After the Commission approved NYAW’s current rate plan on May 18, 2017, the Company reported that it had incorrectly filed information related to its property taxes, resulting in several years of higher than necessary tax payments. In addition to the property tax issue, in the summer of 2018 nearly 2,000 customer bill complaints were filed with the Company. Most of these complaints were related to the inclining block rate structure approved in the rate plan and the lack of notice to ratepayers about this important change.

These issues were addressed in an Albany County Supreme Court proceeding that resulted in a September 11, 2018 consent order and judgment that required, among other things, NYAW to hire a consulting firm to review and monitor the Company’s operations pertaining to (1) tax issues and rate case submissions and (2) the high level of customer complaints, the company’s response thereto, and the company’s customer communication and education plan concerning rates. On October 18, 2018, the Commission authorized the company to hire of PA Consulting to serve as the monitor.

With respect to the second item, PA Consulting provided its final report to Department of Public Service Staff on June 26, 2019, finding that the customer complaints were largely the result of the Company’s failure to communicate the implications of the inclining block structure to ratepayers. In its report, PA Consulting made 23 recommendations related to NYAW’s billing system, customer communications, cause of complaints, complaint resolution activities, management processes, and strategies to reduce complaints.

NYAW filed, on the same day as PA Consulting’s report, its Plan to address the report’s findings. The Company will, through the Plan, work to read customers’ meters within a 26- to 32-day window, implement a prorated bill practice for readings outside that window, improve the tracking and response to customer complaints, and improve public communication on important issues.

The Commission accepted PA’s report at its July 11, 2019 session and is now soliciting public comment on the Plan, after which the Company will be required to file a final implementation plan that will address issues raised in the comments or identified by the Department or Commission.

The full text of the filing and the full record of the proceeding may be reviewed online at the Department of Public Service web page: www.dps.ny.gov. The Commission may adopt, reject or modify, in whole or in part, the action proposed and may resolve related matters.

Statements and analyses are not submitted with this notice because the proposed rule is within the definition contained in section 102(2)(a)(ii) of the State Administrative Procedure Act.

(16-W-0259SP11)