [and], a hearing and approval before the commission. Upon receipt of the 4 notice required pursuant to this paragraph, the commission shall provide 5 notice of the proceeding to interested parties and the public; and shall 6 promptly fix a date for the commencement of a public hearing thereon not 7 less than sixty days after such receipt. The testimony presented at such 8 hearing may be presented in writing or orally, provided that the commis- 9 sion may make rules designed to exclude repetitive, redundant or irrel- 10 evant testimony while giving all interested parties the opportunity to 11 present their documentary and/or testimonial evidence. The commission 12 shall make a record of all testimony in all contested hearings. The 13 commission within thirty days shall approve or deny the closure of a 14 call center or other facility providing customer service or the relo- 15 cation of customer service assistance inquiries. For purposes of this 16 section "public hearing" means a public forum at a physical location, 17 attended by commission members or their designees, where oral testimony 18 is accepted and written testimony may be submitted for inclusion in the 19 record. Such forum shall be open to parties to the proceeding and the 20 general public for the presentation of comments that shall be limited to 21 relevant facts directly related to the proceeding in question. Such 22 hearing shall be commenced upon proper notice to the parties to the 23 proceeding and the public at least thirty days prior to the scheduled 24 date. Such hearing shall be closed after the commission approves or 25 denies the closure of a call center or other facility providing customer 26 service or the relocation of customer service assistance inquiries. In 27 no event shall a gas or electric corporation's history of sending 28 customer assistance outside the gas or electric corporation's New York 29 state service territory or outside of New York state be used as justi- 30 fication for doing so after the effective date of the chapter of the 31 laws of two thousand twenty-four that amended this paragraph takes 32 effect. It shall be permissible for a gas or electric corporation to 33 initiate work flexibility policies that allow call center employees to 34 work from an approved alternative worksite other than a call center 35 location. Provided, however, before a gas or electric corporation can 36 establish policies for any call center employees that are represented by 37 a bona fide labor organization through a collective bargaining agree- 38 ment, such policies must have been mutually agreed to by the corporation 39 and the labor organization. Such policies shall not violate this 40 section. 41 (ii) The commission shall make available a form allowing an entity to 42 take an action against a gas or electric corporation that knowingly 43 failed or neglected to obey or comply with this section. Upon receipt of 44 such form, it shall commence a proceeding to determine if a call center 45 or other facility providing customer assistance was closed or customer 46 service assistance inquiries were relocated outside New York state with- 47 out notice, hearing, and approval before the commission. Pursuant to 48 this paragraph, the commission shall provide notice of such proceeding 49 to interested parties and the public and shall promptly fix a date for 50 the commencement of a public hearing thereon not less than sixty days 51 after such receipt. The testimony presented at such hearing may be 52 presented in writing or orally, provided that the commission may make 53 rules designed to exclude repetitive, redundant or irrelevant testimony 54 while giving all parties the opportunity to present their documentary 55 and/or testimonial evidence. The commission shall a make record of all 56 testimony in all contested hearings. The commission shall within thirtyS. 8626--A 3 1 days make a determination if such gas or electric corporation was in 2 violation of this section. 3 § 2. Section 25 of the public service law is amended by adding a new 4 subdivision 4-a to read as follows: 5 4-a. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of this 6 section, any such public utility company, corporation or person and the 7 officers, agents and employees thereof that knowingly fails or neglects 8 to obey or comply with section sixty-five of this chapter, or an order 9 or regulation adopted pursuant to section sixty-five of this chapter, or 10 such public utility company, corporation or person and the officers, 11 agents and employees thereof knowingly sends a customer assistance 12 inquiry outside a gas or electric corporation's New York state service 13 territory or outside the state of New York without notice, a hearing and 14 approval before the commission pursuant to section sixty-five of this 15 chapter, shall forfeit to the state of New York a sum not to exceed the 16 greater of: 17 (a) fifty thousand dollars constituting a civil penalty for each sepa- 18 rate and distinct customer service inquiry sent outside of New York and 19 one hundred thousand dollars constituting a civil penalty for each day a 20 call center or other facility providing the customer assistance is 21 closed; or 22 (b) the maximum forfeiture determined in accordance with subdivision 23 two of this section. 24 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 25 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 26 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 27 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 28 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 29 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 30 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 31 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 32 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 33 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all 34 actions or proceedings commenced on or after the effective date of this 35 act.
