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On June 15, the joint utilities filed a petition for cost recovery and other relief related to GBL § 349-d(9) and (10).

The electric and gas utilities filing the petition include: Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation (“Central Hudson”), Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (“Con Edison”), National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation (“National Fuel”), New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (“NYSEG”), Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid (“Niagara Mohawk”), KeySpan Gas East Corporation d/b/a National Grid (“KEDLI”), and The Brooklyn Union Gas Company d/b/a National Grid NY (“KEDNY”) (Niagara Mohawk, KEDLI, and KEDNY, collectively, “National Grid”), Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (“O&R”), and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (“RG&E”).

The new legal requirements become effective June 17, 2026.

As background, the New York legislature recently amended and added two new subdivisions to the General Business Law (“GBL”), sections 349-d(9) and (10),0F the energy services company (“ESCO”) consumer bill of rights.

The new law requires that: (1) the billing party provide residential and small commercial customers with billing statements with a side-by-side comparison of prices charged by ESCOs versus the price the customer would have paid had the customer solely taken commodity and delivery service from their local utility corporation; and (2) ESCOs provide an annual statement to the customer comparing the ESCO’s prices with the utility’s over the prior 12-month period.

Under these new requirements, ESCOs are responsible for “any costs” incurred by a utility for compliance in a manner prescribed by the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC).

In response the Joint Utilities prepared and filed this petition as each are working to implement changes as a result of the new law.

In the petition the joint utilities state that each utility has its own unique systems, billing platforms, and service configurations. “These structural differences create distinct implementation considerations, which are addressed in each utility’s individual implementation plan.”

It is important to note that the joint utilities’ utility-specific implementation plans, including cost estimates, accompany this petition as Appendix A.

“Each plan considers the individual Joint Utilities’ approach designed to implement the necessary system changes efficiently and cost effectively considering each utility’s unique programs and systems.”

A cursory review of Appendix A indicates that the joint utilities plan to recover a broad range of implementation and ongoing maintenance costs via an upfront charge to each ESCO based on an ESCO’s number of residential and small commercial customers (mass market customers).

The proposed upfront implementation charges vary widely among the utilities.

For example, a cursory review of Appendix A indicates that each ESCO’s upfront charge per-customer charges multiplied by each ESCO’s number of residential and small commercial customers, as of June 17, 2026 equates to the following estimates:

• ConEd $1.76
• National Fuel Gas Distribution: $0.86
• National Grid: $3.62
• NYSEG $10.83

The petition indicates that these cost estimates are just that and may change.

See Appendix A for full details.

Note also that Con Edison and Orange and Rockland  seek the Commission’s approval of updates to the Electronic Data Interchange (“EDI”) implementation guide for the 810 URR-Invoice Transaction – Utility Rate Ready guide, which are necessary for them to implement changes required by this legislation for purposes of the 12-month billing statement. Con Edison and Orange and Rockland’s existing and proposed modified EDI implementation guide accompany this petition as Appendices B and C, respectively.

From the petition:

“Accordingly, the Joint Utilities petition the Commission to authorize the implementation of a cost recovery mechanism to collect from ESCOs all costs incurred by the utilities arising out of compliance with GBL §§ 349-d(9) and (10).”

“Specifically, the Joint Utilities propose to submit a single, initial up-front charge per ESCO. To derive the initial charge for each ESCO, the estimated costs of implementation as set forth in each utility’s specific implementation plan will be divided by the total residential and small non-residential customers served by ESCOs in the utility’s service territory to derive a per-customer charge. This per-customer charge will then be multiplied by the number of customers served by an ESCO as of June 17, 2026, to derive the initial charge for that ESCO. The initial charge will be invoiced once a Commission order is issued approving this method of recovery. After the initial charge, utilities will bill additional implementation and/or other ongoing maintenance costs for compliance annually (or for National Fuel, monthly), around/after June 17, 2027, and continuing annually thereafter. Costs will be invoiced directly to the ESCO and, in accordance with the Billing Service Agreements (“BSAs”), may be deducted from the ESCO’s purchase of receivables payment. Moreover, the utilities request that costs that are unrecoverable from an ESCO (due, for example, to bankruptcy or going out of business) will be charged to the remaining ESCOs in the utility’s service territory on a pro rata basis, ensuring that these costs are not paid by utilities or their customers. And a utility may recover attorneys’ and other fees arising out of an ESCO’s nonpayment, should a utility be compelled to take legal action due to nonpayment.”

“The Joint Utilities also request that the Commission direct the ESCOs to utilize the values that the utilities provide for supply, delivery, tax, and comparison values, without modification, for purposes of customer-facing statutory comparisons and annual comparison statements. Through this petition, Con Edison and Orange and Rockland also seek the Commission’s approval of updates to the Electronic Data Interchange (“EDI”) implementation guide for the 810 URR-Invoice Transaction – Utility Rate Ready guide, which are necessary for them to implement changes required by this legislation for purposes of the 12-month billing statement. Con Edison and Orange and Rockland’s existing and proposed modified EDI implementation guide accompany this petition as Appendices B and C, respectively. The other Joint Utilities are using a secure web-based solution, for which the Joint Utilities submit that no further approvals by the Commission are required. However, to the extent the Commission determines that approval is required, the Joint Utilities request that the Commission authorize each utility-specific mechanism (i.e., EDI and secure web-based mechanisms) for providing comparison data to ESCOs, including the use of secure utility platforms, where those mechanisms support compliance with the law.”

Stay tuned – much more to follow!