Bill Text: NY S09080 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Enacts the "protect our most vulnerable act" under which utility companies and municipalities are prohibited from discontinuing electric, gas, and water services to elderly customers making good faith payments between five and fifteen percent of their monthly incomes.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2026-01-29 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S09080 Detail]
Download: New_York-2025-S09080-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9080 IN SENATE January 29, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- 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 enacting the "protect our most vulnerable act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "protect our most vulnerable act". 3 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 32 of the public 4 service law, as added by chapter 713 of the laws of 1981, is amended to 5 read as follows: 6 (b) Customers who are elderly, blind, or disabled. The commission 7 shall provide special procedures to be followed by a utility or munici- 8 pality with respect to the termination or restoration of service to a 9 residence where the customer is known to or identified to the utility to 10 be blind, disabled, or sixty-two years of age or older; provided that 11 all the remaining residents of the household are sixty-two years of age 12 or older, eighteen years of age or under, or blind or disabled. The 13 commission shall afford reasonable protections to elderly, blind or 14 disabled customers, including a requirement that the utility corporation 15 or municipality make a diligent effort to contact by telephone or in 16 person an adult resident at the customer's premises at least seventy-two 17 hours prior to termination of service. The commission shall also estab- 18 lish reasonable procedures for identifying customers eligible for the 19 protections of this section and section thirty-four-a of this article. 20 § 3. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 34-a to 21 read as follows: 22 § 34-a. Discontinuance of residential utility service to elderly 23 customers. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no utility 24 corporation or municipality shall discontinue gas or electric service to 25 an elderly customer located anywhere in this state provided that such 26 customer is making good-faith payments between five and fifteen percent EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14421-01-6S. 9080 2 1 of their monthly income toward their outstanding bills for rendered 2 services. 3 2. A utility corporation or municipality shall not discontinue gas or 4 electric service to an elderly customer for nonpayment of rendered 5 services unless such corporation or municipality provides clear and 6 documented evidence in a process established by the commission that such 7 customer failed to make payments in accordance with subdivision one of 8 this section. Such evidence shall include documentation that the elderly 9 customer did not attempt to pay their outstanding bills for rendered 10 services and that the obligations owed by the utility corporation or 11 municipality to provide payment plans and referrals to assistance 12 programs have been satisfied. 13 3. A utility corporation or municipality shall not prevent or inter- 14 fere with an elderly customer's ability to make payments in accordance 15 with subdivision one of this section by denying access to accepted 16 payment methods, returning or failing to process checks or money orders, 17 or imposing other administrative barriers. 18 4. A utility corporation or municipality found to engage in misconduct 19 under this section shall be subject to additional oversight by the 20 commission including mandatory compliance plans and heightened reporting 21 obligations. Such misconduct shall include, but is not limited to, the 22 failure to process payments, the misrepresentation of customer histo- 23 ries, and the attempt to discontinue gas or electric service except as 24 permitted by this section. 25 5. The commission shall require each utility corporation or munici- 26 pality to submit an annual report containing the following information: 27 the number of accounts held by elderly customers; the number of accounts 28 covered under this section; the number of accounts whose services were 29 discontinued under subdivision two of this section; and any patterns of 30 noncompliance. 31 6. The commission shall conduct audits, issue corrective action 32 orders, and impose penalties, fines, or other enforcement measures on 33 any utility corporation or municipality that violates the requirements 34 of this section. 35 7. The commission shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary 36 for the implementation of this section, including but not limited to: 37 (a) Establishing a process and uniform standards for acceptable 38 evidence of nonpayment to utility corporations and municipalities; 39 (b) Creating guidelines for the verification of elderly customer 40 income for payment-percentage calculations; and 41 (c) Ensuring utility corporations and municipalities maintain accurate 42 records of all interactions, notices, and payment attempts made by 43 elderly customers pursuant to this section. 44 8. No later than ten years after the effective date of this section, 45 the commission shall review and publish a statewide report regarding the 46 effectiveness of this section and recommendations related to strengthen- 47 ing existing protections and expanding customer eligibility. 48 9. For the purposes of this section, "elderly customer" shall mean a 49 primary named utility service accountholder who is at least seventy 50 years of age. 51 § 4. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 89-q to 52 read as follows: 53 § 89-q. Discontinuance of water service to elderly customers. 1. 54 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no water-works corporation 55 or municipal water system shall discontinue residential water service to 56 an elderly customer located anywhere in this state provided that suchS. 9080 3 1 elderly customer is making good-faith payments between five and fifteen 2 percent of their monthly income toward their outstanding bills for 3 rendered services. 4 2. A water-works corporation or municipal water system shall not 5 discontinue residential water service to an elderly customer for nonpay- 6 ment of rendered services unless such corporation or municipality 7 provides clear and documented evidence in a process established by the 8 commission that such customer failed to make payments in accordance with 9 subdivision one of this section. Such evidence shall include documenta- 10 tion that the elderly customer did not attempt to pay their outstanding 11 bills for rendered services and the obligation owed by the water-works 12 corporation or municipal water system to provide payment plans and 13 referrals to assistance programs have been satisfied. 14 3. A water-works corporation or municipal water system shall not 15 prevent or interfere with an elderly customer's ability to make payments 16 in accordance with subdivision one of this section by denying access to 17 accepted payment methods, returning or failing to process checks or 18 money orders, or imposing other administrative barriers. 19 4. Any water-works corporation or municipal water system found to 20 engage in misconduct under this section shall be subject to additional 21 oversight by the commission, including but not limited to, mandatory 22 compliance plans and heightened reporting obligations. Such misconduct 23 shall include, but is not limited to, the failure to process payments, 24 the misrepresentation of customer histories, and the attempt to discon- 25 tinue water service except as permitted by this section. 26 5. The commission shall require each water-works corporation or munic- 27 ipal water system to submit an annual report containing the following 28 information: the number of accounts held by elderly customers; the 29 number of accounts covered under this section; the number of accounts 30 whose services were discontinued under subdivision two of this section; 31 and any patterns of noncompliance. 32 6. The commission shall conduct audits, issue corrective action 33 orders, and impose penalties, fines, or other enforcement measures on 34 any water-works corporation or municipal water system that violates the 35 requirements of this section. 36 7. The commission shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary 37 for the implementation of this section, including but not limited to: 38 (a) Establishing a process and uniform standards for acceptable 39 evidence of nonpayment to water-works corporations or municipal water 40 systems; 41 (b) Creating guidelines for the verification of elderly customer 42 income for payment-percentage calculations; and 43 (c) Ensuring water-works corporations and municipal water systems 44 maintain accurate records of all interactions, notices, and payment 45 attempts made by elderly customers pursuant to this section. 46 8. No later than ten years after the effective date of this section, 47 the commission shall review and publish a statewide report regarding the 48 effectiveness of this section and recommendations related to strengthen- 49 ing existing protections and expanding customer eligibility. 50 9. For the purposes of this section, "elderly customer" shall mean a 51 primary named water service accountholder who is at least seventy years 52 of age. 53 § 5. This act shall take effect January 1, 2027. Effective immediate- 54 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 55 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 56 authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
