NY State Senate Bill 2025-S7568

Senate Bill S7568

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires electric companies to provide alternative measures to ensure customers with documented need for essential electricity for medical needs have access to electricity during power 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
Apr 22, 2025	referred to energy and telecommunications

2025-S7568 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2599
Current Committee:: Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §66, Pub Serv L; amd §1020-f, Pub Auth L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2019-2020: A11017
2021-2022: A3042
2023-2024: S8695, A538

2025-S7568 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires electric companies to provide alternative measures to ensure customers with documented need for essential electricity for medical needs have access to electricity during power outages; requires electric companies to provide generators or lodging for such individuals and transportation for medical devices.

2025-S7568 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S7568

SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to add more protections for public employees
regarding workplace violence and require public employers to take
specific action to prevent workplace violence.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 27-b of the Labor law as follows:

Under subdivision 3, five new paragraphs are added.

Under subdivision 4, paragraph b, four paragraphs are added, and one is
amended.

Under subdivision 5, paragraph b is amended and under paragraph b, para-
graph 2 is amended, and paragraph 3 is added.

Subdivision 6 is amended and titled, "Incident log" and subdivisions 7,
8, and 9 are added. The previous subdivision 6, titled, "Application",

becomes the new subdivision 10 titled, "Inspections", and amendments are
made within that subdivision.

Subdivision 11 is added and titled, "Enforcement procedures". This new
subdivision gives the commissioner of labor the power to issue an order
to comply. If the employer doesn't comply within a reasonable time for
compliance as established by the order to comply, the commissioner may
collect penalties every day until the correction is made.

Subdivision 12 is added and titled, "Injunction proceedings". This gives
jurisdiction to the supreme court of the state to restrain any place of
employment until steps are taken to correct any danger.

Section 2 sets the effective date 90 days after it shall have become
law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Section 27-b of the labor law has been instrumental in protecting
employees from potential dangers they may encounter. It acknowledges
that, depending on an employee's line of work, they may be forced to
work in dangerous environments or be put at risk. The section currently
requires public employers to determine the risks in the workplace,
develop a written program for preventing workplace violence, provide
training for employees, and it allows employees to submit written
notices to the Labor Commissioner regarding violations of the program,
with protections against retaliation from their employer.

Although this section has provided for protections of employees, work-
place violence is still a growing problem for New Yorkers.  Employees
face assaults, threats, and harassment in a variety of different posi-
tions and jobs. Adding new factors or situations that employees are put
at risk ensures more employers implement necessary protective measures.

It's clear that although some steps have been taken to protect our work-
force, more can and must be done. Protecting more employees, adding more
methods of protections, and ensuring that employers comply with the law
are all necessary steps that New York should be taking. It is essential
that our state workforce feel safe when they go to provide for not only
themselves, but their families as well.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPACT:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S7568 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7568
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              April 22, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  CLEARE -- 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 and the public authorities law,
   in relation to requiring electric  companies  to  provide  alternative
   measures  to  ensure  customers  are able to maintain their health and
   well-being during power outages
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.   Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 21 of
 section 66 of the public service law, as separately amended by  chapters
 395  and  743 of the laws of 2022 and chapter 38 of the laws of 2023, is
 amended to read as follows:
   (iii) identification of and outreach plans to customers who had  docu-
 mented  their  need  for  essential electricity for medical needs, which
 shall include but not be limited to, apnea monitors for infants, cuirass
 respirators, hemodialysis machines,  IV  feeding  machines,  IV  medical
 infusion  machines, oxygen concentrators, positive pressure respirators,
 respirator/ventilators, rocking bed respirators, suction  machines,  and
 tank  type  respirators.  SUCH  OUTREACH  PLANS SHALL INCLUDE PROVISIONS
 REGARDING HOW SUCH CUSTOMERS WILL BE PROVIDED WITH ALTERNATIVE  MEASURES
 TO  ENSURE  THEIR  HEALTH  AND  WELL-BEING IF POWER CANNOT ADEQUATELY BE
 PROVIDED. SUCH PROVISIONS SHALL INCLUDE PROVIDING ELECTRIC GENERATORS OR
 LODGING FOR THE INDIVIDUAL  REQUIRING  SUCH  ESSENTIAL  ELECTRICITY  FOR
 MEDICAL  NEEDS AND SHALL ALSO INCLUDE TRANSPORTATION OF MEDICAL DEVICES,
 AS NEEDED. SUCH PROVISIONS SHALL ALSO SPECIFY THAT ANY COST INCURRED  BY
 AN  ELECTRIC COMPANY IN PROVIDING SUCH ALTERNATIVE MEASURES SHALL NOT BE
 BORNE BY RATE PAYERS;
   § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (cc) of section 1020-f of  the  public
 authorities  law,  as  separately  amended by chapter 395 of the laws of
 2022 and chapter 38 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD04277-01-5

 S. 7568                             2
 
   1. The service provider shall, in  consultation  with  the  authority,
 prepare  and  maintain  an  emergency  response  plan  (i) to assure the
 reasonably prompt restoration of service in the  case  of  an  emergency
 event,  defined for purposes of this subdivision as an event where wide-
 spread outages have occurred in the authority's service territory due to
 a  storm  or  other  causes  beyond the control of the authority and the
 service provider, (ii) consistent with the requirements of paragraph (a)
 of subdivision twenty-one of section sixty-six of the public service law
 and any regulations and orders adopted thereto, and  (iii)  establishing
 the  separate  responsibilities  of  the authority and service provider.
 Such emergency response plan shall include plans setting forth  how  the
 communication and coordination of efforts between the authority, service
 provider,  authority  employees,  service  provider employees, authority
 company crews, service provider company crews, mutual aid  crews,  other
 utilities,  local  governments  and any service provider or other entity
 performing services to assist the authority shall occur.  Such emergency
 response plan shall include identification of  and  outreach  plans  for
 customers  who  have documented their need for essential electricity for
 medical needs, which shall include but not be limited to, apnea monitors
 for infants, cuirass  respirators,  hemodialysis  machines,  intravenous
 feeding  machines, intravenous medical infusion machines, oxygen concen-
 trators, positive pressure respirators, respirators/ventilators, rocking
 bed respirators, suction  machines,  and  tank  type  respirators.  SUCH
 OUTREACH  PLANS  SHALL  ALSO  INCLUDE PROVISIONS REGARDING HOW CUSTOMERS
 WILL BE PROVIDED WITH ALTERNATIVE MEASURES TO ENSURE  THEIR  HEALTH  AND
 WELL-BEING IF POWER CANNOT ADEQUATELY BE PROVIDED. SUCH PROVISIONS SHALL
 INCLUDE  PROVIDING  ELECTRIC  GENERATORS  OR  LODGING FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL
 REQUIRING ESSENTIAL ELECTRICITY FOR MEDICAL NEEDS AND SHALL ALSO INCLUDE
 TRANSPORTATION OF MEDICAL DEVICES, AS NEEDED.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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