Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires

S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10763

                                  I N  A S S E M B L Y

                                      April 1, 2026
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. KAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Energy

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  public service law, in relation to reducing the
          response time for securing downed wires to one hour upon notice

          THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
        BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

     1    Section  1.  Subparagraph  (xi)  of paragraph (a) of subdivision 21 of
     2  section 66 of the public service law, as separately amended  by  chapter
     3  743  of  the laws of 2022 and chapter 38 of the laws of 2024, is amended
     4  to read as follows:
     5    (xi) appropriate  safety  precautions  regarding  electrical  hazards,
     6  including  plans  to  PHYSICALLY  RESPOND  TO AND promptly secure downed
     7  wires within [thirty-six hours] ONE HOUR of notification of the location
     8  of such downed wires from a municipal emergency [official] RESPONDER;
     9    § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 21  of  section  66  of  the  public
    10  service  law,  as added by section 4 of part X of chapter 57 of the laws
    11  of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
    12    (c) The commission is authorized to open an  investigation  to  review
    13  the  performance  of  any  corporation in restoring service or otherwise
    14  meeting the requirements of the emergency response plan during an  emer-
    15  gency  event.  If,  after  evidentiary  hearings  or other investigatory
    16  proceedings, the commission finds that the corporation failed to reason-
    17  ably implement its emergency response plan or the length of such  corpo-
    18  ration's  outages  were  materially  longer  than  they would have been,
    19  because of such corporation's failure to reasonably implement its  emer-
    20  gency  response  plan,  THE CORPORATION SHALL BE SUBJECT TO A FINE IN AN
    21  AMOUNT TO BE DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENT PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF
    22  SECTION TWENTY-FIVE OF THIS CHAPTER, AND the  commission  may  deny  the
    23  recovery  of  any  part  of the service restoration costs caused by such
    24  failure, commensurate with the degree and impact of the service  outage;
    25  provided, however, that nothing herein limits the commission's authority
    26  to  otherwise  commence  a  proceeding pursuant to sections twenty-four,
    27  twenty-five and twenty-five-a of this chapter.
    28    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15259-01-6