§ 44. Utility bills; informational notices. 1. Every utility corporation or municipality shall assure that bills for service to residential customers adequately explain the charges for service in clear and understandable form and language. The commission may, from time to time, specify the form and content of such bills to further the objectives of this subdivision.
2. The public service commission and the state board of elections shall coordinate a voluntary program with public utilities whereby at the time service is initiated to a residential customer, a utility corporation or municipality may provide each such customer with a voter registration and a change-of-residence registration form.
3. At the time that service is initiated to a residential customer, and at least once every year thereafter, a utility corporation or municipality shall provide each such customer with an additional notice which summarizes the rights and obligations of residential customers relating to the rendition of service. At the time any such notice is provided a customer, a utility corporation or municipality shall inquire as to the customer's eligibility for the protection afforded the elderly, blind, disabled and other customers under this article. The commission shall, by regulation, establish procedures to assure, to the extent practicable, that residential customers served by more than one utility corporation or municipality for gas service or for electric service shall not receive duplicative annual notices in connection with such gas service or in connection with such electric service.
4. The commission shall require every utility corporation or municipality providing service to a county wherein at least twenty percent of the population regularly speak a language other than English according to the most recent federal census to offer, at the request of a residential customer residing in such a county, to prepare and send to such customer its messages on bills and notices in both English and the other language.
5. At least once a year, every utility corporation, energy services company or municipality shall provide its customers with a notice that billing statements are available in large print format. Upon written request by a customer, a utility corporation, energy services company or municipality shall provide the customer's billing statements in the large print format commencing no later than sixty days after the date upon which the request is received by the utility corporation, energy services company or municipality. The provisions of this subdivision shall apply only to printed statements. For the purposes of this section, "large print" shall mean a printed font size of sixteen or greater to illuminate billing information. For the purposes of this section, "energy services company" or "ESCO" shall mean an entity eligible to sell energy services to end-use customers using the transmission or distribution system of a utility corporation.
6. Upon customer request, every utility corporation, energy services company or municipality shall provide copies of previous billing statements and/or statements verifying that such person requesting the document is a customer of such utility corporation, energy services company or municipality. Utility companies, energy services companies and municipalities shall not impose any fee, charge or surcharge for such requests.
