Bill Text: NY A02692 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires gas corporations to file a plan with the public service commission addressing aging or leaking pipelines within their service territory; outlines plans for the replacement of such pipelines.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to energy [A02692 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02692-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2692

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 26, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of A. HYNDMAN, PEOPLES-STOKES, COOK, HUNTER, WALKER,
          JOYNER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M.  of  A.  GLICK  --  read  once  and
          referred to the Committee on Energy

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the public service law, in relation to requiring gas
          corporations to file a plan  addressing  aging  or  leaking  pipelines
          within their service territory

          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  68-b to read as follows:
     3    §  68-b.  Aging or leaking pipelines. 1. Definitions. For the purposes
     4  of this section, the following words, shall, unless the context  clearly
     5  requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
     6    (a)  "Customer" shall mean a retail customer receiving end use service
     7  from a gas corporation.
     8    (b) "Eligible infrastructure replacement" shall mean a replacement  or
     9  an  improvement  of  existing  pipeline  of gas corporation that: (i) is
    10  performed on or after January first, two thousand twenty-four;  (ii)  is
    11  designed  to  improve  public  safety and/or infrastructure reliability;
    12  (iii) does not increase the revenue of a gas corporation  by  connecting
    13  an  improvement  or installing new pipeline for the principal purpose of
    14  serving new customers; (iv) reduces, or has  the  potential  to  reduce,
    15  lost  and  unaccounted for gas through a reduction in gas leaks; and (v)
    16  is not included in the approved rate base  of  the  gas  corporation  as
    17  determined in the gas corporation's most recent approved rate plan.
    18    (c)  "Gas  infrastructure rate plan" shall mean a pipeline replacement
    19  program construction plan that a gas corporation files with the  commis-
    20  sion pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
    21    (d)  "Project"  shall  mean  an  eligible pipeline replacement project
    22  proposed by a gas corporation in a plan filed under this section.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04525-01-3

        A. 2692                             2

     1    2. A gas corporation shall file with the commission a plan to  address
     2  aging or leaking pipeline within its respective service territory in the
     3  interest  of  public  safety  and  reducing lost and unaccounted for gas
     4  through a reduction in gas leaks. The filing of the plan required pursu-
     5  ant  to  this  subdivision  shall be submitted no later than the thirty-
     6  first of October, two thousand twenty-four.
     7    3. (a) Any plan filed with the commission shall include,  but  not  be
     8  limited  to:  (i) eligible pipeline replacement of mains, service lines,
     9  metering sets, and other ancillary facilities composed  of  non-cathodi-
    10  cally  protected  steel, cast iron, wrought iron, and any other material
    11  the commission deems leak-prone, prioritized to  implement  the  federal
    12  gas  distribution  pipeline integrity management plan annually submitted
    13  to the commission and consistent with subpart P of 49 C.F.R.  part  192;
    14  (ii)  an  anticipated timeline for the completion of each project; (iii)
    15  the estimated cost of each project; (iv) rate  change  requests;  (v)  a
    16  description  of customer costs and benefits under the plan; and (vi) any
    17  other information the department considers  necessary  to  evaluate  the
    18  plan.
    19    (b)  Upon  the  filing  of the plan required under this section, a gas
    20  corporation shall include a timeline for removing all  leak-prone  pipe-
    21  line  on an accelerated basis, specifying an annual replacement pace and
    22  program end date with a target end date of either:   (i) not  more  than
    23  twenty  years;  or  (ii)  a  reasonable  target end date considering the
    24  allowable recovery cap established pursuant to subdivision six  of  this
    25  section.   The commission shall not approve a timeline as part of a plan
    26  unless the allowable recovery cap established  pursuant  to  subdivision
    27  six  of  this  section  provides  the  gas corporation with a reasonable
    28  opportunity to recover its expenditures related with removing all  leak-
    29  prone infrastructure and the accelerated basis set forth under the time-
    30  line  utilizing the cost recovery mechanism established pursuant to this
    31  section. After filing the initial plan,  a  gas  corporation  shall,  no
    32  later than the thirty-first of October of each succeeding year, at annu-
    33  al  intervals,  provide the commission with a summary of its replacement
    34  progress to date, a summary of work to be completed  during  the  subse-
    35  quent  year  and  any additional information the commission may require.
    36  The commission may require a gas corporation to file  an  updated  long-
    37  term  timeline as part of a plan if it alters the cap established pursu-
    38  ant to subdivision six of this section.
    39    4. If a gas corporation files a plan on or before October thirty-first
    40  for the subsequent construction year, the commission  shall  review  the
    41  plan  within  six  months. The plan shall be effective as of the date of
    42  the filing, pending commission review. The commission may modify a  plan
    43  prior  to approval at the request of a corporation or make other modifi-
    44  cations to a plan as a  condition  of  approval.  The  commission  shall
    45  consider  the  costs and benefits of the plan including, but not limited
    46  to, ratepayer impact, with special consideration of customers  receiving
    47  assistance  through  the home energy assistance plan, reductions of lost
    48  and unaccounted for gas through a reduction in gas  leaks  and  improve-
    49  ments  to  public  safety. The commission shall give priority review and
    50  give preliminary acceptance to plans specifically  designed  to  address
    51  leak-prone  pipeline  most  immediately in need of replacement, based on
    52  standards established by the commission.
    53    5. If the commission determines a  plan  is  in  compliance  with  the
    54  requirements  of  this  section and would reasonably accelerate pipeline
    55  replacements and provide benefits, the commission shall issue acceptance
    56  in whole or in part. A gas corporation shall then be authorized to begin

        A. 2692                             3

     1  recovery of the estimated costs of projects included in the plan  begin-
     2  ning  on  May first of the year following the initial filing and collect
     3  any revenue requirement,  including  depreciation,  property  taxes  and
     4  return associated with the plan.
     5    6.  On  or before May first of each year, a gas corporation shall file
     6  final project documentation for projects completed in the prior year  to
     7  demonstrate  substantial  compliance  with the plan approved pursuant to
     8  subdivision five of this section and that all project costs were reason-
     9  ably and prudently incurred. The commission  shall  investigate  project
    10  costs  within  six  months of submission and shall approve and reconcile
    11  the authorized rate factor, if necessary, upon a determination that  the
    12  costs  were  reasonable  and  prudent.  Annual  changes  in  the revenue
    13  requirement eligible for recovery  shall  not  exceed  one-and-one  half
    14  percent of the gas corporation's most recent calendar year of total firm
    15  revenues,  including  revenues attributable to transmission and distrib-
    16  ution customers.  Any revenue requirement approved by the commission  in
    17  excess of such cap may be deferred for recovery in the following year.
    18    7.  All  rate  change  requests  made to the commission pursuant to an
    19  approved plan shall be filed annually  on  a  fully  reconciling  basis,
    20  subject  to acceptance by the commission pursuant to subdivision five of
    21  this section. The rate change included in a plan pursuant to subdivision
    22  three of this section, reviewed pursuant to  subdivision  five  of  this
    23  section  and  taking  effect on May first pursuant to subdivision six of
    24  this section shall be subject to review by the commission, to  determine
    25  whether  the  gas  corporation has over-collected or under-collected its
    26  requested rate adjustment with any such discrepancies reconciled  on  an
    27  annual  basis.  If  the commission determines that any of the costs were
    28  not reasonably or prudently incurred by a gas corporation,  the  commis-
    29  sion  shall  disallow the costs and direct the gas corporation to refund
    30  the full value of the costs charged to customers  with  the  appropriate
    31  carrying charges on the over-collected amounts. If the commission deter-
    32  mines  that  any  of  the costs were not in compliance with the approved
    33  plan, the commission shall disallow the costs  from  the  cost  recovery
    34  mechanism established under this section and shall direct the gas corpo-
    35  ration  to  refund the full value of the costs charged to customers with
    36  the appropriate carrying charges on the over-collected amounts.
    37    8. The commission may promulgate any rules and  regulations  necessary
    38  to effectuate the pipeline replacement program pursuant to this section.
    39  The commission may discontinue the replacement program and require a gas
    40  corporation  to  refund any costs charged to customers due to failure to
    41  substantially comply with a plan or failure to reasonably and  prudently
    42  manage project costs.
    43    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
feedback