S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7610
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               April 1, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. SHRESTHA, ANDERSON, REYES, BURDICK, ZINERMAN,
   R. CARROLL, KELLES, ROSENTHAL, SEPTIMO,  FORREST,  LEVENBERG  --  read
   once  and  referred  to the Committee 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,
 subdivision  2,  paragraph  (a)  of  subdivision  3 and paragraph (a) of
 subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 375 of the laws of 1986 and subdivi-
 sions 3 and 4 as added by chapter 665 of the laws of 1980,  are  amended
 and a new subdivision 4-b 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  NINETY  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-

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00506-04-5
 A. 7610                             2
              

 
 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:
   (a) [two] SEVEN hundred [and fifty] TWENTY 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. 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 FOUR 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-B.  ON JANUARY FIRST, TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SEVEN, AND ON EACH FOLLOW-
 ING 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] TWO
 hundred NINETY 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
 A. 7610                             3
 
 is determined by the commission by a preponderance of the evidence  that
 such  safety  violation  caused  or constituted a contributing factor in
 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] SEVEN hundred [fifty] TWENTY 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 FOUR 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 NINETY thousand dollars constituting
 a civil penalty for each and every offense and, in the case of a contin-
 uing 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-SEVEN, AND ON EACH  FOLLOW-
 ING  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
 A. 7610                             4
 
 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,
 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.