Bill Text: NY A11056 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that the public service commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to set minimum requirements regarding the rights of customers that electric corporations shall adhere to at times preceding and for the duration of an electric service disruption; defines terms; requires electric corporations to establish a unique telephone number for customers with life-saving equipment and special needs; requires dry ice distribution and power charging stations; makes related provisions.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-10-07 - referred to corporations, authorities and commissions [A11056 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A11056-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 11056 IN ASSEMBLY October 7, 2020 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to establishing the electric customer bill of rights during a service disruption The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. 1. Definitions. For purposes of this section: 2 a. "customer with life-saving equipment" shall have the same meaning 3 as a person living in a residence that uses a life support system as 4 defined in subdivision 12 of section 65 of the public service law; 5 b. "electric service disruption" shall mean a storm, storm-like emer- 6 gency or system emergency that causes or is projected to cause one or 7 more customers in a county or service area of an electric corporation to 8 lose electric service for twelve hours or more; and 9 c. "special needs customer" shall mean electric corporation customers 10 including but not limited to the elderly, the vision-impaired, the hear- 11 ing and speech-impaired, and the mobility impaired, and human service 12 agencies representing such customers. 13 2. The public service commission shall commence a rulemaking proceed- 14 ing to set minimum requirements regarding the rights of customers that 15 electric corporations shall adhere to at times preceding and for the 16 duration of an electric service disruption. Upon adoption by the commis- 17 sion, each electric corporation shall incorporate the established mini- 18 mum requirements into its emergency response plan pursuant to subdivi- 19 sion 21 of section 66 of the public service law and shall inform its 20 customers of such information via posts on its website, e-mail and bill 21 inserts. Such rulemaking proceeding shall set minimum requirements 22 regarding: 23 a. electric corporations providing a refund or discount to customers 24 for the basic service charge, fixed charge, or minimum customer charge 25 for electric service on a pro-rata basis, based on the duration of elec- 26 tric service disruption to the customer; 27 b. for customers with life-saving equipment and special needs custom- 28 ers, electric corporations delivering, and refueling or recharging back- 29 up generators capable of powering life-saving equipment to such custom- 30 ers, or providing temporary lodging accommodations at a location capable 31 of powering life-saving equipment, including but not limited to compen- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD17285-02-0A. 11056 2 1 sation for hotel rooms or hospital admissions, based on the duration of 2 electric service disruption to the customer; 3 c. the establishment of a plan by electric corporations to prioritize 4 electric service restoration to customers with life-saving equipment and 5 special needs customers; 6 d. electric corporations providing customers who work from home, 7 compensation for lost income or revenue based on the duration of elec- 8 tric service disruption to the customer; 9 e. the establishment, modification or replacement of an electric 10 corporation tariff that adopts the provisions of subdivision 5 of 11 section 65-c of the public service law regarding reimbursement for spoi- 12 lage of food and medication. Such tariff shall establish requirements 13 regarding communications to customers on the claims process for spoiled 14 food and medication at times preceding and for the duration of an elec- 15 tric service disruption, so that customers are aware of how to document 16 their losses; and 17 f. the establishment of a plan by electric corporations to identify 18 locations for dry ice distribution and co-located power charging 19 stations in the event a storm, storm-like emergency or system emergency 20 that causes or is projected to cause five thousand or more customers in 21 a county or service area of an electric corporation to lose electric 22 service for twelve hours or more. In cooperation with relevant entities, 23 such plan shall identify public and private locations and provide for 24 backup locations. Such plan shall provide that, in a city with a popu- 25 lation of one million or more residents, all customers affected by an 26 outage shall be within one-quarter of a mile from a dry ice and power 27 charging location. 28 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 65-c to 29 read as follows: 30 § 65-c. Electric customer bill of rights during a service disruption. 31 1. Definitions. For purposes of this section: 32 (a) "customer with life-saving equipment" shall have the same meaning 33 as a person living in a residence that uses a life support system as 34 defined in subdivision twelve of section sixty-five of this article; 35 (b) "electric service disruption" shall mean a storm, storm-like emer- 36 gency or system emergency that causes or is projected to cause one or 37 more customers in a county or service area of an electric corporation to 38 lose electric service for twelve hours or more; and 39 (c) "special needs customer" shall mean electric corporation customers 40 including but not limited to the elderly, the vision-impaired, the hear- 41 ing and speech-impaired, and the mobility impaired, and human service 42 agencies representing such customers. 43 2. Customer communication. (a) To the extent practicable based on 44 weather projections, storm classification and pre-disruption information 45 regarding the extent of the outage, an electric corporation prior to an 46 electric service disruption shall communicate with customers via posts 47 on such corporation's website, e-mail, automated phone call, and if 48 indicated by the customer, text message; and communicate with news 49 media, social media sites, and local elected officials. An electric 50 corporation shall have the capability of conveying such communication in 51 at least one language other than English. Such communication shall 52 include but not be limited to: 53 i. information regarding the severity of a storm, storm-like electric 54 emergency or system emergency;A. 11056 3 1 ii. outage safety precautions, including but not limited to: storm 2 survival without electric power, safety precautions regarding electrical 3 hazards such as downed wires and the use of portable generators; 4 iii. instructions on how to report an outage; 5 iv. instructions on how to receive or obtain information regarding an 6 estimated time of restoration in the event there is an outage; 7 v. planned dry ice distribution and power charging locations pursuant 8 to subdivision four of this section; 9 vi. planned cooling locations if necessary; 10 vii. the claims process for spoiled food and medication pursuant to 11 subdivision five of this section, so that customers are aware of how to 12 document their losses; 13 viii. potential information adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceed- 14 ing commenced by the commission regarding: a pro-rata discount on the 15 basic service charge, backup generators or temporary lodging accommo- 16 dations and compensation for customers with life-saving equipment and 17 special needs customers, and compensation for lost income or revenue for 18 customers that work from home; and 19 ix. information for customers with life-saving equipment and special 20 needs customers including but not limited to: the unique priority phone 21 number for such customers established pursuant to paragraph (a) of 22 subdivision three of this section, the potential use of backup equipment 23 needed to power life-saving equipment, and the potential facilitation of 24 transportation to the nearest hospital or facility that is capable of 25 powering life-saving equipment. 26 (b) For the duration of an electric service disruption, such electric 27 corporation shall communicate with customers via posts on such corpo- 28 ration's website, e-mail, automated phone call, and if indicated by the 29 customer, text message; and communicate with news media, social media 30 sites, and local elected officials. An electric corporation shall have 31 the capability of conveying such communication in at least one language 32 other than English. Such communication shall include but not be limited 33 to: 34 i. information regarding the ongoing severity of a storm, storm-like 35 electric emergency or system emergency; 36 ii. outage safety precautions, including but not limited to: storm 37 survival without electric power, safety precautions regarding electrical 38 hazards such as downed wires and the use of portable generators; 39 iii. instructions on how to report an outage; 40 iv. updated information regarding the estimated time of restoration, 41 including website links to outage maps updated every thirty minutes; 42 v. notification to customers with life-saving equipment, special needs 43 customers and customers who reported an outage when power has been 44 restored to their area for verification purposes; 45 vi. instructions on how to receive or obtain information regarding an 46 estimated time of restoration; 47 vii. dry ice distribution and power charging locations pursuant to 48 subdivision four of this section; 49 viii. cooling locations, if necessary; 50 ix. the claims process for spoiled food and medication pursuant to 51 subdivision five of this section so that customers are aware of how to 52 document their losses; 53 x. potential information adopted pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding 54 commenced by the commission regarding: a pro-rata discount on the basic 55 service charge, backup generators or temporary lodging accommodations 56 and compensation for customers with life-saving equipment and specialA. 11056 4 1 needs customers, and compensation for lost income or revenue for custom- 2 ers that work from home; and 3 xi. information for customers with life-saving equipment and special 4 needs customers including but not limited to: the unique priority phone 5 number for such customers established pursuant to paragraph (a) of 6 subdivision three of this section, the potential use of backup equipment 7 needed to power life-saving equipment, and the facilitation of transpor- 8 tation to the nearest hospital or facility that is capable of powering 9 life-saving equipment. 10 3. Customers with life-saving equipment and special needs customers. 11 (a) Electric corporations shall establish a unique priority phone number 12 that shall remain in operation every day of the year for customers with 13 life-saving equipment and special needs customers. 14 (b)Information regarding such phone number shall be provided in bill 15 inserts, via e-mail, and posted on electric corporations' websites and 16 shall include reminders for existing customers with life-saving equip- 17 ment and special needs customers to call such number to ensure they are 18 still registered with the electric corporation as a customer with life- 19 saving equipment or a special needs customer. 20 (c) Customers with life-saving equipment and special needs customers 21 shall be able to call such number established by paragraph (a) of this 22 subdivision at any time, including a time preceding or during an elec- 23 tric service disruption to: 24 i. register with an electric corporation so as to be placed on its 25 current list of customers who use life support systems pursuant to 26 subdivision twelve of section sixty-five of this article; 27 ii. receive information or projections regarding the severity of a 28 storm, storm-like electric emergency or system emergency, if applicable; 29 iii. report an outage or receive instructions on how to report an 30 outage; 31 iv. receive updated information regarding the estimated time of resto- 32 ration, including website links to outage maps updated every thirty 33 minutes, if applicable; 34 v. receive outage safety precautions, including but not limited to: 35 storm survival without electric power, safety precautions regarding 36 electrical hazards such as downed wires and the use of portable genera- 37 tors; 38 vi. receive information regarding dry ice distribution and power 39 charging locations pursuant to subdivision four of this section, if 40 applicable; 41 vii. receive information regarding power charging locations, if appli- 42 cable; 43 viii. receive information regarding cooling locations, if necessary 44 and applicable; 45 ix. receive information regarding the claims process for spoiled food 46 and medication pursuant to subdivision five of this section, if applica- 47 ble, so that customers are aware of how to document their losses; 48 x. receive potential information adopted pursuant to a rulemaking 49 proceeding commenced by the commission regarding: a pro-rata discount on 50 the basic service charge, backup generators or temporary lodging accom- 51 modations and compensation for customers with life-saving equipment and 52 special needs customers, and compensation for lost income or revenue for 53 customers that work from home, if applicable; and 54 xi. receive information regarding the facilitation of transportation 55 to the nearest hospital or facility that is capable of powering life- 56 saving equipment, if applicable.A. 11056 5 1 4. Dry ice distribution and power charging stations. (a) In the event 2 a storm, storm-like emergency or system emergency that causes or is 3 projected to cause five thousand or more customers in a county or 4 service area of an electric corporation to lose electric service for 5 twelve hours or more, an electric corporation shall commence the 6 distribution of dry ice and deployment of co-located power charging 7 stations to customers no later than twelve hours following the start of 8 power restoration operations undertaken by such electric corporation. 9 Such distribution shall be pursuant to a rulemaking proceeding commenced 10 by the commission regarding locations for dry ice distribution and power 11 charging locations, if such proceeding has been completed. 12 (b) Prior to a storm, storm-like emergency or system emergency that 13 causes or is projected to cause five thousand or more customers in a 14 county or service area of an electric corporation to lose electric 15 service for twelve hours or more, to the extent practicable based on 16 weather projections, storm classification, and pre-disruption informa- 17 tion regarding the extent of the outage, an electric corporation shall 18 begin the procurement process for dry ice for purposes of distribution 19 to customers during such disruption. 20 5. Reimbursement for spoilage of food and medication. (a) An electric 21 corporation shall reimburse customers for spoilage of food and medica- 22 tion due to lack of refrigeration that is attributable to a loss of 23 electric service because of a storm, storm-like electric emergency or 24 system emergency when such service disruption lasts for a period in 25 excess of twelve hours or when the same customer is subjected to two or 26 more such service disruptions aggregating twelve hours or more within a 27 twenty-four hour period, pursuant to the following: 28 i. For a residential customer with a claim for spoilage of food total- 29 ing two hundred twenty-five dollars or less, the electric corporation 30 shall only be authorized to require an itemized list of such food in 31 order to process such claim; 32 ii. For residential customers with a claim for spoilage of food total- 33 ing two hundred twenty-six dollars or more, the electric corporation 34 shall only be authorized to require an itemized list and documented 35 proof, which may constitute a picture, of a loss of such food in order 36 to process such claim; 37 iii. For a residential customer with a claim for spoilage of medica- 38 tion totaling any amount, the electric corporation shall only be author- 39 ized to require an itemized list and documented proof, which may consti- 40 tute a picture, of loss of such medication in order to process such 41 claim; 42 iv. Residential customers shall be authorized to submit one claim for 43 spoilage of food per week for the duration of the outage. There shall be 44 no limit on the number of claims submitted for spoilage of medication; 45 and 46 v. Upon receipt of such claims, an electric corporation shall facili- 47 tate payment to such customer as soon as possible. 48 (b) Electric corporations shall be required to communicate to custom- 49 ers the claims process for spoiled food and medication established by 50 this section at times preceding and for the duration of an electric 51 service disruption, so that customers are aware of how to document their 52 losses. 53 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section two 54 shall take effect one year after the effective date of this act.
