STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2589--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 23, 2023
___________
Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring tele-
phone companies to disclose information to subscribers regarding the
backup power solution for their voice service equipment; and providing
for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
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
2 104-b to read as follows:
3 § 104-b. Corporation disclosure obligation concerning backup power
4 solutions. 1. At minimum annually, every regulated telephone corpo-
5 ration which has provided a current subscriber with a backup power
6 solution for a facilities-based, fixed voice service offered as residen-
7 tial service that is not line powered, provided by such corporation,
8 shall provide such subscriber with either a written notice or, if the
9 subscriber has elected, an electronic notice, disclosing the following
10 information:
11 (a) service limitations with and without backup power;
12 (b) purchase and replacement information, including cost;
13 (c) expected backup power duration;
14 (d) proper usage and storage conditions, including the impact on dura-
15 tion of backup power life if failing to adhere to proper usage and stor-
16 age conditions;
17 (e) suggestions on how to maximize backup power during a prolonged
18 power outage; and
19 (f) subscriber backup power self-testing and self-monitoring
20 instructions.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02080-03-3
S. 2589--A 2
1 Such notice shall be sent to the subscriber separately from his or
2 her monthly billing statements or invoice.
3 2.(a) The commission may promulgate rules and regulations adding
4 additional requirements for the content of the disclosure as required in
5 subdivision one of this section.
6 (b) The commission shall further promulgate rules and regulations
7 regarding the form of the written notice in order to promote readability
8 by requiring that the notice:
9 (1) be written in a clear and coherent manner;
10 (2) be written in at least eleven-point font size; and
11 (3) wherever practicable, use words with common and everyday meanings.
12 3. The commission shall establish procedures to assure, to the fullest
13 extent practicable, that residential subscribers receiving fixed voice
14 service from one telephone corporation, but using a backup power
15 solution provided by a different telephone corporation, shall receive
16 the notice required by this section, or a similar notice detailing the
17 information required by this section, from one of the providers.
18 4. The disclosure required by 47 CFR 9.20(d) may satisfy the notice
19 requirement of subdivision one of this section, provided it complies
20 with the commission's rules and regulations regarding format as required
21 by paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this section.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
23 law and shall expire and be deemed repealed September 1, 2025.
