Bill Text: NY S02750 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Makes provisions regarding the payment of utility bills to authorized payment agencies providing that such payment shall be deemed to be a payment to the utility on the date of payment to the agent, requiring written contracts between a utility and its payment agent and review of such contracts by the public service commission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S02750 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S02750-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          2750
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 29, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations
        AN  ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to protecting resi-
          dential utility customers who make bill payments to authorized payment
          agents, to provide for written contracts between electric corporations
          and payment agents, and  to  provide  for  public  service  commission
          review of the credit-worthiness of payment agents in certain cases
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Section 45 of the public service law, as added  by  chapter
     2  713 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
     3    § 45. Payment  agencies.  1. A utility corporation or municipality may
     4  permit its customers to pay their bills to  [a]  an  authorized  payment
     5  agent. The date of payment to any such authorized payment agent shall be
     6  regarded  as the date of payment to the utility or municipality, and the
     7  payment shall be regarded as if it were paid directly to the utility  or
     8  municipality  on  such date. Where a customer of such utility or munici-
     9  pality has paid a bill to an authorized payment agent  on  or  before  a
    10  designated  due  date,  no  penalty or extra charge shall accrue on such
    11  bill for the reason that the payment did not reach  the  corporation  or
    12  municipality on or before the designated due date.
    13    2.  No  party shall act as payment or collection agent with respect to
    14  more than twenty residential units for the  purpose  of  collecting  and
    15  remitting  to such electric corporation any charges for electric service
    16  to such residential units, including but  not  limited  to  distribution
    17  service,  unless  such  party  has a written contract with such electric
    18  corporation in compliance with subdivision three of this section.  Noth-
    19  ing  in  this  subdivision shall be construed to prevent any person from
    20  appointing any family member, other  volunteer  caregiver,  or  personal
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08431-01-9
        S. 2750                             2
     1  business  manager  as  his  or her agent for paying utility bills to any
     2  utility corporation.
     3    3.  No  electric  corporation  shall  enter  into  any  contract which
     4  provides in whole or in part for collecting and remitting to such  elec-
     5  tric  corporation  any  charges  for electric service, including but not
     6  limited to distribution service, unless such contract shall provide that
     7  any party acting as a payment or collection agent shall be  the  author-
     8  ized payment agent of the electric corporation.
     9    4. Each electric corporation which enters into any contract subject to
    10  subdivision  three  of  this  section shall submit to the commission for
    11  approval each such contract which  is  intended  to  result  in  or  has
    12  resulted  in  the  authorized payment agent having in its custody at any
    13  one time more than fifty thousand dollars to be remitted to  such  elec-
    14  tric corporation with respect to payments received with respect to resi-
    15  dential  units.  The  commission shall approve such contracts only if it
    16  concludes that the authorized payment agent, with or without such  secu-
    17  rity  as  the  commission  shall  order, is credit-worthy in view of the
    18  foreseeable indebtedness of the authorized payment agent to the electric
    19  corporation.
    20    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    21  have become a law.