NY State Senate Bill 2019-S8907

Senate Bill S8907

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Mandates budget expenditures by gas and electric corporations to improve power outage response and to stormproof power lines

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Aug 12, 2020	referred to rules

2019-S8907 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10987
Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Add §73, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S4190, A803
2023-2024: S5593

2019-S8907 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to mandating budget expenditures by gas and electric corporations to improve power outage response and to stormproof power lines.

2019-S8907 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S8907

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to mandating budget
expenditures by gas and electric corporations to improve power outage
response and to stormproof power lines

 
PURPOSE:

Requires electric and gas corporations to spend dedicated sums of reven-
ue to improve power outage response and to stormproof power lines.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Adds a new section 73 to the Public Service Law which requires electric
and gas corporations to spend dedicated sums of revenue to improve power
outage response and to stormproof power lines' specifically beginning in
2021, 40% of the operating budget of each utility must be spent on
infrastructure hardening, storm resilience, improving response time to

power outages, removing power lines from trees, removing trees and limbs
from the vicinity of power lines.  Quarterly reports are mandated and
the PSC is authorized to review compliance in any action brought to
increase rates.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

On August 4th, Tropical Storm Isaias hit New York with heavy rain,
tornadoes, and winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour. The storm left
hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers without power across New York City,
Long Island, Westchester and the Hudson Valley, including over 420,000
customers in the PSEG-LI service territory, 260,000 customers in the Con
Edison service territory, and 90,000 customers in the NYSEG service
territory. The storm also disrupted the regions' telephone, cable, and
internet services; services that are particularly essential for New
Yorker's during the COVID-19 pandemic. The outages and service
disruptions lasted for multiple days, and in some areas of the State
many homes and businesses are still waiting to be reconnected.

Large gas and electric corporations are far more accountable to share-
holders than ratepayers and this must change. This bill requires direct
investment in the infrastructure, tools and preventative maintenance to
mitigate, lessen and substantially reduce future power outages of long
duration.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S8907 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8907
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              August 12, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to mandating  budget
   expenditures  by gas and electric corporations to improve power outage
   response and to stormproof power lines
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
 73 to read as follows:
   § 73. MANDATORY BUDGET EXPENDITURES TO IMPROVE POWER  OUTAGE  RESPONSE
 AND  TO  STORMPROOF POWER LINES. 1. FOR THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
 AND EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER, EVERY GAS  CORPORATION  AND  ELECTRIC  CORPO-
 RATION IN THIS STATE SHALL DEDICATE AND USE FORTY PERCENT OF ITS OPERAT-
 ING  BUDGET  FOR THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING SUCH CORPORATION'S RESPONSE TO
 POWER OUTAGES AND STORM RELATED DAMAGE. SUCH BUDGET  EXPENDITURES  SHALL
 BE  USED SPECIFICALLY FOR: (A) INFRASTRUCTURE HARDENING; (B) STORM RESI-
 LIENCE; (C) IMPROVING RESPONSE TIME TO POWER OUTAGES AND  STORM  RELATED
 DAMAGE, AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH RESPONSE; (D) REMOVING POWER LINES
 FROM  TREES;  AND  (E)  REMOVING TREES AND TREE LIMBS IN THE VICINITY OF
 POWER LINES.   THE OBJECTIVE OF SUCH BUDGET  EXPENDITURES  SHALL  BE  TO
 STORMPROOF  POWER  LINES  THROUGHOUT  THE  STATE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF
 POWER OUTAGES AND STORM RELATED DAMAGE IN THIS STATE.
   2. ON OR BEFORE APRIL FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE AND ON OR  BEFORE
 EVERY  JULY  FIRST, OCTOBER FIRST, JANUARY FIRST AND APRIL FIRST, THERE-
 AFTER, EVERY GAS CORPORATION AND  ELECTRIC  CORPORATION  IN  THIS  STATE
 SHALL  FILE A REPORT WITH THE COMMISSION SETTING FORTH DOCUMENTATION, AS
 DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSIONER, NECESSARY TO SUBSTANTIATE ITS COMPLIANCE
 WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   3. ANY APPLICATION  BY  A  GAS  CORPORATION  OR  ELECTRIC  CORPORATION
 SUBMITTED  TO THE COMMISSION TO INCREASE ANY RATE CHARGED TO ITS CUSTOM-
 ERS SHALL INCLUDE DOCUMENTATION,  AS  DETERMINED  BY  THE  COMMISSIONER,
 NECESSARY TO SUBSTANTIATE ITS COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVI-
 SION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD17113-01-0

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