N.Y. PBS Law § 67-B

§ 67-b. Excelsior power program. 1. As used in this section, the\nfollowing terms shall have the following meanings:\n (a) "Customer" means a residential recipient of retail electric or gas\nservice from an electric corporation, gas corporation, or combination\ngas and electric corporation.\n (b) "Smart thermostat" means an electronic device that has the\ncapability to be accessed and controlled remotely and also directly\nregulates heating and/or cooling appliances located within a dwelling to\nmaintain a thermostatic range.\n (c) "Utility" means an electric corporation, a gas corporation, or\ncombination electric and gas corporation as such terms are defined in\nsection two of this chapter and shall not include municipalities.\n (d) "Program" means the Excelsior power program designed to reduce\npeak energy demand established by this section.\n (e) "Customer information" means the personal information and data of\ncustomers.\n 2. (a) The commission shall establish a program, developed and\nadministered by the department, to reduce peak energy demand through the\nremote operation of voluntarily customer enrolled smart thermostats or\nother smart devices that reduce peak energy demand.\n (b) Following the establishment of the program, the department shall,\nsubject to appropriation, disburse available funds to utilities\nparticipating in the program for the purpose of providing bill credits\nto customers that have enrolled in the program.\n (c) One year after the establishment of the program and annually\nthereafter, for as long as the program remains active, the department\nshall prepare a public report on the functioning, efficiency and\nusefulness of the program in reducing peak energy demand, which shall\ninclude enrollment information, information on curtailment events, and\npotential recommendations to improve the program.\n (d) The department shall require that the program include:\n (i) a mechanism for customers to override the smart thermostat during\nextreme heat or cold events. No assessment of a fee, charge, or penalty\nto a customer or their account may be levied for overriding the smart\nthermostat during these or other demand response events, except that,\nany bill credits that are associated with a customer's involvement in\nthe program, may be discounted in a manner to be determined by the\ncommission that reflects the customer's limited involvement in the\nprogram; and\n (ii) criteria pertaining to the length of temperature adjustments,\nincluding taking account of the limited nature of demand response\nevents.\n (e) The utility or the commission may authorize a review, analysis, or\naudit of a utility's implementation of the program.\n 3. (a) Customer participation in the program shall be voluntary.\nCustomer enrollment in the program shall occur through the utility from\nwhich the customer receives service.\n (b) No utility shall enroll a customer in the program without the\ncustomer's affirmative consent, which shall be confirmed via written\nconsent that shall be maintained by the utility for seven years\nfollowing the customer's disenrollment in the program. Customer\nenrollment shall occur only via an opt-in process, and the utility shall\ninform customers of their rights and protections under the program.\n (c) A customer may disenroll from the program in a manner prescribed\nby the commission, provided that customers shall be offered a method of\ndisenrollment no less convenient than the method of enrollment. No\nassessment of a fee, charge, or penalty to the customer or their account\nmay be levied for disenrollment, except that, upon such disenrollment,\nany potential bill credits that may have been associated with a\ncustomer's enrollment in the program, shall cease, provided that any\ncredits earned but not yet applied to the customer's bill as of the date\nof disenrollment shall be applied to the customer's next bill.\n 4
harge, or penalty to the customer or their account\nmay be levied for disenrollment, except that, upon such disenrollment,\nany potential bill credits that may have been associated with a\ncustomer's enrollment in the program, shall cease, provided that any\ncredits earned but not yet applied to the customer's bill as of the date\nof disenrollment shall be applied to the customer's next bill.\n 4. (a) Customer information related to the program shall be treated as\nconfidential information.\n (b) Utilities shall only collect customer information to the extent\nnecessary to effectively administer the program. Utilities shall take\nall reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of customer\ninformation related to the program. Utilities shall not sell, lend,\nlease, share, exchange or provide such customer information to third\nparties, except pursuant to a lawful subpoena or warrant or as otherwise\nrequired by law. Utilities shall safely store and safely encrypt\ncustomer information related to the program to protect against\nunauthorized use or access. Utilities shall also dispose of, destroy, or\ndelete customer information at the end of the provision of services and\nupon disenrollment, except as necessary to comply with this section, any\napplicable New York state or federal law or rule or regulation.\n (c) Utilities shall take all reasonable steps to protect against\nunauthorized use or access of customers' smart thermostats or other\nmalicious acts by third parties.\n (d) The department shall consider additional cybersecurity\nprotections, and shall establish such protections if the department\ndeems them necessary or appropriate to safeguard customer information\nand customer smart thermostats.\n (e) Utilities shall make available customer information to the\ndepartment upon request, provided such customer information continues to\nbe treated as confidential information in a manner no less protective\nthan as required by this subdivision, and such customer information is\nonly requested and used for purposes of implementing and enforcing the\nprogram.\n 5. In the development of the program, the commission shall require\ninclusion of:\n (a) customer education requirements, such as examples of when a\nutility may modify the settings of an enrolled smart thermostat, the\nminimum and maximum range of temperature adjustments, and the\navailability of other energy efficiency and affordability programs; and\n (b) residential customer outreach efforts, methods to provide advance\nnotice to enrolled customers of potential curtailment events such as\nforecasted high energy demand events or extreme weather events,\nidentification of smart thermostats eligible to participate in the\nprogram, and actions to engage non-residential, commercial, or\nindustrial customers in energy demand reduction efforts before adjusting\nparticipating residential customers' energy load.\n