Prohibits public utilities from discontinuing residential electric, gas, water, and sewer service during coronavirus 2019 state of emergency; requires those utilities to implement deferred payment agreements for those services.

A1457

ASSEMBLY, No. 1457

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ

District 33 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits public utilities from discontinuing
residential electric, gas, water, and sewer service during coronavirus 2019
state of emergency; requires those utilities to implement deferred payment
agreements for those services.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

prohibiting a public utility from discontinuing
electric, gas, water, and sewer
services
to residential customers during the Executive Order No. 103 State of Emergency and
amending various parts of the statutory law
.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� R.S.48:2-24 is amended
to read as follows:

����
[
No
]

48:2-24.
�
a.
�
A

public utility shall
not
discontinue, curtail, or abandon any service
without obtaining permission from the board after notice
and in compliance
with the
provisions of subsection b. of
this section
.� The board may
withhold permission until after
a
hearing to determine if the
discontinuance, curtailment, or abandonment will adversely affect public
convenience and necessity.� With respect to common carriers, the provisions of
this paragraph shall apply only to service operated in accordance with base
schedules on file with the board; provided, however, that the State Highway
Commissioner upon entering into a contract for passenger service pursuant to
chapter 66 of the laws of 1960, as amended and supplemented, may, without
approval of the board, authorize a discontinuance, curtailment, abandonment, or
change in passenger service, which discontinuance, curtailment, abandonment, or
change in service shall exist only during the term of said contract.

���� A public utility may terminate
service for a violation of the terms of its approved tariffs on file with the
[
Board of
Public Utility Commissioners
]

board
upon giving the customer at least
[
3
]

three
days' notice of
such termination unless otherwise provided for by rules, regulations, or orders
of the board, except that in those situations where a hazardous condition
prevails the
public
utility may terminate service without notice.

���� If any public utility shall
discontinue, curtail, or abandon service and the board after hearing upon
notice shall find and determine that service should be resumed, the board may
order that service be resumed forthwith or on such date as it may fix.

����
b.��� Notwithstanding the
foregoing, or the provisions of any law, rule, regulation, or order to the
contrary, except when a public utility experiences a public utility emergency,
as defined in
section 1 of P.L.2002, c.107
(C.48:2-24.2), a public utility providing electric, gas, sewer, or water
service shall not discontinue, curtail, or abandon service for the sole reason
of a residential customer service bill payment delinquency for 180 days
following the expiration of the coronavirus 2019 state of emergency declared on
March 9, 2020 by the Governor, pursuant to Executive Order No. 103, and
extended, where applicable. Instead, a public utility shall enter into a
deferred payment agreement with the residential customer under terms and
conditions established by the board. The terms and conditions so established,
shall, at a minimum, allow the residential customer to make monthly payments to
the public utility, over a period of at least 48 months. The public utility is
prohibited from discontinuing, curtailing, or abandoning service as long as the
residential customer complies with the terms and conditions of the deferred
repayment plan.

(cf: P.L.1964, c.58. s.1)

���� 2.��� Section 1 of P.L.2002,
c.107 (C.48:2-24.2) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.� a. �Any public utility as
defined in R.S.48:2-13, which discontinues gas, electric
, sewer,
or
water service to a multifamily housing unit customer for safety related
purposes
due to a public utility emergency
, shall provide written or
verbal notice of the discontinuance to the chief law enforcement officer of the
municipality in which the customer's premises are located or the Superintendent
of the State Police, as appropriate, within 12 hours after the
public
utility
discontinues service to the customer, except that if service has been fully
restored to the customer prior to the expiration of the 12 hours, the
public

utility shall not be required to provide notice pursuant to this subsection.

���� b.� For the purposes of this
section
:

���� "multifamily housing unit
customer" means a customer who resides in housing in which three or more
units of dwelling space are occupied, or are intended to be occupied, by three
or more persons who live independently of one another.

����
�public utility emergency�
means any condition constituting a potential danger to life, health, or
property requiring a public utility to immediately discontinue or interrupt
electric, gas, sewer, and water

service or that results in an unscheduled discontinuance or interruption in
electric, gas, sewer, and water

service.

����
[
b.
]

c.
�The notice required
by subsection a. of this section shall include the name of the customer and the
address of the premises where service was discontinued provided that such
information is available to the public utility.

(cf: P.L.2002, c.107. s.1)

���� 3.��� Section 2 of P.L.2019,
c.154 (C.48:2-29.49) is amended to read as follows:

���� 2.��� a. An electric public
utility shall request from every residential customer, on a semi-annual basis,
information, determined by the board, as to whether the residential customer,
or any person living at the residential customer's address, uses life-sustaining
equipment powered by electricity at the residential customer's address.� If a
residential customer responds to the utility's request for information
indicating that the residential customer or a person living at the residential
customer's address uses life-sustaining equipment powered by electricity, the
utility shall designate that residential customer as a medical customer.

���� b.��� Discontinuance of
electric service for nonpayment is prohibited for a period of 90 days, if a
medical customer's condition would be aggravated by a discontinuance of
electric service.� The board may extend the 90-day period of time in which a
discontinuance of electric service is prohibited for an additional period of
time for good cause.� The board shall determine which types of licensed medical
professionals are able to sign a medical certification needed to avoid the
discontinuance of electric service pursuant to this section and shall establish
conditions that shall apply to the prohibition on a discontinuance of electric
service to a medical customer that shall include, but not be limited to,
provisions requiring the medical customer to:

���� (1)� provide reasonable proof
of an inability to pay a utility bill on or before the bill's due date; and

���� (2)� submit a written licensed
medical professional's statement to the utility, stating:

���� (a)�� the existence of the
medical customer's use of life-sustaining equipment powered by electricity at
the medical customer's premises and the probable duration of that use;

���� (b)� the nature of the
condition of the medical customer and its probable duration, only if the
disclosure of the information is not otherwise prohibited by law; and

���� (c)�� that the discontinuance
of service to the medical customer will aggravate the condition of the medical
customer.

����
c.��� Notwithstanding the provisions
of subsection b. of this section, or the provisions of any law, rule,
regulation, or order to the contrary, except when a public utility experiences
a public utility emergency,
as defined in
section
1 of P.L.2002, c.107 (C.48:2-24.2), a public utility shall not discontinue,
curtail, or abandon service for the sole reason of medical customer service
bill payment delinquency for 180 days following the expiration of the
coronavirus 2019 pandemic state of emergency declared on March 9, 2020 by the
Governor, pursuant to Executive Order No. 103, and extended, where applicable.
Instead, a public utility shall enter into a deferred payment agreement with
the medical customer under terms and conditions established by the board. The terms
and conditions so established, shall, at a minimum, allow the medical customer
to make monthly payments to the public utility, over a period of at least 48
months. The public utility is prohibited from discontinuing, curtailing, or
abandoning service as long as a medical customer complies with the terms and
conditions of the deferred repayment plan.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.154. s.2)

���� 4.��� Section 3 of P.L.2019,
c.154 (C.48:2-29.50) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� A medical customer who
does not pay in full an electric public utility bill on or before the date the
bill is due shall be liable for any bill payment balance for service rendered
by the utility, in accordance with a utility's tariff
and, following the
expiration of the COVID-19 state of emergency, in accordance with the deferred
payment agreement under the terms and conditions established by the board
pursuant to subsection b. of R.S.48:2-24.

(cf: P.L.2019, c.154. s.3)

���� 5.��� Section 5 of P.L.2019,
c.154 (C.48:2-29.52) is amended to read as follows:

����
5.��� An
electric public utility shall be excused from compliance with the provisions of
section 2 of P.L.2019, c.154 (C.48:2-29.49) in the event of
[
an
]

a public utility
emergency
, as defined in
section
1 of P.L.2002, c.107 (C.48:2-24.2),
or if,
despite compliance by the utility with the requirements of section 2 of
P.L.2019, c.154 (C.48:2-29.49), the medical customer fails or refuses to
respond to a request for information by the utility pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.2019, c.154 (C.48:2-29.49).

(cf: P.L.2019, c.154. s.5)

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill prohibits public
utilities (utilities) providing
electric,
gas, water, and sewer utility
services to residential customers
from discontinuing those services following the end of the coronavirus 2019
(COVID-19) state of emergency.

���� The bill prohibits a utility
from discontinuing, curtailing, or abandoning service for the sole reason of residential
customer service bill nonpayment for 180 days following the expiration of the COVID-19
state of emergency.� Instead, a public utility is required to enter into a
deferred payment agreement with the residential customer under terms and
conditions established by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU). At a minimum,
the terms and conditions established by the BPU will allow residential customers
to make monthly payments to the utility over a period of at least 48 months. As
long as a residential customer complies with the terms and conditions of the
deferred repayment plan, a utility cannot discontinue service.