N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 16 § 225.5

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 225.5 - Special provision for residential customers

(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section, and when used in section 225.6 of this Part, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Existing residential customer is a customer who receives gas 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 gas 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 gas 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 gas 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 gas service in circumstances where disconnection for nonpayment is precluded under utility complaint procedures established under section 275.8 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 gas 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 gas 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-B of this Title. Each gas corporation and gas and electric corporation shall adopt procedures which provide for use of the six questions appearing in Appendix 15-B of this Title. A gas 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 gas service at the customer's most recent address, the gas corporation may not obtain a security deposit from such new residential customer.

(c) Residential customer deposits. No gas 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 gas 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.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 16 § 225.5