NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1535

Senate Bill S1535

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to establishing requirements and penalties for combination utility companies during service outages

download bill text pdf

Current 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 10, 2025	referred to energy and telecommunications

2025-S1535 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Add §66-x, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S9203
2023-2024: S2586

2025-S1535 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to establishing requirements and penalties for combination utility companies during service outages; provides that a penalty for failure to reasonably comply with requirements that protect the overall reliability and continuity of combination utility company services shall be up to one hundred dollars per violation or for a pattern or practice of such violations up to one thousand dollars per violation.

2025-S1535 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1535

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to establishing
requirements and penalties for combination utility companies during
service outages

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation. amends the public service law by authorizing the
public service commission to establish acceptable standards of perform-
ance for combination utility companies during power outages and power
restoration efforts; imposes penalties for failure to perform.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends the public service law by adding a new section 66-T.
Subsection la- grants power to the public service commission to set
forth standards of acceptable performance that combination utility
companies must abide by during power outages and power restoration

efforts.

Subsection. 1b- sets forth. the requirement that the commission.  insti-
tute appropriate penalties against combination utility companies that
have failed to reasonably comply with the provisions of this chapter and
outlines examples of such penalties.

Subsection 1c- sets forth the definition of "combination utility compa-
ny"

Subsection 2 - sets forth requirements that the commission establish a
schedule for rebates and credits for service outages

Subsection 3 - authorizes the commission to investigative and review
performance of combination utilities and determine culpability of combi-
nation utility companies in restoring power

Subsection 4 - ensures that the fiscal responsibility of all penalties
remain solely the responsibility of the combination utility company and
are not added to the bills of customers.

Section. 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

To quell customers' uncertainties surrounding service outages and to
ensure that families and small businesses are better protected during
those times, we must enact standards for utilities' preparedness and
response during emergencies and service. outages. To reinforce those
protections for our. New York residents, it is critical that we hold
utility companies liable, per violation, do the event they fail to
reasonably protect against or properly respond during such service
outages. These kinds of actions are especially important for New York
state which has historically dealt with issues surrounding the severe
storm response provided by utilities- i.e, during Hurricane'Sandy,
Hurricane Ida, and Hurricane Irene.

When utility companies failed to properly respond during those storms,
families around the state dealt with the resulting severe consequenc-
es,with plenty being forced out of their homes. This bill proposes that
the Public Service Commission develop and establish a penalty system for
combination utilities companies who fail to reasonably respond during
service outages. This would grant the necessary safeguards to ensure
that all customers are properly protected.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023/24- 2586 REVISED 1/18/24

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

xxx

 
EFFECTIVE MAIL:

This act shall take effect immediately

2025-S1535 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1535
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- 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 establishing
   requirements and penalties for combination  utility  companies  during
   service outages

   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
 66-x to read as follows:
   §  66-X.  ESTABLISHMENT  OF REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES FOR COMBINATION
 UTILITY COMPANIES DURING SERVICE OUTAGES. 1. (A)  THE  COMMISSION  SHALL
 HAVE  THE  POWER  TO  ESTABLISH  STANDARDS OF ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE FOR
 COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANIES IN THE EVENT OF A POWER OUTAGE AND  SUBSE-
 QUENT POWER RESTORATION.
   (B)  THE COMMISSION SHALL ALSO PROVIDE FOR A PENALTY IN THE EVENT THAT
 A COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY IS DETERMINED BY THE  COMMISSION  TO  HAVE
 FAILED  TO REASONABLY COMPLY BY A PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE WITH ANY
 PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER, OR AN ORDER OR REGULATION ADOPTED  UNDER  THE
 AUTHORITY  OF  THIS  CHAPTER, WHICH PROTECTS THE OVERALL RELIABILITY AND
 CONTINUITY OF COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY SERVICES,  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT
 LIMITED TO RESTORING SERVICE OR OTHERWISE MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF AN
 EMERGENCY SERVICE PLAN FOLLOWING A MAJOR OUTAGE EVENT OR EMERGENCY. SUCH
 PENALTY SHALL BE UP TO ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION
 OR,  FOR A PATTERN OR PRACTICE OF SUCH VIOLATIONS, OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND
 DOLLARS PER VIOLATION.  A  VIOLATION  SHALL  BE  JUDGED  PER  INDIVIDUAL
 ACCOUNT AND SHALL INCLUDE BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
   (C)  FOR  THE  PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, "COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY"
 SHALL MEAN A UTILITY COMPANY  THAT  PROVIDES  ELECTRIC,  GAS,  OR  STEAM
 SERVICE IN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02297-01-5
 S. 1535                             2

 
   2.  THE  COMMISSION  SHALL ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE OF CUSTOMER CREDITS OR
 REBATES, WHICH SHALL BE AWARDED TO  CUSTOMERS  THAT  EXPERIENCE  SERVICE
 OUTAGE CONDITIONS AND FOR MISSED INSTALLATION APPOINTMENTS.
   3. THE COMMISSION IS AUTHORIZED TO OPEN AN INVESTIGATION TO REVIEW THE
 PERFORMANCE  OF  ANY COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY IN RESTORING SERVICE OR
 OTHERWISE MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN  DURING
 AN EMERGENCY EVENT. IF, AFTER EVIDENTIARY HEARINGS OR OTHER INVESTIGATO-
 RY PROCEEDINGS, THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT THE COMBINATION UTILITY COMPA-
 NY  FAILED  TO  REASONABLY  IMPLEMENT ITS EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN OR THE
 LENGTH OF SUCH COMBINATION UTILITY  COMPANY'S  OUTAGES  WERE  MATERIALLY
 LONGER  THAN  THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN, BECAUSE OF SUCH COMBINATION UTILITY
 COMPANY'S FAILURE TO REASONABLY IMPLEMENT ITS EMERGENCY  RESPONSE  PLAN,
 THE COMMISSION MAY DENY THE RECOVERY OF ANY PART OF THE SERVICE RESTORA-
 TION  COSTS  CAUSED  BY  SUCH  FAILURE, COMMENSURATE WITH THE DEGREE AND
 IMPACT OF THE SERVICE OUTAGE; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT  NOTHING  IN  THIS
 SECTION  LIMITS  THE  COMMISSION'S  AUTHORITY  TO  OTHERWISE  COMMENCE A
 PROCEEDING PURSUANT TO SECTIONS  TWENTY-FOUR,  TWENTY-FIVE  AND  TWENTY-
 FIVE-A  OF  THIS CHAPTER, PROVIDED SUCH ACTION OR PENALTY SOLELY RELATES
 TO THE COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY'S PERFORMANCE UNDER THE  REQUIREMENTS
 OF THE COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY'S EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN.
   4.  THE  FISCAL  IMPACT  OF  ANY PAYMENT MADE BY A COMBINATION UTILITY
 COMPANY OR THE OFFICERS THEREOF AS A RESULT OF A PENALTY ASSESSED PURSU-
 ANT TO THIS SECTION,  AND  THE  COST  OF  LITIGATION  AND  INVESTIGATION
 RELATED TO ANY SUCH ASSESSMENT SHALL NOT BE BORNE BY CUSTOMERS AND SHALL
 NOT  BE  ADDED  TO  BILLS RENDERED BY THE COMBINATION UTILITY COMPANY TO
 CUSTOMERS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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