Assembly Bill A1595A

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Increases the penalties imposed upon gas and electric utilities for failure to file or correct an annual report with the public service commission

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Archive: Last Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 07, 2010	ordered to third reading rules cal.63 rules report cal.63 reported
Jun 03, 2010	reported referred to rules
Mar 16, 2010	reported referred to codes
Jan 06, 2010	referred to energy
Jun 17, 2009	amended on third reading 1595a
Feb 19, 2009	advanced to third reading cal.86
Feb 11, 2009	reported
Feb 10, 2009	reported referred to codes
Jan 07, 2009	referred to energy

Bill Amendments

Original

A (Active)

2009-A1595 - Details

Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §66, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A2364
2013-2014: A647

2009-A1595 - Summary

Increases the penalties imposed upon gas and electric utilities for failure to file or correct an annual report with the public service commission; such penalties shall not be more than 1% of the utilities' annual net revenue for each day of violation, but not to exceed $25,000 nor be less than $100.

2009-A1595 - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1595

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. GIANARIS, NOLAN, MARKEY, PHEFFER, DIAZ, BENEDET-
  TO, CAHILL, ROBINSON, ROSENTHAL,  FIELDS,  COOK,  MILLMAN,  JAFFEE  --
  Multi-Sponsored  by  -- M. of A.  BOYLAND, CYMBROWITZ, DESTITO, DINOW-
  ITZ, GOTTFRIED, McENENY, PERRY, REILLY, SAYWARD, SWEENEY, TOWNS, WEIS-
  ENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy

AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to penalties for the
  failure of gas and electric corporations to file or correct an  annual
  report

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 66 of the public service  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  784  of  the  laws  of 1923, is amended to read as
follows:
  6. Require every person and corporation under its supervision  and  it
shall  be the duty of every such person and corporation to file with the
commission an annual report, verified by  the  oath  of  the  president,
vice-president,  treasurer,  secretary, general manager, or receiver, if
any, thereof, or by the person required to file the same. The  verifica-
tion  shall  be  made by said official holding office at the time of the
filing of said report, and if not made upon the knowledge of the  person
verifying  the  same  shall set forth the sources of his information and
the grounds of his belief as to any matters not stated  to  be  verified
upon  his  knowledge.  The report shall show in detail (a) the amount of
its authorized capital stock and the amount thereof issued and outstand-
ing; (b) the amount of its authorized bonded indebtedness and the amount
of its bonds and other forms of  evidence  of  indebtedness  issued  and
outstanding;  (c)  its  receipts  and  expenditures during the preceding
year; (d) the amount paid as dividends upon its stock  and  as  interest
upon  its  bonds; (e) the names of its officers and the aggregate amount
paid as salaries to them and the amount paid as wages to its  employees;

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD03845-01-9

A. 1595                             2

(f)  the  location  of  its  plant  or  plants  and  system, with a full
description of its property and franchises, stating in detail  how  each
franchise  stated  to  be  owned  was acquired; and (g) such other facts
pertaining to the operation and maintenance of the plant and system, and
the  affairs  of  such  person  or corporation as may be required by the
commission. Such reports shall be in the form, cover the period  and  be
filed at the time prescribed by the commission. The commission may, from
time  to  time,  make changes and additions in such forms. When any such
report is defective or believed to be erroneous,  the  commission  shall
notify  the  person,  corporation  or municipality making such report to
amend the same within a time prescribed  by  the  commission.  Any  such
person  or  corporation  or municipality which shall neglect to make any
such report or which shall fail to correct any such  report  within  the
time  prescribed  by  the commission shall be liable to a penalty of NOT
MORE THAN ONE-TENTH OF ONE PERCENT OF THE ANNUAL NET  REVENUES  OF  SUCH
PERSON, CORPORATION OR MUNICIPALITY FOR THE PAST YEAR, BUT NOT LESS THAN
one  hundred  dollars and an additional penalty of [one hundred dollars]
NOT MORE THAN THE SAME AMOUNT for each day after the prescribed time for
which it shall neglect to file or correct the same, to be  sued  for  in
the name of the people of the state of New York. The amount recovered in
any such action shall be paid into the state treasury and be credited to
the  general  fund.  The  commission  may extend the time prescribed for
cause shown.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law. Provided, that the public service commission
is immediately authorized and directed to  take  any  and  all  actions,
including  but  not  limited to the promulgation of any necessary rules,
necessary to fully implement the provisions of this act on its effective
date.

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multi-Sponsors

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2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Details

Law Section:: Public Service Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §66, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: A2364
2013-2014: A647

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:A1595A

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public service law, in relation to
penalties for the failure of gas and electric corporations to file or
correct an annual report

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:  In its January 2007 report, the Assem-
bly Queens Power Outage Task Force recommended several measures to
improve oversight of utilities and prevent future blackouts. This bill
will help ensure compliance with reporting requirements in the Public
Service Law by scaling the penalties for failure to file or correct an
annual report to the size of a regulated entity.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Bill §1 amends subdivision 6 of §66 of the
Public Service Law to increase the penalty for failure of gas and elec-
tric corporations to file an annual report, or a correction to such a
report when required by the Public Service Commission. The penalty
currently fixed at $100 plus $100/day for each additional day that the
violation continues - is essentially meaningless with respect to multi-
billion dollar corporations. The amount of the penalty would be
increased to one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the annual net revenues
of the regulated entity for the past year, with the same penalty amount
applied to continuing days of noncompliance. A maximum penalty of
$25,000 would promote compliance by larger entities, while a $100 plus
$100/day penalty would be retained as a floor to ensure that smaller
entities would still have meaningful incentives to file on a timely

basis.

SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS:  The amendments to Public Service Law §66(6) are
revised to clarify that the statutory penalty is increased to "not more
than" 0.1% of annual net revenues, with a minimum penalty of $100 and a
maximum of $25,000. This will ensure that penalties sought under this
section can be targeted to levels that will effectuate compliance by
larger entities while protecting small businesses against excessively
burdensome penalties,

EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER:  The current minimal
penally for failure to file or correct an annual report would be scaled
to the size of the reporting entity as outlined above.

JUSTIFICATION:  Last summer, the western part of Queens suffered a
massive power outage that lasted 9 days. The Assembly Queens Power
Outage Task Force studied the outage's causes and the inadequate
responses by the company responsible for the transmission and distrib-
ution system, Consolidated Edison, and by the Public Service Commission.
One underlying cause of this debacle was found to be the reliance by New
York's utility regulators on antiquated laws, regulations and policies
that let companies engaged in energy transmission and distribution oper-
ate without effective oversight.

The Task Force found that in many cases the sanctions imposed by the PSC
are neither timely nor meaningful. The $100 penalty in §66 is a perfect

case in point. The amounts that a major utility could be penalized for
being one day -- or even one year late in meeting as deadline would be
well beneath its notice. This bill would bring the penalties in line
with the realities of today's energy markets.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:  A.8623-A ('07-'08): reported to Assembly
Calendar #880 (3rd reading).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:  None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  120th day after enactment; provided that the Public
Service Commission is immediately authorized and directed to promulgate
rules and take other actions needed to fully implement the bill on such
date.

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                 1595--A
                                                         Cal. No. 86

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 7, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GIANARIS, NOLAN, MARKEY, PHEFFER, BENEDETTO,
  CAHILL, ROBINSON, ROSENTHAL, FIELDS, COOK, MILLMAN, JAFFEE  --  Multi-
  Sponsored by -- M. of A. BOYLAND, CYMBROWITZ, DESTITO, DINOWITZ, GOTT-
  FRIED,  McENENY, PERRY, REILLY, SAYWARD, SWEENEY, TOWNS, WEISENBERG --
  read once and referred to the Committee on  Energy  --  reported  from
  committee, advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
  retaining its place on the order of third reading

AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to penalties for the
  failure  of gas and electric corporations to file or correct an annual
  report

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Subdivision 6 of section 66 of the public service law, as
amended by chapter 784 of the laws  of  1923,  is  amended  to  read  as
follows:
  6.  Require  every person and corporation under its supervision and it
shall be the duty of every such person and corporation to file with  the
commission  an  annual  report,  verified  by the oath of the president,
vice-president, treasurer, secretary, general manager, or  receiver,  if
any,  thereof, or by the person required to file the same. The verifica-
tion shall be made by said official holding office at the  time  of  the
filing  of said report, and if not made upon the knowledge of the person
verifying the same shall set forth the sources of  his  information  and
the  grounds  of  his belief as to any matters not stated to be verified
upon his knowledge. The report shall show in detail (a)  the  amount  of
its authorized capital stock and the amount thereof issued and outstand-
ing; (b) the amount of its authorized bonded indebtedness and the amount
of  its  bonds  and  other  forms of evidence of indebtedness issued and
outstanding; (c) its receipts  and  expenditures  during  the  preceding
year;  (d)  the  amount paid as dividends upon its stock and as interest

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03845-02-9

A. 1595--A                          2

upon its bonds; (e) the names of its officers and the  aggregate  amount
paid  as salaries to them and the amount paid as wages to its employees;
(f) the location of  its  plant  or  plants  and  system,  with  a  full
description  of  its property and franchises, stating in detail how each
franchise stated to be owned was acquired;  and  (g)  such  other  facts
pertaining to the operation and maintenance of the plant and system, and
the  affairs  of  such  person  or corporation as may be required by the
commission. Such reports shall be in the form, cover the period  and  be
filed at the time prescribed by the commission. The commission may, from
time  to  time,  make changes and additions in such forms. When any such
report is defective or believed to be erroneous,  the  commission  shall
notify  the  person,  corporation  or municipality making such report to
amend the same within a time prescribed  by  the  commission.  Any  such
person  or  corporation  or municipality which shall neglect to make any
such report or which shall fail to correct any such  report  within  the
time  prescribed  by  the commission shall be liable to a penalty of NOT
MORE THAN ONE-TENTH OF ONE PERCENT OF THE ANNUAL NET  REVENUES  OF  SUCH
PERSON, CORPORATION OR MUNICIPALITY FOR THE PAST YEAR, BUT NOT MORE THAN
TWENTY-FIVE  THOUSAND  DOLLARS  NOR LESS THAN one hundred dollars and an
additional penalty of [one hundred  dollars]  NOT  MORE  THAN  THE  SAME
AMOUNT for each day after the prescribed time for which it shall neglect
to file or correct the same, to be sued for in the name of the people of
the  state of New York. The amount recovered in any such action shall be
paid into the state treasury and be credited to the  general  fund.  The
commission may extend the time prescribed for cause shown.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law. Provided, that the public service commission
is  immediately  authorized  and  directed  to take any and all actions,
including but not limited to the promulgation of  any  necessary  rules,
necessary to fully implement the provisions of this act on its effective
date.

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Assembly Bill A1595A

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Actions

Bill Amendments

2009-A1595 - Details

2009-A1595 - Summary

2009-A1595 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

multi-Sponsors

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

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Sponsored By

GIANARIS

Archive: Last Bill Status - On Floor Calendar

Actions

Bill Amendments

2009-A1595 - Details

2009-A1595 - Summary

2009-A1595 - Bill Text download pdf

co-Sponsors

Catherine Nolan

Margaret Markey

Audrey Pheffer

Michael Benedetto

multi-Sponsors

William Boyland

Steven Cymbrowitz

RoAnn Destito

Jeffrey Dinowitz

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Details

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Summary

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2009-A1595A (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments