New York State Surcharges

In New York State, there are state surcharges which are billed regardless of which utility you are serviced by. Since these state surcharges are not billed by your utility company, they will not always be well described in detail. In this page, we give extended information on the charge, and the reasons for its existence.

SBC (System Benefits Charge)

System Benefits Charge: Incentivizes energy efficiency initiatives, education and outreach, R&D, and energy assistance for people with low-income. This is also linked to the EEPS (Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard), a statewide program to reduce New Yorkers' electricity usage 15% of forecast levels by the year 2015, which, for example, pays for discounts that encourage customers to install high-efficiency energy appliances in their homes, amongst other things.

RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard)

Renewable Portfolio Standard: Incentivizes renewable energy goals set by the state of New York. Utilities charges delivery customers with an amount defined by the state, and transfers the funds to the NYSERDA. The NYSERDA, using these funds, provides incentives based on their production, to renewable energy producers who either sell and deliver their energy into the New York wholesale market or will provide funding for customers to install such facilities "behind the meter".

GRT (Gross Receipts Tax)

Gross Receipts Tax: The gross receipts tax is a tax on the total gross revenues of the utility company. It is similar to a sales tax, but it is taken by the state from the seller, the utility company. The utility company then charges you for the payment of this tax. Some utilities call this a more general term: the Revenue-Based PILOTS (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes): Payments that the Authority makes to other governmental authorities in replacement of the taxes which were previously collected on utility revenues, assets or operations.

Tariff Surcharge: The GRT comes with some utility companies under a different name: the tariff surcharge: it is also a revenue based charge. New York State and many local municipalities impose taxes on the utility companies' revenue. These costs are recovered through a tariff surcharge and may vary depending on the municipality. charges which pays for State and municipal tax imposed on the utilities' revenue.

TSAS (Temporary State Assessment Surcharge)

Temporary State Assessment Surcharge: collects incremental fees imposed by the State of New York as authorized under recent changes in Section 18-a of the Public Service Law. These fees represent additional amounts for the state energy and utility service conservation assessment.

Temporary New York State Surcharge: the TSAS is also called the Temporary New York State Surcharge: it is created to encourage the conservation of energy and other resources provided through utility companies.

Incremental State Assessment is another name for this charge.

NYS Assessment

NYS assessment: The New York State Assesment tax is a special state assessment, collected by utilities for the state’s general fund. This assessment should represent an annual bill increase of approximately 2%. This assessment will be collected until March 2014.

Sales Tax

Sales Tax: the sales tax is a tax imposed on the buyer for the purchase of certain goods and services.