The New York State Public Service Commission has recently enacted Public Service Law § 66-t, a new regulation that mandates energy brokers and consultants to be registered with the Department of Public Service. Further, these entities are also required to disclose to customers all sorts of compensations for brokers and consultants, including non-financial rewards like tickets and prizes, as well as bonuses and commission payments. This law has been adopted in an effort to increase transparency in the energy sector of the State.
The rule comes with significant legal and financial implications for those fail to comply. Parties that do not adhere to the new law could face hefty fines or even risk losing the ability to practice their profession. The stakes are indeed high for energy brokers and consultants, as stringent adherence to the regulations is paramount to avoid potential penalties.
Parties involved need to be aware of the various forms of compensation that need to be reported to the Department of Public Service. This encompasses not just the obvious forms of financial payments, but also the more overlooked non-financial rewards as well. Therefore, services like arranging for entertainment in the form of event tickets, prizes, or any other form of non-financial reward, would come under the scrutiny of this law. With this increased transparency, customers should have a clear picture of all the costs involved in their energy transactions.
The implementation of the new regulation may also have repercussions on another stratum of the industry – building owners. Energy brokers and consultants play a significant role in assisting building owners in procuring energy at competitive rates. With the enactment of this law building owners could potentially face indirect consequences, with the transparency requirement possibly impacting the business models of energy brokers and in turn, affecting the contracts and agreements with building owners.
As this law is still recent, the full extent of its impact is yet to be seen. Parties involved should keep abreast with developments regarding the implementation of this rule to avoid being on the wrong side of the law. This rule is a clear sign of New York’s push towards increased transparency within the energy sector – a factor that all energy brokers, consultants and their clients need to adequately prepare for.