ALBANY, NY (December 29, 2025) — Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Dec. 19 requiring energy services companies to provide side-by-side price comparisons on customer bills against local utility rates, a mandate that takes effect 180 days later as Chapter 685 — June 2026.
The law, S3876 sponsored by Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, requires ESCOs to display on the first page of each billing statement the price charged for commodity supply and delivery in the prior period compared to what the customer would have paid from their utility, plus an itemized list of any energy-related value-added products and an annual 12-month comparison.
The bill’s justification states that ever since New York deregulated its retail energy market in the late 1990s, allowing ESCOs to sell energy to customers, the industry has been rife with fraud, abuse and deceptive business practices. ESCO customers regularly complain that ESCOs offer promotional rates to entice switches but provide little added benefit and hike rates significantly over the long term, often unbeknownst to customers. The measure aims to protect consumers by mandating clear on-bill comparisons.
Meanwhile, Sustainable Westchester discontinued its Westchester Power community choice aggregation program when the current contract expired Nov. 30, returning enrolled customers to default utility supply from Con Edison or NYSEG starting with the next billing cycle, with no disruption to service.
Under the program, once a municipality joined, every utility customer was automatically enrolled in the CCA supply, and individuals had to opt out to be removed. A frequent complaint about the program was its opt-out structure, with critics arguing it automatically enrolled residents without their explicit consent and sometimes left people unaware they were participating or overpaying compared to utility rates.
Executive Director Noam Bramson attributed the shutdown to recent outreach and education requirements mandated by the state Public Service Commission that presented significant implementation challenges.
However, the state Department of Public Service disputed that characterization, stating there were no new rules adopted in 2025 impacting community choice aggregation programs and that Sustainable Westchester’s municipal filings contained numerous deficiencies to core outreach and education requirements, many of which had been in place for years. PSC spokesman James Denn said the filings failed to meet standards including providing correct price comparison information.
Sustainable Westchester recently stated on its website that Westchester Power is sunsetting but its work continues with programs like GridRewards, Solarize, EnergySmart Homes, MOVE and Community Solar.
The group announced it is organizing a new electricity supply program to replace Westchester Power, expected to launch in 2026, and invited interested parties to stay tuned and fill out an interest form by selecting “Opt Into Clean Energy” for updates.
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This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.