N.Y. PSC: Telcos Must Let Customers Use Preferred Pronouns
Telephone companies must allow New York state customers to use preferred names and pronouns, under a new Home Energy Fair Practices Act regulation adopted Thursday by the New York Public Service Commission. All utilities in New York state, including telephone…
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service providers, must "provide residential customers and applicants for residential service with an option to request the use of a preferred name and/or preferred pronouns in all written or oral communications," the rule said. "These regulations continue our advancement for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society,” said New York PSC Chair Rory Christian. “Acknowledging a person’s gender identity is an essential step along that path.” Also Thursday, commissioners unanimously supported adopting a draft order to require local exchange carriers to notify customers at least 45 days before transitioning their service to fiber from copper (docket 22-C-0540). Also, commissioners agreed to renew the state USF through December 2026 but freeze it to current recipients (docket 15-M-0742). ILECs seeking to further extend the fund must petition the PSC by Sept. 1, 2025, and include at least one alternative that would target support to at-risk consumers rather than the ILEC as a whole. Any ILEC seeking state USF funding after 2026 must file location and financial data showing availability of competitive and substitute services by Dec. 31, 2025. In the same docket, commissioners decided to allow nine small ILECs facing revenue losses from the FCC’s mandated phase out of intercarrier compensation charges to get additional state USF support.