S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7074
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 10, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SHRESTHA -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to certain penalties
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "utility penalty adjustment".
§ 2. Subdivisions 2, 3 and 4 of section 25 of the public service law,
subdivisions 3 and 4 as added by chapter 665 of the laws of 1980 and
subdivision 2, paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 and paragraph (a) of
subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 375 of the laws of 1986, are amended
and a new subdivision 4-a is added to read as follows:
2. Any public utility company, corporation or person and the officers,
agents and employees thereof that knowingly fails or neglects to obey or
comply with a provision of this chapter or an order adopted under
authority of this chapter so long as the same shall be in force, shall
forfeit to the people of the state of New York a sum not exceeding [one]
TWO hundred SEVENTY-FIVE thousand dollars constituting a civil penalty
for each and every offense and, in the case of a continuing violation,
each day shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of this section,
any such public utility company, corporation or person and the officers,
agents and employees thereof that knowingly fails or neglects to obey or
comply with a provision of this chapter, or an order or regulation
adopted under the authority of this chapter, adopted specifically for
the protection of human safety, including but not limited to the commis-
sion's code of gas safety regulations shall, if it is determined by the
commission that such safety violation caused or constituted a contribut-
ing factor in bringing about a death or personal injury, forfeit to the
state of New York a sum not to exceed the greater of:
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10392-03-3
A. 7074 2
(a) [two] SIX hundred [and fifty] SEVENTY-FIVE thousand dollars
constituting a civil penalty for each separate and distinct offense;
provided, however, that for purposes of this paragraph each day of a
continuing violation shall not be deemed a separate and distinct
offense. The total period of a continuing violation, as well as every
distinct violation, shall be similarly treated as a separate and
distinct offense for purposes of this paragraph; or
(b) the maximum forfeiture determined in accordance with subdivision
two of this section.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision one or two of this
section, a public utility company, corporation or person and the offi-
cers, agents and employees thereof that knowingly fails or neglects to
obey or comply with a provision of this chapter, or an order or regu-
lation adopted under authority of this chapter, designed to protect the
overall reliability and continuity of electric service, shall forfeit to
the state of New York a sum not to exceed the greater of:
(a) [five] ONE MILLION THREE hundred FIFTY thousand dollars constitut-
ing a civil penalty for each separate and distinct offense; provided,
however, that for purposes of this paragraph each day of a continuing
violation shall not be deemed a separate and distinct offense. The total
period of a continuing violation, as well as every distinct violation,
shall be similarly treated as a separate and distinct offense for
purposes of this paragraph; or
(b) the maximum forfeiture determined in accordance with subdivision
two of this section.
4-A. ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE, AND ON EACH FOLLOWING
JANUARY FIRST, THE PENALTIES SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISIONS TWO, THREE AND
FOUR OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE INCREASED BY THE SUM OF THE RATE OF
INFLATION, IF GREATER THAN ZERO, AS MEASURED BY THE CHANGE IN THE AVER-
AGE FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS THROUGH JUNE OF THE CURRENT YEAR, DIVIDED BY
THE AVERAGE FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS THROUGH JUNE OF THE PRECEDING YEAR IN
THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.
§ 3. Subdivisions 3, 4, 5 and 6 of section 25-a of the public service
law, as added by section 2 of part X of chapter 57 of the laws of 2013,
are amended and two new subdivisions 7-a and 7-b are added to read as
follows:
3. Any combination gas and electric corporation determined by the
commission to have failed to reasonably comply as shown by a preponder-
ance of the evidence with a provision of this chapter, regulation or an
order adopted under authority of this chapter so long as the same shall
be in force shall forfeit a sum not exceeding the greater of [one] FIVE
hundred FIFTY thousand dollars or two one-hundredths of one percent of
the annual intrastate gross operating revenue of the corporation, not
including taxes paid to and revenues collected on behalf of government
entities, constituting a civil penalty for each and every offense and,
in the case of a continuing violation, each day shall be deemed a sepa-
rate and distinct offense.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision three of this
section, any such combination gas and electric corporation determined by
the commission to have failed to reasonably comply with a provision of
this chapter, or an order or regulation adopted under the authority of
this chapter specifically for the protection of human safety or
prevention of significant damage to real property, including, but not
limited to, the commission's code of gas safety regulations shall, if it
is determined by the commission by a preponderance of the evidence that
such safety violation caused or constituted a contributing factor in
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bringing about: (a) a death or personal injury; or (b) damage to real
property in excess of fifty thousand dollars, forfeit a sum not to
exceed the greater of:
(i) [two] SIX hundred [fifty] SEVENTY-FIVE thousand dollars or three
one-hundredths of one percent of the annual intrastate gross operating
revenue of the corporation, not including taxes paid to and revenues
collected on behalf of government entities, whichever is greater,
constituting a civil penalty for each separate and distinct offense;
provided, however, that for purposes of this paragraph, each day of a
continuing violation shall not be deemed a separate and distinct
offense. The total period of a continuing violation, as well as every
distinct violation, shall be similarly treated as a separate and
distinct offense for purposes of this paragraph; or
(ii) the maximum forfeiture determined in accordance with subdivision
three of this section.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision three or four of this
section, a combination gas and electric corporation determined by the
commission to have failed to reasonably comply by a preponderance of the
evidence with a provision of this chapter, or an order or regulation
adopted under authority of this chapter, designed to protect the overall
reliability and continuity of electric service, including but not limit-
ed to the restoration of electric service following a major outage event
or emergency, shall forfeit a sum not to exceed the greater of:
(a) [five] ONE MILLION THREE hundred FIFTY thousand dollars or four
one-hundredths of one percent of the annual intrastate gross operating
revenue of the corporation, not including taxes paid to and revenues
collected on behalf of government entities, whichever is greater,
constituting a civil penalty for each separate and distinct offense;
provided, however, that for purposes of this paragraph each day of a
continuing violation shall not be deemed a separate and distinct
offense. The total period of a continuing violation, as well as every
distinct violation shall be similarly treated as a separate and distinct
offense for purposes of this paragraph; or
(b) the maximum forfeiture determined in accordance with subdivision
three of this section.
6. Any officer of any combination gas and electric corporation deter-
mined by the commission to have violated the provisions of subdivision
three, four, or five of this section, and who knowingly violates a
provision of this chapter, regulation or an order adopted under authori-
ty of this chapter so long as the same shall be in force shall forfeit a
sum not to exceed [one] TWO hundred SEVENTY-FIVE thousand dollars
constituting a civil penalty for each and every offense and, in the case
of a continuing violation, each day shall be deemed a separate and
distinct offense.
7-A. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION THREE, FOUR, FIVE,
OR SIX OF THIS SECTION, A COMBINATION GAS AND ELECTRIC CORPORATION
DETERMINED BY THE COMMISSION TO HAVE FAILED TO SATISFY ITS DUTY OF
CANDOR WITH THE PUBLIC SHALL FORFEIT A SUM NOT TO EXCEED FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS CONSTITUTING A CIVIL PENALTY FOR EACH AND EVERY OFFENSE
AND, IN THE CASE OF A CONTINUING VIOLATION, EACH DAY SHALL BE DEEMED A
SEPARATE AND DISTINCT OFFENSE.
7-B. ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE, AND ON EACH FOLLOWING
JANUARY FIRST, THE PENALTIES SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISIONS THREE, FOUR,
FIVE, SIX AND SEVEN-A OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE INCREASED BY THE SUM OF
THE RATE OF INFLATION, IF GREATER THAN ZERO, AS MEASURED BY THE CHANGE
IN THE AVERAGE FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS THROUGH JUNE OF THE CURRENT YEAR,
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DIVIDED BY THE AVERAGE FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS THROUGH JUNE OF THE PRECED-
ING YEAR IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.