What's happening
This bill requires public hearings and reports after major power outages affecting at least 5% of utility customers for 72 hours.
Why it matters
Creates a formal process for community input. after major power outages, giving affected residents and businesses an opportunity to publicly share their experiences, challenges, and suggestions for improvement directly with utility regulators.
Increases accountability for utilities and public service regulators. by requiring the collection and public presentation of outage data, restoration times, and customer complaints, potentially pressuring utilities to improve crisis response and infrastructure reliability.
Mandates transparent communication and follow-up. by requiring public notice, hearings, and a published report with potential policy recommendations, ensuring that local officials and the public are kept informed about both the causes and responses to significant outages.
Empowers local governments. to initiate hearings through formal resolutions, ensuring that hearings are only held when local leaders see a need, and allowing counties to coordinate for convenience and accessibility, reflecting local priorities and resources.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Hearings After Outages
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
11 Co-sponsors
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
- Referred to corporations, authorities and commissions
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2173
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. MAYER, OTIS, JAFFEE, CAHILL, ROZIC, GUNTHER, ZEBROWSKI, PERRY, CRESPO, LUPARDO, FAHY, TITUS -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BRAUNSTEIN, RIVERA, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to hearings following major power outages
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-o to read as follows:
§ 66-o. Hearings. 1. Following any major power outage, the commission shall, within ninety days, schedule at least one public statement hearing in each affected county or in each affected city with a population of one hundred fifty thousand or more or in each affected borough in the city of New York, provided that such hearing has been requested via a formal resolution adopted by the county legislature or board of supervisors in such affected county or by the city council in such affected cities with a population of one hundred fifty thousand or more and that such resolution has been transmitted to the chairperson of the public service commission by electronic or written communication. The affected counties may agree amongst themselves to fewer public statement hearings provided that the location or locations of such hearing or hearings are conveniently located within the geographic area affected by the major power outage and easily accessible for customers. Such an agreement among the affected counties must be transmitted to the chairperson of the commission.
2. "Major power outage" shall be defined as any outage within a utility service territory that leaves five percent or more of customers without power for at least seventy-two consecutive hours following the event that caused the outage.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02683-01-7
A. 2173 2
3. For the purposes of providing notice and soliciting public comments, at least thirty days prior to the public statement hearing or hearings required in subdivision one of this section, the commission shall provide notice or electronic notice: (a) to each county and municipality served by said electric corporation located in the area affected by the major power outage; (b) to the speaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate, the chairperson of the senate energy and telecommunications committee, the chairperson of the assembly energy committee, and each member of the state legislature that represents an area where service was affected by the major power outage; (c) by publication once in each week for four successive weeks in a newspaper and on the web site of a newspaper that has general circulation in the geographic area affected by the major power outage located within the service territory of said electric corporation; and (d) by publication on the commission's website.
4. A member or members of the commission or department of public service senior staff, designated by the chairperson of the commission, shall be present in person at the public statement hearings required by subdivision one of this section and shall begin with a presentation on data collected during the recent outage, including information on restoration times in the affected county or city, customer complaints and other data which the commission or its designee may deem appropriate. The commission members or their designees shall then solicit public comment from residential and commercial customers from the affected county or city with a population of one hundred fifty thousand or more or borough in the city of New York. Such testimony shall be limited to:
(a) Customer feedback on their experience during the recent outage, including issues related to power restoration, restoration times and service quality;
(b) Suggestions for changes in commission policy in the affected service territory which, in the customer's view would lead to better service quality;
(c) Communication protocols between a company and customers during an outage and how such protocols may be improved; and
(d) Any additional topics of information that the commission may determine are necessary and appropriate.
5. Within one hundred twenty days of the conclusion of such public statement hearing, the commission shall publish on its website a report summarizing the events of the public statement hearing and any recommended policy changes that it may have initiated. Such report shall also be transmitted to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the chairperson of the senate energy and telecommunications committee, the chairperson of the assembly energy committee, each member of the legislature whose district lies in whole or in part in the affected county, the county executive or administrator and the chairperson of the county legislature or board of supervisors and the mayor of any city with a population of one hundred fifty thousand or more that was the subject of such hearing.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.