NY STATE SOLICITING PUBLIC COMMENTS ON PROPOSED NEW SUBMETERING REGULATIONS

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In some cases, mostly involving subsidized housing, residents and politicians have had serious concerns about affordability once submetering is installed. In one highly public case in 2009, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer and others from the state legislature and New York City Council wrote to the PSC about the devastating effects of submetering at Roosevelt Landings, formerly known as Eastwood, at 510-580 Main Street on Roosevelt Island.

"Eastwood residents have now received the first of two months of sample billing under the submetering scheme," the letter to Commission Secretary Jaclyn A. Brilling said. "Having reviewed thirty-six of these sample bills provided to our offices by concerned tenants … we are seriously alarmed by how expensive the billing is, with some tenants, including [very low-income] Section 8 tenants, receiving [electric] bills in excess of $1000." A studio with an average $99 bill with master metering saw its monthly bill jump to an average of $230.18; a four-bedroom unit with a $219 average bill spiked to $746.36.

This building, the letter noted, was heated by electricity, so the costs included not just personal electric use but also heating costs — a point the PSC specifically addresses in the proposed new regulations in minimize such economic harm.

The 10%

In more middle-income and high-income settings, however, Hirschfeld has found that, "In most master-meter buildings, 25 percent of the electricity is consumed by 10 percent of the residents. Studies conducted by me and other professionals strongly prove that a very small minority of tenants use more than twice the energy that other tenants use." He estimates that in these types of buildings that this 10 percent that consumers higher-than-average amounts of electricity will inevitably pay more — and be vocal about it.

"The people who complain are people who use more than their fair share and want to keep the status quo," he argues. "It's as simple as that. I've spoken to hundreds of boards of directors in the last 30 years, and I'll summarize in an anecdote. At a high-class Upper West Side co-op, one where [the actor-producer] John Houseman used to live, one of the shareholders took the co-op to court to try to block the submetering process. He delayed the process for a year until the court ruled in favor of the co-op. When submetering was implemented, that particular shareholder was not only the highest user of electricity in the building, but he used more than twice the amount of electricity as the next highest user."

Whatever way they feel, co-op and condo boards — who Hirschfeld believes should not be subject to PSC regulation since boards "make decisions about roofs and boilers, so why not about a electricity use?" — can make their feelings known now through March 24 by e-mailing Secretary Brilling at Secretary@dps.ny.gov, or by regular mail to Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York, 12223-1350.

The spokesman notes that these are only proposed regulations, which may change with public input, and that, "if approved, [Department of Public Service] staff will work with submetering petitioners to help ensure they understand what is required, [and] the submetering industry and NYSERDA have data that could satisfy the 'comparable building study' that is referenced.

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