Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Senator RENEE C. BURGESS
District 28 (Essex and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits public utilities from assessing surcharges and certain fees.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public utility fees and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
“Surcharge” means an additional amount imposed by the public utility at the time of a payment transaction that increases a charge to a public utility customer to recover the cost of the public utility’s use of third-party payment processing services.
“Public utility” means the same as that term is defined pursuant to R.S.48:2-13.
b. A public utility shall not assess:
(1) a surcharge to any public utility customer;
(2) a fee to any public utility customer who has not enrolled in automatic payments through the public utility and, instead, has elected to make one-time payments to the public utility for services rendered to that customer by the public utility; or
(3) a fee to any public utility customer who has not enrolled in paperless statements through the public utility company and, instead, has elected to receive paper statements from the public utility.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits public utilities from assessing: (1) a surcharge to any public utility customer; (2) a fee to any public utility customer who has not enrolled in automatic payments through the public utility and, instead, has elected to make one-time payments to the public utility for services rendered to that customer by the public utility; or (3) a fee to any public utility customer who has not enrolled in paperless statements through the public utility company and, instead, has elected to receive paper statements from the public utility. Under the bill, “surcharge” means an additional amount imposed by the public utility at the time of a payment transaction that increases a charge to a public utility customer to recover the cost of the public utility’s use of third-party payment processing services.