Bill Text: NY A06428 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Requires service providers to reimburse consumers for spoilage of food and medication due to the lack of refrigeration in the event of a power outage lasting seventy-two hours or more.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-16 - substituted by s5237c [A06428 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A06428-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         6428--C

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     March 17, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on  Corporations, Authorities and Commissions -- committee discharged,
          bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended  and  recommitted  to  said
          committee  --  again  reported  from  said  committee with amendments,
          ordered reprinted as amended and  recommitted  to  said  committee  --
          recommitted  to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commis-
          sions in  accordance  with  Assembly  Rule  3,  sec.  2  --  committee
          discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
          to said committee

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the public authorities law, in relation to requiring
          service providers to reimburse consumers in the event of  a  prolonged
          power outage

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The public authorities law  is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 1020-ll to read as follows:
     3    § 1020-ll. Compensation to customers experiencing widespread prolonged
     4  outages.  1.  Notwithstanding  any  other provision of law, in the event
     5  that a residential utility customer or a small business customer experi-
     6  ences a widespread prolonged outage lasting at least seventy-two consec-
     7  utive hours or more without having been resolved by the service  provid-
     8  er, the service provider shall:
     9    (a)  Provide  a  credit  of twenty-five dollars on the balance of such
    10  residential utility customer's account for each  subsequent  twenty-four
    11  hour  period  of  service outage that occurs for such customers for more
    12  than seventy-two consecutive hours after the occurrence  of  such  wide-
    13  spread prolonged outage.
    14    (b) Provide reimbursement of any food spoiled due to lack of refriger-
    15  ation.  Residential utility customers shall provide the service provider
    16  an  itemized  list  of all food spoiled or proof of loss of food spoiled
    17  within fourteen days of the outage. The service provider shall reimburse

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10013-13-2
        A. 6428--C                          2

     1  the customer within thirty days of the receipt of the itemized  list  or
     2  proof  of  loss,  provided,  however,  that  if the service provider has
     3  applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this section, such
     4  service provider shall reimburse the customer within a time period to be
     5  determined  by the commission after the commission renders a decision on
     6  the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall not  exceed  a
     7  total  of  two  hundred thirty-five dollars for customers who provide an
     8  itemized list. The amount of the reimbursement for customers who provide
     9  proof of loss shall not exceed five hundred forty dollars.
    10    (c) Provide reimbursement of prescription medication  spoiled  due  to
    11  lack  of  refrigeration. Residential utility customers shall provide the
    12  service provider with an itemized list and proof of loss of prescription
    13  medication due to lack of refrigeration  within  fourteen  days  of  the
    14  outage.  The service provider shall reimburse the customer within thirty
    15  days  of  the  receipt  of  the  itemized  list  and  proof  of  loss of
    16  prescription medication, provided, however, that if the service provider
    17  has applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this  section,
    18  such  service provider shall reimburse the customer within a time period
    19  to be determined by the commission after the commission renders a  deci-
    20  sion  on the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall total
    21  no more than the actual loss of perishable prescription medicine.
    22    (d) Provide reimbursement to small business  customers  for  any  food
    23  spoiled  due  to  lack  of refrigeration. Small business customers shall
    24  provide the service provider with an itemized list for all food  spoiled
    25  and  proof  of  loss  within  fourteen  days  of the outage. The service
    26  provider shall reimburse the small business customer within thirty  days
    27  of  the receipt of the itemized list and proof of loss, provided, howev-
    28  er, that if the service provider has applied for a  waiver  pursuant  to
    29  subdivision three of this section, such service provider shall reimburse
    30  the small business customer within a time period to be determined by the
    31  commission  after  the  commission  renders  a  decision  on  the waiver
    32  request. The amount of the reimbursement shall not exceed  five  hundred
    33  forty dollars.
    34    2.  Any  costs incurred by a service provider pursuant to this section
    35  shall not be recoverable from ratepayers.
    36    3. Not later than fourteen calendar days after  the  occurrence  of  a
    37  widespread prolonged outage, a service provider may petition the commis-
    38  sion  for  a  waiver  of  the  requirements of this section. The service
    39  provider shall have the burden of demonstrating that granting the waiver
    40  is fair, reasonable and in the public interest. In  determining  whether
    41  to  grant  such  waiver,  the commission shall consider: (a) whether the
    42  service provider complied with their submitted emergency  response  plan
    43  pursuant  to  the provisions of subdivision (cc) of section one thousand
    44  twenty-f of the public authorities law, (b) whether any actions or omis-
    45  sions of the service provider contributed to the prolonging of the wide-
    46  spread prolonged outage; (c)  the  hardships  endured  by  such  service
    47  provider's  customers  due  to  the widespread prolonged outage; (d) the
    48  severity of the widespread  prolonged  outage;  (e)  conditions  on  the
    49  ground  during the widespread prolonged outage and the subsequent resto-
    50  ration; (f) balancing of the equities; and (g) any  other  criteria  the
    51  commission  deems  in  the  public  interest to consider. The commission
    52  shall issue a final decision regarding the grant of the requested waiver
    53  no later than forty-five days after submission of the petition.
    54    4. The commission shall promulgate  procedures,  standards,  methodol-
    55  ogies  and  rules necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
        A. 6428--C                          3

     1  Such rules shall define the terms "widespread prolonged outage",  "small
     2  business customer" and "proof of loss".
     3    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
     4  it shall have become a law.