Bill Text: NY A08611 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to utility intervenor reimbursement to a participant for its reasonable costs of participation in any proceeding before the Public Service Commission (PSC).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-16 - reported referred to codes [A08611 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A08611-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8611 IN ASSEMBLY January 12, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES, L. ROSENTHAL, THIELE, SIMON, COLTON, OTIS, LUPARDO, SANTABARBARA, SHRESTHA, KELLES, EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT, SEPTIMO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GLICK, HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to utility interve- nor reimbursement; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the utility intervenor account The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 2 24-c to read as follows: 3 § 24-c. Utility intervenor reimbursement. 1. As used in this 4 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (a) "Compensation" means payment from the utility intervenor account 6 fund established by section ninety-seven-uuuu of the state finance law, 7 for all or part, as determined by the department, of reasonable advo- 8 cate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs 9 for preparation and participation in a proceeding. 10 (b) "Participant" means a group of persons that apply jointly for an 11 award of compensation under this section and who represent the interests 12 of a significant number of residential or small business customers, or a 13 not-for-profit organization in this state authorized pursuant to its 14 articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of resi- 15 dential or small business utility customers. For purposes of this 16 section, a participant does not include a non-profit organization or 17 other organization whose principal interests are the welfare of a public 18 utility or its investors or employees, or the welfare of one or more 19 businesses or industries which receive utility service ordinarily and 20 primarily for use in connection with the profit-seeking manufacture, 21 sale, or distribution of goods or services. 22 (c) "Other reasonable costs" means reasonable out-of-pocket expenses 23 directly incurred by a participant that are directly related to the 24 contentions or recommendations made by the participant that resulted in 25 a substantial contribution. 26 (d) "Party" means any interested party, respondent public utility, or 27 commission staff in a hearing or proceeding. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02365-01-3A. 8611 2 1 (e) "Proceeding" means a complaint, or investigation, rulemaking, or 2 other formal proceeding before the commission, or alternative dispute 3 resolution procedures in lieu of formal proceedings as may be sponsored 4 or endorsed by the commission, provided however such proceedings shall 5 be limited to those arising under and proceeding pursuant to the follow- 6 ing articles of this chapter: (1) the regulation of the price of gas and 7 electricity, pursuant to article four of this chapter except those 8 described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision twelve of 9 section sixty-six of this chapter; (2) the regulation of the price of 10 steam, pursuant to article four-A of this chapter; (3) the submetering, 11 remetering or resale of electricity to residential premises, pursuant to 12 sections sixty-five and sixty-six of this chapter, and pursuant to regu- 13 lations regarding the submetering, remetering, or resale of electricity 14 adopted by the commission; and (4) such sections of this chapter as are 15 applicable to a proceeding in which the commission makes a finding on 16 the record that the public interest requires the reimbursement of utili- 17 ty intervenor fees pursuant to this section. 18 (f) "Significant financial hardship" means that the participant will 19 be unable to afford, without undue hardship, to pay the costs of effec- 20 tive participation, including advocate's fees, expert witness fees, and 21 other reasonable costs of participation. 22 (g) "Small business" means a business with a gross annual revenue of 23 two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less. 24 (h) "Substantial contribution" means that, in the judgment of the 25 department, the participant's application may substantially assist the 26 commission in making its decision because the decision may adopt in 27 whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or 28 specific policy or procedural recommendations that will be presented by 29 the participant. 30 2. A participant may apply for an award of compensation under this 31 section in a proceeding in which such participant has sought active 32 party status as defined by the department. The department shall deter- 33 mine appropriate procedures for accepting and responding to such appli- 34 cations. At the time of application, such participant shall serve on 35 every party to the proceeding notice of intent to apply for an award of 36 compensation. 37 An application shall include: 38 (a) A statement of the nature and extent and the factual and legal 39 basis of the participant's planned participation in the proceeding as 40 far as it is possible to describe such participation with reasonable 41 specificity at the time the application is filed. 42 (b) At minimum, a reasonably detailed description of anticipated advo- 43 cates and expert witness fees and other costs of preparation and partic- 44 ipation that the participant expects to request as compensation. 45 (c) If participation or intervention will impose a significant finan- 46 cial hardship and the participant seeks payment in advance to an award 47 of compensation in order to initiate, continue or complete participation 48 in the hearing or proceeding, such participant must include evidence of 49 such significant financial hardship in its application. 50 (d) Any other requirements as required by the department. 51 3. (a) Within thirty days after the filing of an application the 52 department shall issue a decision that determines whether or not the 53 participant may make a substantial contribution to the final decision in 54 the hearing or proceeding. If the department finds that the participant 55 requesting compensation may make a substantial contribution, the depart- 56 ment shall describe this substantial contribution and determine theA. 8611 3 1 amount of compensation to be paid pursuant to subdivision four of this 2 section. 3 (b) Notwithstanding subdivision four of this section, if the depart- 4 ment finds that the participant has a significant financial hardship, 5 the department may direct the public utility or utilities subject to the 6 proceeding to pay all or part of the compensation to the department to 7 be provided to the participant prior to the end of the proceeding. In 8 the event that the participant discontinues its participation in the 9 proceeding without the consent of the department, the department shall 10 be entitled to, in whole or in part, recover any payments made to such 11 participant to be refunded to the public utility or utilities that 12 provided such payment. 13 (c) The computation of compensation pursuant to paragraph (a) of this 14 subdivision shall take into consideration the market rates paid to 15 persons of comparable training and experience who offer similar 16 services. The compensation awarded may not, in any case, exceed the 17 comparable market rate for services paid by the department or the public 18 utility, whichever is greater, to persons of comparable training and 19 experience who are offering similar services. 20 (d) Any compensation awarded to a participant and not used by such 21 participant shall be returned to the department for refund to the public 22 utility or utilities that provided such payment. 23 (e) The department shall require that participants seeking payment 24 maintain an itemized record of all expenditures incurred as a result of 25 such proceeding. 26 (i) The department may use the itemized record of expenses to verify 27 the claim of financial hardship by a participant seeking payment pursu- 28 ant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section. 29 (ii) The department may use the record of expenditures in determining, 30 after the completion of a proceeding, if any unused funds remain. 31 (iii) The department shall preserve the confidentiality of the partic- 32 ipant's records in making any audit or determining the availability of 33 funds after the completion of a proceeding. 34 (f) In the event that the department finds that two or more partic- 35 ipants' applications have substantially similar interests, the depart- 36 ment may require such participants to apply jointly in order to receive 37 compensation. 38 4. Any compensation pursuant to this section shall be paid at the 39 conclusion of the proceeding by the public utility or utilities subject 40 to the proceeding within thirty days. Such compensation shall be remit- 41 ted to the department which shall then remit such compensation to the 42 participant. 43 5. The department shall deny any award to any participant who attempts 44 to delay or obstruct the orderly and timely fulfillment of the depart- 45 ment's responsibilities. 46 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-uuuu 47 to read as follows: 48 § 97-uuuu. Utility intervenor account. 1. There is hereby established 49 in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of 50 taxation and finance a fund to be known as the utility intervenor 51 account. 52 2. Such account shall consist of all utility intervenor reimbursement 53 monies received from utilities pursuant to section twenty-four-c of the 54 public service law. 55 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 56 have become a law.
