Relates to the contents of emergency response plans required to be submitted to the public service commission by electric corporations; requires such plans to include details of staffing, equipment, and ability to perform toward certain standards.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10955
IN ASSEMBLY
August 19, 2020
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Otis,
Abinanti, Galef, Buchwald, Sayegh, McDonald, Pretlow) -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to the contents of
emergency response plans required to be submitted to the public
service commission by electric corporations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 21 of section 66 of the public
2 service law, as added by section 4 of part X of chapter 57 of the laws
3 of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Each electric corporation subject to section twenty-five-a of this
5 chapter shall annually, on or before December fifteenth, submit to the
6 commission an emergency response plan for review and approval. The emer-
7 gency response plan shall be designed for the reasonably prompt restora-
8 tion of service in the case of an emergency event, defined for purposes
9 of this subdivision as an event where widespread outages have occurred
10 in the service territory of the company due to storms or other causes
11 beyond the control of the company. Plans should include details of
12 staffing, equipment and ability to perform towards the following stand-
13 ard: the goal of full restoration of service to all customers within
14 forty-eight hours, the requirement of restoration to eighty percent of
15 customers having lost power within forty-eight hours, and efforts to
16 restore remaining customers to the greatest extent feasible in a timely
17 and safe manner. The emergency response plan shall include, but need not
18 be limited to, the following: (i) the identification of management staff
19 responsible for company operations during an emergency; (ii) a communi-
20 cations system with customers during an emergency that extends beyond
21 normal business hours and business conditions; (iii) identification of
22 and outreach plans to customers who had documented their need for essen-
23 tial electricity for medical needs; (iv) identification of and outreach
24 plans to customers who had documented their need for essential electric-
25 ity to provide critical telecommunications, critical transportation,
26 critical fuel distribution services or other large-load customers iden-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01657-01-9
A. 10955 2
1 tified by the commission; (v) designation of company staff to communi-
2 cate with local officials and appropriate regulatory agencies; (vi)
3 provisions regarding how the company will assure the safety of its
4 employees and contractors; (vii) procedures for deploying company and
5 mutual aid crews to work assignment areas; (viii) identification of
6 additional supplies and equipment needed during an emergency; (ix) the
7 means of obtaining additional supplies and equipment; (x) procedures to
8 practice the emergency response plan; (xi) appropriate safety precau-
9 tions regarding electrical hazards, including plans to promptly secure
10 downed wires within thirty-six hours of notification of the location of
11 such downed wires from a municipal emergency official; and (xii) such
12 other additional information as the commission may require. Each such
13 corporation shall, on an annual basis, undertake drills implementing
14 procedures to practice its emergency management plan. The commission may
15 adopt additional requirements consistent with ensuring the reasonably
16 prompt restoration of service in the case of an emergency event.
17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
