Expands the scope of management and operations audits of gas and electric corporations conducted by the public service commission

BILL NUMBER:S1980

Title of bill

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to the management and operations audits of certain utilities

Purpose or general idea of bill

In its January 2007 report, the Assembly Queens power outage Task Force recommended several measures to improve oversight of utilities and prevent future blackouts. This bill strengthens the requirements for management and operations audits of gas and electric corporations, in order to ensure timely awareness of areas where improvements in utility operations may be needed.

Summary of provisions

Bill §1 amends subdivision 19 of §66 of the Public Service Law to make the following revisions to the statutorily required process for management and operations audits of electric and gas corporations:

* the audit schedule - currently at least once every 5 years - could be accelerated by the Public Service Commission (PSC);

* audits would be expanded to include not only construction program planning, but also "maintenance operations";

* upon completion, copies of audits must be provided to the Governor and Legislature; and

* auditors shall independently verify information provided by the utility.

Effects of present law which this bill would alter

This bill makes several augmentations to the current statutorily required audit process, as detailed above.

Justification

Last summer, the western part of Queens suffered a massive power outage that lasted 9 days. The Assembly Queens Power outage Task Force studied the outage's causes and the inadequate responses by the company responsible for the transmission and distribution system, Consolidated Edison, and by the Public Service Commission. One underlying cause of this debacle was found to be the reliance by New York's utility regulators on antiquated laws, regulations and policies that let companies engaged in energy transmission and distribution operate without effective oversight.

The Task Force found that the legislatively-required schedule for PSC audits of the management and operations of certain utilities was not being met. This bill strengthens the current audit provisions by including review of a utility's maintenance and security programs and independent verification of information provided by the company,

allows the PSC to order audits more frequently than every 5 years, and requires copies of completed audits to be filed with the Governor and Legislature.

Prior legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

None.

Effective date

The 120th day after becoming law; provided, however, that the Public Service Commission is authorized to promulgate any rules and regulations and take any other actions necessary for implementation in advance of such date.