New York A 3978: Allows customers to decline the installation of smart meters

Bill Text

Bill Search and Legislative Information | New York State Assembly 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

 Skip to main content 

 New York State Assembly

 Speaker Carl E. Heastie

 --> 
 --> 

 --> 

• 
 Assembly Members 

• 
 Legislative Info 

• 
 Public Hearings 

• 
 Speaker's Press 

• 
 Assembly Reports 

• 
 Committees & More 

• Bill Search Home
• Laws
• Legislative Calendar
• Public Hearing Schedule
• Assembly Calendars
• Assembly Committee Agenda 

 Javascript must be enabled to properly view this page. 

 Bill No.: 

• Summary 
• Actions 
• Committee&nbspVotes 
• Floor&nbspVotes 
• Memo 
• Text 
• LFIN 
• Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript 
A03978 Summary:

BILL NOA03978 

&nbsp

SAME ASSAME AS S08515

&nbsp

SPONSORSantabarbara

&nbsp

COSPNSRButtenschon, Ra

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

&nbsp

Add §§67-b & 89-q, Pub Serv L

&nbsp

Enacts the "consumer utility meter choice protection act"; allows customers to decline the installation of smart meters without being liable for fees.

Go to top A03978 Actions:

BILL NOA03978 

&nbsp

01/30/2025referred to energy

01/07/2026referred to energy

Go to topA03978 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topA03978 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topA03978 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 3978

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN ASSEMBLY

 January 30, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the
 Committee on Energy

 AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to advanced metering
 infrastructure

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "consumer utility meter choice protection act".
 3 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 67-b to
 4 read as follows:
 5 § 67-b. Advanced metering infrastructure devices for electric and gas
 6 services. 1. For purposes of this section advanced metering infrastruc-
 7 ture shall include:
 8 (a) a one-way smart meter, which shall mean a device designed to
 9 utilize one-way communications systems, including but not limited to:
 10 (i) power line carrier; (ii) radio frequency; (iii) wireless fidelity
 11 network; (iv) telephony; and (v) the internet to transmit customer usage
 12 data to a utility for the purposes of billing; and be designed to be
 13 capable of measuring and storing customer electric and/or gas usage
 14 data, including time of use in real time; or
 15 (b) a two-way smart meter, which shall mean a device that is designed
 16 to utilize two-way communications systems, including but not limited to:
 17 (i) radio frequency; (ii) wireless fidelity network; or (iii) the inter-
 18 net to transmit electric usage and pricing data between an electric
 19 and/or gas corporation and its customers, where such device is capable
 20 of (A) measuring usage data and transmitting such data in intervals of
 21 at least once per day; (B) receiving in real-time, per-kilowatt hour
 22 (kWh) and/or per (therm) gas and electric supply and delivery rates; (C)
 23 detecting customer service disruptions and transmitting such information
 24 to an electric and/or gas corporation; and (D) storing customer usage
 25 data.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD07588-01-5

 A. 3978 2

 1 2. It shall be the right of every customer of an electric and/or gas
 2 corporation, at no penalty, fee or service charge to decline the permis-
 3 sion of such customer's electric and/or gas corporation (a) to replace
 4 an existing meter at such customer's premises that is assigned to such
 5 customer's account with a two-way smart meter, or (b) to install any
 6 two-way smart meter device at such customer's property without such
 7 customer's consent.
 8 3. An electric and/or gas corporation may not install a two-way smart
 9 meter on a customer's premises that is assigned to such customer's
 10 account unless it shall provide written notice to the customer no less
 11 than ninety days prior to the scheduled installation of such meter. Such
 12 notice shall provide that:
 13 (a) the customer shall have the right to decline such customer's elec-
 14 tric and/or gas corporation from installing a two-way smart meter with
 15 no fee, penalty or service charge;
 16 (b) the customer may, at any point during a period of three hundred
 17 sixty-five days following the installation of a two-way smart meter,
 18 require the removal of such device with no fee, penalty or service
 19 charge;
 20 (c) the customer may be liable for a fee to be determined by the
 21 commission for the removal of a two-way smart meter device if the
 22 customer requests the removal more than three hundred sixty-five days
 23 following the installation of such meter at such customer's premises.
 24 §