S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7565

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              May 10, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. CAHILL -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Energy

AN  ACT  directing a study and report on current trends in the workforce
  that supports the generation and transmission of power in the  utility
  industry

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. 1. The commissioner of labor,  in  consultation  with,  and
using  data  collected  by, the public service commission, shall monitor
trends in the workforce of:
  (a) personnel that support the generation  of  power  in  the  utility
industry; and
  (b)  personnel  that  support the transmission of power in the utility
industry.
  2. Not later than one year after the effective date of this  act,  the
commissioner  of  labor  shall  submit  to  the  legislature a report on
current trends under subdivision one of this section,  with  recommenda-
tions  to  meet the future labor requirements for the energy industries.
The commissioner of labor shall have the  authority  to  commence  addi-
tional  studies when (a) a utility initiates a rate hike request; or (b)
a complaint is brought by a third party. The  scope  of  any  additional
study  can be broadened to include all utilities in the state or limited
to the evaluation to just one utility.
  3. As soon as practicable after the date on which the commissioner  of
labor  identifies  or  predicts  a significant shortage in this state of
personnel in one or more energy sectors, the commissioner of labor shall
submit to the legislature a report describing the  shortage,  after  the
data  review  committee,  appointed pursuant to subdivision four of this
section has reviewed and provided input on the report.  The commissioner
of labor shall have broad authority  to  require  utilities  to  provide
documents  and  reports  regarding their staffing practices. The commis-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD11351-01-1
              

A. 7565                             2

sioner of labor shall have the authority to seek the following types  of
information, including but not limited to:
  (a) staffing-related service quality data;
  (b) current staffing levels;
  (c) recruitment and hiring plans;
  (d) anticipated retirements;
  (e) anticipated skills set needs;
  (f) retention plans;
  (g) succession plans; and
  (h) efforts to capture knowledge from retiring personnel.
  4.  The commissioner of labor shall evaluate the data with the assist-
ance of experts  in  human  resources,  corporate  management,  internal
controls  and  business/planning policies, and forecasting and planning.
The commissioner of labor shall benefit by being informed by  all  enti-
ties  with  interests  in,  and relevant information concerning, utility
staffing issues. The commissioner of labor  shall  form  a  data  review
committee  and  shall appoint one member each from the following consti-
tuencies to serve for terms of 2 years:
  (a) a regulated utility;
  (b) a labor representative;
  (c) a state ratepayer advocate organization;
  (d) an industrial customer or other large user; and
  (e) the public service commission.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
have become a law.