Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires BPU to survey public utility customers every five years.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public utility customer feedback and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
“Board” means the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities or any successor agency.
“Public utility” means a public utility, as defined pursuant to R.S.48:2-13.
b. Within 90 days following the effective date of this section, and every five years thereafter, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities shall conduct a customer opinion survey for each public utility that does business in the State.
c. The board shall develop, or shall direct a public utility to develop, survey questions designed to assess customer satisfaction regarding:
(1) reliability of public utility service;
(2) frequency and duration of service interruptions;
(3) customer service and responsiveness;
(4) billing practices and affordability of public utility services;
(5) overall customer satisfaction; and
(6) any other topic the board deems appropriate.
d. The survey shall be distributed via electronic mail or postal mail. Participation in the survey shall be voluntary and anonymous to the extent practicable.
e. No later than 90 days after the survey has been made available to customers, the board shall prepare a report summarizing the survey findings and submit the report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.
f. The board may adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires, no later than 90 days following the bill’s effective date, and for every five years thereafter, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (board) to conduct a customer opinion survey for each public utility that does business in the State.
Under the bill, the board is to develop, or is to direct a public utility to develop, survey questions designed to assess customer satisfaction with: (1) reliability of public utility service; (2) frequency and duration of service interruptions; (3) customer service and responsiveness; (4) billing practices and affordability of public utility services; (5) overall customer satisfaction; and (6) any other topic the board deems appropriate.
The survey is to be distributed via electronic mail or postal mail, and participation in the survey is to be voluntary and anonymous to the extent practicable.
Finally, no later than 90 days following the survey becoming available to customers, the board is to prepare a report summarizing the survey findings and submit the report to the Governor and to the Legislature.