§ 66-M — Green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery

§ 66-m. Green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery. 1.(a) The\ncommission shall, within forty-five days of the effective date of this\nsection, commence a proceeding to investigate the implementation by each\ncombination electric and gas corporation having annual revenues in\nexcess of two hundred million dollars of a billing and collection\nservice for on-bill recovery charges in payment of obligations of its\ncustomers to the green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund\nestablished pursuant to title nine-A of article eight of the public\nauthorities law and, within one hundred fifty days of the effective date\nof this section, the commission shall make a determination establishing\nthe billing and collection procedures for such on-bill recovery charges.\nThe department shall consult with the New York state energy research and\ndevelopment authority in the preparation of its recommendations to the\ncommission for such determination. The commission shall require such\nelectric and gas corporations to offer billing and collection services\nfor green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery charges for eligible\ncustomers within three hundred days of the effective date of this\nsection. To the extent practicable, such electric and gas corporations\nshall utilize existing electronic data interchange infrastructure or\nother existing billing infrastructure to implement their billing and\ncollection responsibilities under this section, and shall utilize\nfunding available from the New York state energy research and\ndevelopment authority to defray any costs associated with electronic\ndata interchange improvements or other costs of initiating and\nimplementing this program.\n (b) To ensure proper program design and implementation, each electric\nand gas corporation shall initially limit the number of customers who\npay a green jobs-green New York on-bill recovery charge at any given\ntime to no more than one half of one percent of its total customers, on\na first come, first served basis. Prior to reaching such limit, the New\nYork state energy research and development authority shall petition the\ncommission to review said limit, and the commission shall increase such\nlimit provided that the commission finds that the program has not caused\nsignificant harm to the electric or gas company or its ratepayers.\n (c) The commission may suspend such an electric and gas corporation's\noffering of the on-bill recovery charge provided that the commission,\nafter conducting a hearing as provided in section twenty of this\nchapter, makes a finding that there is a significant increase in arrears\nor utility service disconnections that the commission determines is\ndirectly related to the on-bill recovery charge, or a finding of other\ngood cause.\n (d) The on-bill recovery charge shall be collected on the bill from\nthe customer's electric corporation unless the qualified energy\nefficiency services at that customer's premises result in more projected\nenergy savings on the customer's gas bill than the electric bill, in\nwhich case such charge shall be collected on the customer's gas\ncorporation bill.\n (e) The commission shall determine an appropriate percentage, up to\nfifteen percent, of the energy savings from qualified energy efficiency\nservices, financed with a loan pursuant to section eighteen hundred\nninety-six of the public authorities law that is subject to an on-bill\nrecovery charge, to be credited to the combination electric and gas\ncorporation that is issuing the bill for such charge, for purposes of\nmeeting such corporation's targets under energy efficiency programs\nestablished by the commission.\n 2. Schedules for the collection and billing of on-bill recovery\ncharges shall provide:\n (a) that billing and collection services shall be available to all\ncustomers who have met the standards established by the New York state\nenergy research and development authority for participation in the\non-bill recovery mechanism under the green jobs-green New York program\nand have executed an agreement for the performance of qualified energy\nefficiency services under such program; provided, however, that for\nresidential properties any such customer must hold primary ownership or\nrepresent the primary owner or owners of the premises and hold primary\nmeter account responsibility or represent the primary holder or holders\nof meter account responsibility for all meters to which such on-bill\nrecovery charges will apply;\n (b) that the responsibilities of such electric and gas corporation are\nlimited to providing billing and collection services for on-bill\nrecovery charges as directed by the authority;\n (c) that the rights and responsibilities of residential customers\npaying on-bill recovery charges shall be governed by the provisions of\narticle two of this chapter;\n (d) unless fully satisfied prior to sale or transfer, that (i) the\non-bill recovery charges for any services provided at the customer's\npremises shall survive changes in ownership, tenancy or meter account\nresponsibility, and (ii) that arrears in on-bill recovery charges at the\ntime of account closure or meter transfer shall remain the\nresponsibility of the incurring customer, unless expressly assumed by a\nsubsequent purchaser of the property subject to such charges;\n (e) not less than forty-five days after closure of an account that is\nsubject to an on-bill recovery charge, and provided that the customer\ndoes not re-establish service with such electric and gas corporation, it\nshall be the responsibility of the New York state energy research and\ndevelopment authority and not the electric and gas corporation to\ncollect any arrears that are due and owing;\n (f) a customer remitting less than the total amount due for electric\nand/or gas services and on-bill recovery charges shall have such partial\npayment first applied as payment for electric and/or gas services and\nany remaining amount will be applied to the on-bill recovery charge;\n (g) billing and collection services shall be available without regard\nto whether the energy or fuel delivered by the utility is the customer's\nprimary energy source;\n (h) unless otherwise precluded by law, participation in the green\njobs-green New York program shall not affect a customer's eligibility\nfor any rebate or incentive offered by a utility; and\n (i) any other provisions necessary to provide for the billing and\ncollection of on-bill recovery charges.\n 3. The commission shall not approve any application for the conversion\nto submetering of any master meter which is subject to any on-bill\nrecovery charges.\n