What's happening
This bill requires utility companies to remove limits on their liability for negligence and allows the Public Service Commission to award damages for regulatory failures.
Why it matters
Holds utilities accountable for negligence. By eliminating tariff provisions that limit liability, the bill ensures gas and electric companies can no longer avoid responsibility for harm caused by their own negligence or willful misconduct, potentially improving safety and service reliability.
Expands consumer protection. Customers (and their property) gain greater legal recourse if harmed by utility company actions or failures, which could incentivize better maintenance, faster repairs, and improved customer service.
Empowers the Public Service Commission (PSC). The PSC is given explicit authority to investigate regulatory failures, conduct hearings, and directly award damages to affected community members—potentially streamlining compensation for customers and strengthening regulatory oversight.
Community-wide impact. By allowing damages to be awarded to all affected persons in a community (not just individual complainants), the bill could make it easier for groups harmed by widespread outages or systemic failures to receive compensation, and may pressure utilities to address risks proactively.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Hold Utilities Liable for Negligence
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
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History
- 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
997
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 10, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to the general powers of the commission in respect to gas and electricity
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 66 of the public service law is amended by adding two new subdivisions 11-a and 11-b to read as follows:
11-a. Require every gas corporation, electric corporation and gas and electric corporation, where necessary, to amend its filed tariff schedules by eliminating any provision (a) attempting to relieve such corporation from liability arising from the negligence or willful misconduct of its officers, agents or servants; (b) limiting the liability of the corporation for damages resulting from its own negligence in connection with the property owned, installed or maintained by a customer or leased by a customer from a third party; and (c) limiting the liability of the company for any damages resulting from the negligence of the company in connection with the supplying or use of electricity or gas or from the presence or operation of the company's structures, equipment, wires, pipes, appliances or devices on the consumer's premises.
11-b. Have power in all parts of the state, either as a commission or through its members, or through an officer or employee specifically authorized to consider regulatory conduct of every gas corporation, electric corporation and gas and electric corporation, where necessary, to (a) investigate that a regulatory failure occurred despite the exercise of ordinary business care and prudence and to conduct a hearing or proceeding to subpoena witnesses, take testimony and administer oaths to witnesses in any proceeding or examination instituted before it, or conducted by it in reference to such matter within its jurisdiction; and (b) allow such commission to award damages resulting from such failure to persons thereby affected in the community.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04462-01-7
A. 997 2
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made by the public service commission on or before such effective date.
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.