What's happening
This bill requires gas and electric utilities to remove liability limitations from their tariffs and allows the Public Service Commission to award damages for regulatory failures.
Why it matters
Holds utilities more accountable for their own mistakes. By removing liability limitations, gas and electric companies can no longer use tariffs to shield themselves from responsibility for damages caused by their negligence or willful misconduct, giving consumers more meaningful legal recourse.
Empowers the Public Service Commission (PSC) to directly address regulatory failures. The PSC is explicitly authorized to investigate when utility companies fail to meet regulatory standards—even if they claim to have acted with ordinary care—and can hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, and administer oaths to thoroughly probe these failures.
Creates a path for affected consumers to receive compensation. The PSC gains the power to award damages to people harmed by a utility’s regulatory failures, potentially streamlining and strengthening the process for customers and communities to seek redress after outages, accidents, or service issues.
Could incentivize better utility practices. Knowing they face increased financial and legal exposure, utilities may be more motivated to invest in safety, reliability, and customer service improvements to avoid the risk of damages and regulatory scrutiny.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Gas and electric utilities
The bill would require removal of tariff provisions that shield them from liability for specified negligence or willful misconduct.
Public Service Commission
The bill would give the commission authority to investigate regulatory failures, subpoena witnesses, take testimony and award damages to affected people in the community.
Gas and electric customers
The bill would remove tariff limits on utility liability for negligence involving customer-owned or leased property, energy supply or use, and utility equipment on customers’ premises.
Headline styles
Hold Utilities Liable for Negligence
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
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
3169
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 28, 2019
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.
LBD04541-01-9
A. 3169 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.