Bill Text: NY S05085 | 2011-2012 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of labor, in consultation with the public service commission, to conduct a study and report on current trends in the workforce that supports the generation and transmission of power in the utility industry; authorizes additional studies and reports upon rates hikes, complaints by third parties or upon identification of a shortage.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-21 - COMMITTED TO RULES [S05085 Detail]

Download: New_York-2011-S05085-Introduced.html

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                           S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
       ________________________________________________________________________
                                         5085
                              2011-2012 Regular Sessions
                                   I N  S E N A T E
                                      May 3, 2011
                                      ___________
       Introduced  by  Sen. MAZIARZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
         printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
         cations
       AN  ACT  directing a study and report on current trends in the workforce
         that supports the generation and transmission of power in the  utility
         industry
         THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
       BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
    1    Section 1. 1. The commissioner of labor,  in  consultation  with,  and
    2  using  data  collected  by, the public service commission, shall monitor
    3  trends in the workforce of:
    4    (a) personnel that support the generation  of  power  in  the  utility
    5  industry; and
    6    (b)  personnel  that  support the transmission of power in the utility
    7  industry.
    8    2. Not later than one year after the effective date of this  act,  the
    9  commissioner  of  labor  shall  submit  to  the  legislature a report on
   10  current trends under subdivision one of this section,  with  recommenda-
   11  tions  to  meet the future labor requirements for the energy industries.
   12  The commissioner of labor shall have the  authority  to  commence  addi-
   13  tional  studies when (a) a utility initiates a rate hike request; or (b)
   14  a complaint is brought by a third party. The  scope  of  any  additional
   15  study  can be broadened to include all utilities in the state or limited
   16  to the evaluation to just one utility.
   17    3. As soon as practicable after the date on which the commissioner  of
   18  labor  identifies  or  predicts  a significant shortage in this state of
   19  personnel in one or more energy sectors, the commissioner of labor shall
   20  submit to the legislature a report describing the  shortage,  after  the
   21  data  review  committee,  appointed pursuant to subdivision four of this
   22  section has reviewed and provided input on the report.  The commissioner
   23  of labor shall have broad authority  to  require  utilities  to  provide
        EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                             [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                  LBD11351-01-1
       S. 5085                             2
    1  documents  and  reports  regarding their staffing practices. The commis-
    2  sioner of labor shall have the authority to seek the following types  of
    3  information, including but not limited to:
    4    (a) staffing-related service quality data;
    5    (b) current staffing levels;
    6    (c) recruitment and hiring plans;
    7    (d) anticipated retirements;
    8    (e) anticipated skills set needs;
    9    (f) retention plans;
   10    (g) succession plans; and
   11    (h) efforts to capture knowledge from retiring personnel.
   12    4.  The commissioner of labor shall evaluate the data with the assist-
   13  ance of experts  in  human  resources,  corporate  management,  internal
   14  controls  and  business/planning policies, and forecasting and planning.
   15  The commissioner of labor shall benefit by being informed by  all  enti-
   16  ties  with  interests  in,  and relevant information concerning, utility
   17  staffing issues. The commissioner of labor  shall  form  a  data  review
   18  committee  and  shall appoint one member each from the following consti-
   19  tuencies to serve for terms of 2 years:
   20    (a) a regulated utility;
   21    (b) a labor representative;
   22    (c) a state ratepayer advocate organization;
   23    (d) an industrial customer or other large user; and
   24    (e) the public service commission.
   25    S 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
   26  have become a law.