New York State Electric and Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric will be audited by the state Public Service Commission for the first time in five years.

The commission’s review will examine the companies’ management and operations, including its construction program planning, critical energy infrastructure protections and customer privacy protections.

Rory Christian, chair of the state Public Service Commission, said the audit will also cover “ongoing billing issues and consumer complaints directed at NYSEG and RG&E.” The state Department of Public Service is investigating the billing problems that were reported last year. Those issues included incorrect or late bills being sent to NYSEG and RG&E customers. The department held public forums on the complaints earlier this year.

The state’s public service law authorizes the commission to conduct management and operations audits of larger utilities, such as NYSEG and RG&E, every five years. The commission’s last audit of NYSEG and RG&E launched in 2016 and the final report was issued in early 2019. There were 81 recommendations included in that report. The commission says the companies fully implemented the recommendations in March 2023.

NYSEG and RG&E are owned by Avangrid, an energy company that operates in 24 states. NYSEG has 905,005 electric and 271,547 natural gas customers in New York. RG&E has 388,737 electric and 321,651 natural gas customers in a nine-county area near Rochester.