New York Laws
Article 2 - Residential Gas, Electric and Steam Utility Service
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.