Final Termination Notice

If you fail to pay your bill, service is terminated only after required notice is given and a special payment arrangement is offered for your overdue bills.

Before service can be terminated for an overdue bill or deposit, the following will happen:

• A Final Termination Notice will be sent. That notice is not sent until you have failed to pay a bill more than twenty-three days after it was mailed to you. Once you receive a Final Termination Notice, you have fifteen additional days in which to pay the bill, arrange for payment or contact the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) about it before service can be turned off. If you think a mistake has been made in your account, please call the utility. The matter will be checked and disconnection of your service will be postponed while the matter is under question.
  
  
• The utility will offer you a special payment agreement (SPA) at least five days before turn-off unless it is determined that you have the financial resources to pay the amount owed. If you sign a special payment agreement, service cannot be disconnected. If you are unable to reach an agreement with the BPU, the New York Department of Public Service (DPS) staff will help you to make such an agreement.
  
  
• Unless you qualify for special protections described as  "Hardship Procedures," your services will be turned off if:
  • You fail to pay the amount due as shown on the Final Termination Notice.
  • You do not work out a special payment agreement with the utility.

Time of Termination

The BPU may turn off electric utility service for nonpayment between:
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday only.

Electric service cannot be terminated on a holiday, the day before a holiday, any day the business office is closed, or the two-week period during the Christmas to New Year season. Electric service can be turned off without notice any time there is a safety problem, with service being restored as soon as the problem is corrected.

Landlord Problems

If you live in a rental unit and the landlord fails to pay the utility bill for the building, your service may be disconnected.

Dishonored Check

If you pay your bill with a check that is dishonored, we may shut off your service immediately without further notice.  If, within the last twenty-four months, you have paid your bill with a dishonored check, we may require you to pay this bill at our Customer Service Office with cash, a certified check or money order.