Requires certain electric public utilities to file emergency response plan with BPU.

A2435

ASSEMBLY, No. 2435

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman TENNILLE R. MCCOY

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires certain electric public utilities to file
emergency response plan with BPU.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

requiring investor-owned electric public
utilities to file an emergency response plan with the Board of Public Utilities
and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

���� �Board� means the Board of
Public Utilities or any successor agency.

���� "Electric public
utility" or �utility� means a public utility, as that term is defined in
R.S.48:2-13, that transmits and distributes electricity to end users within
this State.

���� 2.��� a. The board shall
establish standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and
restoration of service for investor-owned electric public utilities doing
business in the State.� These standards shall replicate national best practices
for service restoration, subject to adjustment as appropriate to accommodate
any factors unique to the State.

���� b.��� The board shall open a
full investigation of any alleged failure of an investor-owned electric public
utility to meet the standards established pursuant to subsection a. of this
section, upon its own initiative, upon petition of the Governor, or by the board
of chosen freeholders of an affected county, or by petition from an affected
municipality.� The investigation shall seek to determine whether an
investor-owned electric public utility has committed a violation of the board�s
standards of acceptable performance; provided, however, that the petition to
open an investigation shall be filed with the board not more than 90 days after
the violation has been remedied.

���� c.���� The board shall impose
a penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each violation for each day that the
violation of the board�s standards persists; provided, however, that the
maximum penalty shall not exceed $1,000,000 for any related series of
violations.

���� 3.��� a.� Each investor-owned
electric public utility conducting business in the State shall annually, on or
before May 15, submit to the board an emergency response plan for review and
approval.� The emergency response plan shall be designed for the reasonably
prompt restoration of service in the event of a widespread outage in the
service area of the utility due to storms or other causes beyond the control of
the utility, and the provisions of the plan shall reflect the standards
established pursuant to subsection a. of section 2 of this act.� The emergency
response plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

���� (1)�� the identification of
management staff responsible for utility operations during an emergency;

���� (2)�� an explanation of the
utility�s system for communicating with customers during an emergency that
extends beyond normal business hours and business conditions;

���� (3)�� a history, for the year
ending April 30, of contacts with customers that document a need of essential
electricity for medical reasons;

���� (4)�� designation of utility
staff to communicate with local officials and relevant regulatory agencies;

���� (5)�� provisions regarding how
the utility will assure the safety of its employees and contractors;

���� (6)�� procedures for deploying
utility and mutual aid crews to work assignment areas; and

���� (7)�� identification of
supplies and equipment reasonably anticipated by the utility to be needed
during an emergency and the means of obtaining additional supplies and
equipment.

���� b.��� After review of an
investor-owned electric public utility�s emergency response plan, the board may
request that the utility amend the plan.� If the board finds a material
deficiency in the plan, the board may order the utility to make such
modifications as it deems reasonably necessary to remedy the deficiency.

���� c.���� Any investor-owned
electric public utility failing to file its emergency response plan by May 15th,
may be fined $1,000 per day until an emergency response plan is filed.

���� d.��� The board shall also
have the authority to open an investigation to review the performance of any
investor-owned electric public utility in restoring service during a widespread
outage in the utility�s service area.� If, after evidentiary hearings or other
investigatory proceedings, the board finds that, as a result of the failure of
the utility to implement its emergency response plan, the length of the outages
were materially longer than they would have been but for the utility�s failure,
the board may impose a fine commensurate with the length and severity of the
damage caused by that failure.

���� 4.��� Any fines imposed under
this act shall be deposited into a non-lapsing account to be administered by
the board.� The account shall be used to award grants to municipalities
affected by major service outages for the purpose of maintaining public rights
of way located near public utility service infrastructure.� Qualified
maintenance activities include tree trimming and removing hazards that could
lead to future outages.

���� 5.��� The board shall
promulgate any rules and regulations pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure
Act� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) necessary to effectuate the
provisions of this act.

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect 12 months following enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the New
Jersey Board of Public Utilities (board) to establish a set of standards for
emergency preparation and restoration of service after an outage that every
investor-owned electric public utility (utility) in the State must follow.� The
standards are intended to serve as a minimum set of best practices that every
utility in the State should follow with regard to power outages.� The bill
establishes that a utility which fails to meet these standards shall be fined
$10,000 per violation, per day.� The total amount of the fine is limited to $1
million for a series of related events.� The board may investigate a violation
on its own initiative or upon request from the Governor, from county
freeholders affected by an outage, or from a municipality affected by an
outage.

���� The bill also requires every
utility to file an emergency response plan with the board.� This plan would
serve as an official plan of action for each utility in the event of a major
power outage and must include: the identification of management staff responsible
for utility operations during an emergency; an explanation of the utility�s
system of communication with customers during an emergency that extends beyond
normal business hours and business conditions; a history of contacts with
customers that document a need of essential electricity for medical reasons;
designation of utility staff to communicate with local officials and relevant
regulatory agencies; provisions regarding how the utility will assure the
safety of its employees and contractors; procedures for deploying utility and
mutual aid crews to work assignment areas; and identification of supplies and
equipment anticipated to be needed by the utility during an emergency and the
means of obtaining additional supplies and equipment.

���� If a utility fails to file an
emergency response plan, the board can fine the utility $1,000 per day until a
plan is filed.� If the board investigates a utility after an outage and finds
that the utility failed to follow its emergency response plan, the board is
directed to impose a fine that reflects the severity of the damage caused by
failing to follow the plan.

���� Any fines imposed by the board
under this bill are to be placed in a non-lapsing account administered by the
board.� Monies in the account are to be distributed as grant funds to
municipalities affected by power outages for maintenance costs along rights of
way near utility infrastructure, such as tree trimming near power lines or
removing hazards that could potentially cause a future outage.