Bill > A03083

This bill enacts the "Disadvantaged Communities Commitment Act", which requires investor-owned energy utilities (including gas, electric, and combination utilities) to collect and publicly disclose detailed statistical information about residential customers in disadvantaged communities within their service areas. The utilities must publish these statistics on their customer-facing websites and file them with the public service commission, including specific data points such as the number of customers by utility type (electric only, gas only, or both), enrollment in energy assistance programs like EAP and HEAP, average bill arrears, number of customers on budget billing, and other relief program participation. These statistics must be published annually by January 31st, remain posted for three years, and be downloadable in a CSV format. The data will be based on census tract information and defined according to existing environmental conservation law definitions of disadvantaged communities. Utilities found in violation of these requirements will be subject to penalties or sanctions under existing public service law provisions. The bill will take effect 90 days after becoming law, with immediate authorization for developing necessary implementation regulations.