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New York PSC Initiates Proceeding to Examine Utilities' Estimated Billing Practices
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The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) has initiated a proceeding to review the practices and procedures associated with estimated billing among the state’s electric and gas utilities
The PSC in a news release said, "The proceeding will consider whether any modifications or improvements to the utilities’ practices and procedures may be needed and will examine the utilities’ actual practices when issuing estimated bills."
The PSC said that the proceeding will also evaluate the impact of smart meters (Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)) and Automated Meter Reading (AMR) on the utilities’ reliance on and frequency of estimated billing.
In December 2025, NY Governor Kathy Hochul directed the Department of Public Service (DPS) to examine the procedures that utility corporations and municipalities use to calculate estimated bills and whether improvements to those procedures are warranted, whether the distribution of smart meters in service territories reduces the need for estimated billing, how utility corporations and municipalities address barriers to obtaining an actual meter reading, the incidence of estimated bills being issued in a particular service territory, and whether additional limitations, consequences, refunds, or penalties against utilities are needed to enforce requirements regarding estimated billing.
"The Commission has observed that some utilities’ reliance on estimated billing may be higher or for a longer duration than is necessary," the PSC said in a news release
"Reliance on estimated bills should be limited, and any estimated bills must be calculated in a transparent manner that results in a reasonable estimate of customers’ usage," the PSC said in a news release
The utilities were directed to provide, within 30 days of an initiating order, their current Commission-approved methodologies for calculating estimated bills, current procedures for obtaining an actual meter reading, the number of estimated bills issued both as a total number and as the percentage of total bills for each of the past ten years, and the number of AMI and/or AMR meters both as a total number and as a percentage of the total number of meters throughout the service territory for each of the previous ten years.
DPS Staff is to file a report on the matter within 180 days of the utility filings
The report will include the following elements:
• An examination of the utilities’ and municipalities’ policies and procedures for obtaining actual meter readings and relying on estimates of customer usage for billing;
• An examination of the barriers to obtaining actual meter reads and how the utilities and municipalities currently address such barriers;
• An analysis of the frequency of estimated billing and the root causes for it;
• An examination of how the utilities and municipalities ensure the accuracy of their records of the reason for failing to obtain an actual meter reading;
• A review of the prevalence of AMI or AMR in utility service territories and the impact of using such technology on the frequency of estimated billing;
• An examination of the adequacy and reasonableness of the methodologies the utilities use to calculate estimated bills;
• Recommendations for Commission consideration to improve the utilities’ policies, procedures, methodologies, and practices regarding obtaining actual meter readings and estimated billing; and
• An assessment of whether additional actions, limitations, consequences, refunds, or penalties are needed to address estimated billing.
Case 26-M-0425
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July 16, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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