NY State Senate Bill 2021-S4190

Senate Bill S4190

2021-2022 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 Energy And Telecommunications 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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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to energy and telecommunications
Feb 02, 2021	referred to energy and telecommunications

2021-S4190 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A803
Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Add §73, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: S8907, A10987
2023-2024: S5593

2021-S4190 (ACTIVE) - Summary

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

2021-S4190 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S4190

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-l9 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:

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2021-S4190 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4190
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 2, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
   cations
 
 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-TWO
 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-TWO 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-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD05320-01-1

 S. 4190                             2
 
 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.

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