Bill Text: NY A03360 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires each electric corporation to submit a storm hardening and system resiliency plan to the public service commission for review and approval; makes related provisions (Part A); requires utility companies to reimburse customers for certain widespread prolonged outages; prohibits utility companies from recovering from customers the costs incurred due to power outage reimbursements; authorizes utility companies to petition the public service commission for a waiver of the reimbursement requirements (Part B).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-06-10 - substituted by s4824a [A03360 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A03360-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3360--A Cal. No. 170 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 26, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, OTIS, GALEF, VANEL, BARRON, JACOBSON, SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corpo- rations, Authorities and Commissions -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- advanced to a third reading, passed by Assembly and delivered to the Senate, recalled from the Senate, vote reconsid- ered, bill amended, ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to storm hardening and system resiliency plans (Part A); and to amend the public service law, in relation to providing rate payers with reimbursement following prolonged power outages (Part B) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Each component of this act is wholly contained within a 2 part identified parts A and B. The effective date for each particular 3 provision contained within such part is set forth in the last section of 4 such part. Any provision in any section contained within a part, includ- 5 ing the effective date of the part, which makes reference to a section 6 "of this act", when used in connection with that particular component, 7 shall be deemed to mean and refer to the corresponding section of the 8 part in which it is found. Section three of this act sets forth the 9 general effective date of this act. 10 PART A 11 Section 1. Legislative findings. 1. The Legislature hereby finds and 12 declares that, due to the rise in storm intensity, and effects of 13 climate change, dedicated storm hardening programs need to be developed 14 and implemented throughout New York State to reduce damage and costs 15 from future weather events, as well as facilitate prompt restoration 16 times. Storm hardening is the process of constructing new, or upgrading EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08931-10-1A. 3360--A 2 1 old, infrastructure to increase resiliency and overall reliability 2 during weather events. In 2018, Winter Storm Riley and Winter Storm 3 Quinn greatly impacted New York's electric distribution system with 4 nearly 500,000 customers losing power. In August 2020, Tropical Storm 5 Isaias brought high winds, downed trees and widespread power outages to 6 much of the state; hundreds of thousands of customers in Long Island, 7 New York City, Westchester and Rockland counties experienced extensive 8 power outages, some lasting for more than a week. Legislative hearings 9 following these storms made it clear that enhanced storm hardening 10 efforts are needed to mitigate some of the impacts to the distribution 11 infrastructure and customers; 12 2. It is in the state's interest to strengthen electric utility 13 infrastructure to withstand extreme weather conditions, and the effects 14 of climate change by promoting the hardening of electrical transmission 15 and distribution facilities, the undergrounding of certain electrical 16 distribution lines, and enhanced vegetation management, including the 17 removal of danger trees, as well as long term planning; 18 3. Protecting and strengthening transmission and distribution elec- 19 trical utility infrastructure from extreme weather conditions, and the 20 effect of climate change, can effectively reduce restoration costs and 21 outage times to customers and improve overall service reliability for 22 customers; 23 4. It is in the state's interest for each utility to mitigate restora- 24 tion costs and outage times to utility customers when developing trans- 25 mission and distribution storm protection plans; and 26 5. All customers benefit from the reduced costs of storm restoration. 27 § 2. Section 66 of the public service law is amended by adding a new 28 subdivision 29 to read as follows: 29 29. (a) Each electric corporation subject to section twenty-five-a of 30 this chapter shall prepare and submit a climate change vulnerability 31 study to the commission within eighteen months of the effective date of 32 this act. The commission shall provide such study to the governor and 33 the legislature. The climate change vulnerability study shall evaluate 34 the electric corporation's infrastructure, design specifications, and 35 procedures to better understand the corporation's vulnerability to 36 climate-driven risks, and shall include, but not be limited to, adapta- 37 tion measures to address vulnerabilities and any other information 38 deemed necessary by the commission. 39 (b) Within sixty days from submission of a climate change vulnerabili- 40 ty study to the commission, each electric corporation subject to section 41 twenty-five-a of this chapter shall, pursuant to regulation by the 42 commission, submit a climate resilience plan to the commission for 43 review and approval. Each plan shall: (i) propose storm hardening and 44 resiliency measures for the next ten years and twenty years, and shall 45 explain the systematic approach the corporation will follow to achieve 46 the objectives of mitigating the impacts of climate change to utility 47 infrastructure, reducing restoration costs and outage times associated 48 with extreme weather events, and enhancing reliability, as well as such 49 other additional objectives the commission may require consistent with 50 ensuring increased resiliency of utility infrastructure and overall 51 reliability during extreme weather events; (ii) detail how the corpo- 52 ration will incorporate climate change into its planning, design, oper- 53 ations, and emergency response; (iii) incorporate climate change into 54 existing processes and practices, manage climate change risks and build 55 resilience; and (iv) propose adjustments, as necessary, to how the 56 corporation plans and designs infrastructure for the increasing impactsA. 3360--A 3 1 from climate change. The commission shall adopt rules to specify any 2 additional elements that must be included in a corporation's filing for 3 review of climate resilience plans. 4 (c) Each subject electric corporation shall contemporaneously serve 5 the climate resilience plan on the parties from its last rate case filed 6 pursuant to subdivision twelve of this section. 7 (d) In its review of each climate resilience plan filed pursuant to 8 this subdivision, the commission shall, at minimum, consider: 9 (i) the extent to which the plan is expected to mitigate the impacts 10 of climate change, reduce restoration costs and outage times associated 11 with extreme weather events, and enhance reliability, including whether 12 the plan examines areas of lower reliability performance; 13 (ii) the extent to which storm protection and hardening of trans- 14 mission and distribution infrastructure is feasible, reasonable, or 15 practical in certain areas of the corporation's service territory, 16 including, but not limited to, coastal areas, flood zones, and rural 17 areas; 18 (iii) the estimated costs and benefits to the corporation and its 19 customers of making the improvements proposed in the plan, including 20 considerations of equity in the plan as applied across the entire 21 service territory, with particular attention paid to the costs and bene- 22 fits in undergrounding transmission and distribution lines; 23 (iv) the timeline for implementation of the plan; 24 (v) whether the plan includes major performance benchmarks that meas- 25 ure the effectiveness of the implementation of the plan; 26 (vi) the estimated annual rate impact resulting from implementation of 27 the plan during the first five years addressed in the plan; 28 (vii) the extent to which the plan considers a multi-pronged strategy 29 appropriately tailored to addressing the impacts of climate change, 30 reducing restoration costs and outage times and enhancing infrastructure 31 reliability, including, but not limited to, vegetation management, 32 improvements to system management practices, undergrounding of distrib- 33 ution and transmission lines, replacement of obsolete cables, wires and 34 poles, automation and circuit reconfiguration, investing in infrastruc- 35 ture that supports the development of technologies that would improve 36 response to extreme weather events and reduce restoration costs, and 37 system resiliency through the deployment of distributed energy 38 resources, and fortifying critical facilities; 39 (viii) the extent to which the plan identifies opportunities for coor- 40 dination with municipalities, customer advocate groups, the independent 41 system operator, the energy research and development authority, and 42 other utility or telecommunication service providers; and, 43 (ix) the recommendations from the utility climate resilience working 44 group established pursuant to paragraph (h) of this subdivision. 45 (e) No later than eleven months after a corporation files a climate 46 resilience plan that contains all of the elements required by this 47 subdivision, and after a public hearing on the plan, which shall include 48 a public forum at a physical location, attended by commission members or 49 their designees to take in written or oral comment, the commission shall 50 determine whether it is in the public interest to approve or modify the 51 plan. 52 (f) At least every five years after approval of a corporation's 53 climate resilience plan, the corporation must file for commission review 54 an updated plan that addresses each element specified by commission 55 regulation. The commission shall approve, modify, or deny each updated 56 plan pursuant to the criteria used to review the initial plan.A. 3360--A 4 1 (g) Each corporation shall make an annual filing to recover the corpo- 2 ration's climate resilience plan costs through a charge separate and 3 apart from its base rates, to be referred to as the climate resilience 4 plan cost recovery clause. If the commission determines that such costs 5 are just and reasonable, in the public interest, and were prudently 6 incurred, those costs will not be subject to disallowance or further 7 reasonableness or prudence review except for fraud, perjury, or inten- 8 tional withholding of key information by the corporation, or if the 9 commission finds that the corporation has imprudently implemented the 10 plan. The annual climate resilience plan costs may not include costs 11 recovered through the corporation's base rates and must be allocated to 12 customer classes pursuant to the rate design most recently approved by 13 the commission. If a capital expenditure is recoverable as a climate 14 resilience plan cost, the corporation may recover the annual depreci- 15 ation on the cost, calculated at the corporation's current approved 16 depreciation rates, and a return on the undepreciated balance of the 17 costs calculated at the corporation's weighted average cost of capital 18 using the last approved return on equity. 19 (h) Each corporation shall establish a utility climate resilience 20 working group no later than one year after the effective date of this 21 subdivision. Such working group shall advise and make recommendations to 22 the corporation and the commission on the development and implementation 23 of the corporation's climate resilience plan. The working group shall be 24 comprised of representatives from the department, and municipal repre- 25 sentatives, customer advocacy groups, and energy and environmental advo- 26 cacy organizations. The working group shall meet at least twice annual- 27 ly. 28 (i) Each corporation shall provide to the county executive or the 29 chief elected official of a county for each county within its service 30 territory the most recent approved copy of the climate resilience plan 31 required pursuant to this subdivision. For the purposes of an electric 32 corporation operating within the city of New York, such corporation 33 shall provide the most recent approved climate resilience plan with both 34 the mayor's office and emergency management office of the city of New 35 York. 36 (j) The commission shall provide access to such climate resilience 37 plans pursuant to article six of the public officers law. 38 (k) Beginning December first of the year after the first full year of 39 implementation of a climate resilience plan and annually thereafter, the 40 commission shall submit to the governor and the legislature a report on 41 the status of each corporation's activities to comply with the plan. The 42 report shall include, but is not limited to, identification of all storm 43 protection and resiliency activities completed or planned for 44 completion, the actual costs and rate impacts associated with completed 45 activities as compared to the estimated costs and rate impacts for those 46 activities, the estimated costs and rate impacts associated with activ- 47 ities planned for completion, and the governance, planning, and opera- 48 tional activities undertaken by the corporation in furtherance of the 49 climate resilience plan. 50 (l) The commission shall promulgate any necessary rules and regu- 51 lations to implement and administer the provisions of this subdivision. 52 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 53 have become a law. Effective immediately, the promulgation of any rules 54 or regulations by the Public Service Commission necessary for the imple- 55 mentation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made 56 and completed on or before such effective date.A. 3360--A 5 1 PART B 2 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 3 73 to read as follows: 4 § 73. Compensation to customers experiencing widespread prolonged 5 outages. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event 6 that a residential utility customer or a small business customer experi- 7 ences a widespread prolonged outage lasting at least seventy-two consec- 8 utive hours or more without having been resolved by the utility company, 9 the utility company shall: 10 (a) Provide a credit of twenty-five dollars on the balance of such 11 residential utility customer's account for each subsequent twenty-four 12 hour period of service outage that occurs for such customers for more 13 than seventy-two consecutive hours after the occurrence of such wide- 14 spread prolonged outage. 15 (b) Provide reimbursement of any food spoiled due to lack of refriger- 16 ation. Residential utility customers shall provide the utility company 17 an itemized list of all food spoiled or proof of loss of food spoiled 18 within fourteen days of the outage. The utility company shall reimburse 19 the customer within thirty days of the receipt of the itemized list or 20 proof of loss, provided, however, that if the utility company has 21 applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this section, such 22 utility company shall reimburse the customer within a time period to be 23 determined by the commission after the commission renders a decision on 24 the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall not exceed a 25 total of two hundred thirty-five dollars for customers who provide an 26 itemized list. The amount of the reimbursement for customers who provide 27 proof of loss shall not exceed five hundred forty dollars. 28 (c) Provide reimbursement of prescription medication spoiled due to 29 lack of refrigeration. Residential utility customers shall provide the 30 utility company with an itemized list and proof of loss of prescription 31 medication due to lack of refrigeration within fourteen days of the 32 outage. The utility company shall reimburse the customer within thirty 33 days of the receipt of the itemized list and proof of loss of 34 prescription medication, provided, however, that if the utility company 35 has applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this section, 36 such utility company shall reimburse the customer within a time period 37 to be determined by the commission after the commission renders a deci- 38 sion on the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall total 39 no more than the actual loss of perishable prescription medicine. 40 (d) Provide reimbursement to small business customers for any food 41 spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. Small business customers shall 42 provide the utility company with an itemized list for all food spoiled 43 and proof of loss within fourteen days of the outage. The utility compa- 44 ny shall reimburse the small business customer within thirty days of the 45 receipt of the itemized list and proof of loss, provided, however, that 46 if the utility company has applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision 47 three of this section, such utility company shall reimburse the small 48 business customer within a time period to be determined by the commis- 49 sion after the commission renders a decision on the waiver request. The 50 amount of their imbursement shall not exceed five hundred forty dollars. 51 2. Any costs incurred by a utility company pursuant to this section 52 shall not be recoverable from ratepayers. 53 3. Not later than fourteen calendar days after the occurrence of a 54 widespread prolonged outage, a utility company may petition the commis- 55 sion for a waiver of the requirements of this section. The company shallA. 3360--A 6 1 have the burden of demonstrating that granting the waiver is fair, 2 reasonable and in the public interest. In determining whether to grant 3 such waiver, the commission shall consider: (a) whether the company 4 complied with their submitted emergency response plan pursuant to the 5 provisions of subdivision twenty-one of section sixty-six of this arti- 6 cle; (b) whether any actions or omissions of the company contributed to 7 the prolonging of the widespread prolonged outage; (c) the hardships 8 endured by said company's customers due to the widespread prolonged 9 outage; (d) the severity of the widespread prolonged outage; (e) condi- 10 tions on the ground during the widespread prolonged outage and the 11 subsequent restoration; (f) balancing of the equities; and (g) any other 12 criteria the commission deems in the public interest to consider. The 13 commission shall issue a final decision regarding the grant of the 14 requested waiver no later than forty-five days after submission of the 15 petition. 16 4. The commission shall promulgate procedures, standards, methodol- 17 ogies and rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 18 Such rules and regulations shall define the terms "widespread prolonged 19 outage", "small business customer" and "proof of loss". 20 § 2. Severability. If any provision of this act or the application 21 thereof to any person, corporation or circumstances is held invalid, 22 such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the 23 act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or applica- 24 tion, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared to be 25 severable. 26 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 27 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 28 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 29 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 30 completed on or before such effective date. 31 § 2. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 32 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 33 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 34 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 35 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 36 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 37 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 38 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 39 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 40 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately provided, however, that 41 the applicable effective date of parts A through B of this act shall be 42 as specifically set forth in the last section of such parts.