Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this
section, and when used in section
90.6 of this
Part, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) Existing residential customer is a
customer who receives electric service to a dwelling unit which such customer
uses for his residential purposes and where business rates do not apply to the
service. An existing residential customer includes an applicant for electric
service who has transferred dwelling units within a utility's service territory
and for whom there is a recent payment history.
(2) New residential customer is an applicant
for electric service to a dwelling unit which such customer uses for his
residential purposes and where business rates do not apply to the service, and
who does not qualify as an existing residential customer.
(3) Delinquent in payment means, unless a
more liberal standard is adopted by the utility, that a residential customer
has not paid in full a duly rendered bill, or an agreed-upon partial payment,
for electric service 25 days after the "to date" of the bill or within a longer
period agreed to by the utility. A residential customer who has not paid in
full a bill, or an agreed-upon partial payment, for electric service in
circumstances where disconnection for nonpayment is precluded under utility
complaint procedures established under section
143.8
of this Title or commission complaint procedures under Part 11 of this Title,
shall not be considered delinquent in payment.
(4) Payment shall be considered accomplished
on the date when the full amount of the bill or an agreed-upon partial payment
is received by the electric corporation or gas and electric corporation or by
any of such corporation's agents; provided, however, that if payment is mailed
to such corporation or its agents, payment shall be considered accomplished as
of the mailing by the consumer.
(b) Credit risk standards.
(1) An existing residential customer may not
be considered a bad credit risk unless such customer has been delinquent in
payment two or more times within a recent 12-month period, or unless such
customer's electric service has been discontinued for nonpayment during the
preceding 12 months.
(2) A new
residential customer may not be considered non-credit-rated unless such
customer is unable to provide, to the satisfaction of the utility, affirmative
answers to three or more of the six questions contained in Appendix 15-A of
this Title, infra. Each electric corporation and gas and electric corporation
shall adopt procedures which provide for use of the six questions appearing in
Appendix 15-A of this Title, infra. An electric corporation or gas and electric
corporation may determine whether to require a deposit from a new residential
customer in accordance with the credit risk standards provided in paragraph (1)
of this subdivision, if sufficient information is available from a New York
utility rendering comparable service to determine whether such customer is a
bad credit risk as defined in paragraph (1) of this subdivision. If a new
residential customer can establish prior satisfactory credit history with a
utility rendering electric service at the customer's most recent address, the
electric corporation may not obtain a security deposit from such new
residential customer.
(c) Residential customer deposits. No
electric corporation or gas and electric corporation may require a deposit from
a residential customer unless such corporation shall establish that the
residential customer is a bad credit risk or non-credit-rated in accordance
with the definitions and standards prescribed in this section.
(d) No electric corporation or gas and
electric corporation may require a deposit from a residential customer in
excess of two times the estimated average monthly bill for a calendar year
except in the case of electric or gas space heating customers where deposits
may not exceed two times the estimated average monthly bill for the heating
season.
