Assembly Bill A7541

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7541
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 13, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. OTIS, ABINANTI, BURDICK, GALEF, PAULIN, ROZIC,
   SAYEGH, SEAWRIGHT, THIELE, ZEBROWSKI -- 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:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 21 of section 66 of the public
 service law, as added by section 4 of part X of chapter 57 of  the  laws
 of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   (a) Each electric corporation subject to section twenty-five-a of this
 chapter  shall  annually, on or before December fifteenth, submit to the
 commission an emergency response plan for review and approval. The emer-
 gency response plan shall be designed for the reasonably prompt restora-
 tion of service in the case of an emergency event, defined for  purposes
 of  this  subdivision as an event where widespread outages have occurred
 in the service territory of the company due to storms  or  other  causes
 beyond the control of the company. TO SUPPORT REASONABLY PROMPT RESTORA-
 TION  OF  SERVICE  IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY EVENT, EMERGENCY RESPONSE
 PLANS SHOULD INCLUDE DETAILS OF STAFFING, EQUIPMENT  AND  A  PERFORMANCE
 SCHEDULE  WITH THE GOAL OF ACHIEVING RESTORATION OF SERVICE BASED UPON A
 TIME-BASED RESTORATION SCHEDULE ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSION. IN ESTAB-
 LISHING SUCH TIME-BASED RESTORATION  SCHEDULES,  THE  COMMISSION  SHOULD
 UTILIZE BENCHMARKS FOR THE RESTORATION OF SERVICE WHICH INCLUDE, BUT ARE
 NOT  LIMITED  TO, THE PERCENTAGE OF CUSTOMERS RESTORED WITHIN EACH TWEN-
 TY-FOUR-HOUR INTERVAL FOLLOWING THE STORM AND CONSIDERATION OF DIFFERENT
 KINDS OF STORM EVENTS. The emergency response plan  shall  include,  but
 need not be limited to, the following: (i) the identification of manage-
 ment  staff responsible for company operations during an emergency; (ii)
 a communications system with customers during an emergency that  extends
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11344-01-1

 A. 7541                             2
 
 beyond  normal business hours and business conditions; (iii) identifica-
 tion of and outreach plans to customers who had  documented  their  need
 for  essential electricity for medical needs; (iv) identification of and
 outreach  plans to customers who had documented their need for essential
 electricity to provide critical telecommunications, critical transporta-
 tion, critical fuel distribution services or other large-load  customers
 identified by the commission; (v) designation of company staff to commu-
 nicate  with  local  officials and appropriate regulatory agencies; (vi)
 provisions regarding how the company  will  assure  the  safety  of  its
 employees  and  contractors;  (vii) procedures for deploying company and
 mutual aid crews to work  assignment  areas;  (viii)  identification  of
 additional  supplies  and equipment needed during an emergency; (ix) the
 means of obtaining additional supplies and equipment; (x) procedures  to
 practice  the  emergency  response plan; (xi) appropriate safety precau-
 tions regarding electrical hazards, including plans to  promptly  secure
 downed  wires within thirty-six hours of notification of the location of
 such downed wires from a municipal emergency official;  and  (xii)  such
 other  additional  information  as the commission may require. Each such
 corporation shall, on an annual  basis,  undertake  drills  implementing
 procedures to practice its emergency management plan. The commission may
 adopt  additional  requirements  consistent with ensuring the reasonably
 prompt restoration of service in the case of an emergency event.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.