Eliminates late fees for residential utility customers
This bill eliminates late fees for residential utility customers in New York. It prohibits utility companies and municipalities from charging residential customers (homeowners and renters) any late payment fees, penalties, or interest for overdue gas or electric bills. The law directly affects all residential utility customers by removing this common charge, while small businesses remain subject to different late fee rules. The change takes effect immediately upon enactment.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Apr 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Apr 16, 2025
Last action Jan 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
A7963
→
A7963A
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to clarify that late fees are prohibited for both residential customers and a newly defined category of 'small business' customers. It also reorganized the text to explicitly separate rules for non-residential customers from those protecting residential and small business accounts.
Scope change
The scope of protection against late fees was expanded to include small business customers in addition to residential customers.
ELIGIBILITY
The prohibition on late fees was broadened to explicitly cover 'small business customers' alongside residential customers, whereas the original text only mentioned residential customers.
DEFINITION
A new definition for 'small business customer' was added, specifying criteria based on electric demand (under 40 kilowatts) or gas consumption (under 750 dekatherms per year).
REQUIREMENT
The structure of Section 42 was reorganized to clearly distinguish between charges allowed for non-residential customers and those prohibited for residential and small business customers.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS
lower
Aug 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
PRINT NUMBER 7963A
lower
Aug 15, 2025
Lower · Passed
AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS
lower
Apr 16, 2025
Committee
REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS
lower
1 primary · 6 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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