S9980 • 2025

Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: James Skoufis
Last action: 2026-05-19
Official status: In Senate Committee
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires

Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires Requires each utility to take appropriate safety precautions regarding electrical hazards, including developing plans to promptly de-energize downed wires within two hours of notification of the location of such downed wires from a municipal emergency responder and promptly secure such wires within six hours in the case of events that are not considered emergencies.

What This Bill Does

Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires Requires each utility to take appropriate safety precautions regarding electrical hazards, including developing plans to promptly de-energize downed wires within two hours of notification of the location of such downed wires from a municipal emergency responder and promptly secure such wires within six hours in the case of events that are not considered emergencies.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-05-19 Senate
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
2026-05-19 Senate
PRINT NUMBER 9980A
2026-04-20 Senate
REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Official Summary Text

Reduces electric corporations' response time for securing downed wires
Requires each utility to take appropriate safety precautions regarding electrical hazards, including developing plans to promptly de-energize downed wires within two hours of notification of the location of such downed wires from a municipal emergency responder and promptly secure such wires within six hours in the case of events that are not considered emergencies.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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

                                          9980

                                    I N  S E N A T E

                                     April 20, 2026
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations

        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