S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7441--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 25, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. THOMAS, PALUMBO, SANDERS -- read twice and ordered
   printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investi-
   gations  and  Government  Operations  --  committee  discharged,  bill
   amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
   tee

 AN ACT to amend the legislative law,  in  relation  to  the  legislative
   commission on the future of the Long Island Power Authority
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 10, 11, and  12  of  section  83-n  of  the
 legislative  law,  as added by section 1 of part JJ of chapter 55 of the
 laws of 2022, are amended to read as follows:
   1. The legislature hereby finds and declares that chapter 517  of  the
 laws  of  1986  created  the  Long  Island  Power Authority (LIPA). Said
 authority was created, in part, because  the  decisions  by  LILCO,  the
 private  utility  that  provided  electricity to Long Island and part of
 Queens, "to commence construction of the Shoreham  nuclear  power  plant
 and  thereafter  to continue such construction were imprudent". Further,
 the legislature found in chapter 517 of the laws of 1986 that  "a  situ-
 ation  threatening  the economy, health and safety exists in the service
 area". One of the two express purposes of the act was the closure of the
 Shoreham nuclear power plant. In 1992, LIPA bought the Shoreham  nuclear
 power plant. The plant was fully decommissioned in 1994.
   The  second  purpose  of  such chapter 517 was to replace LILCO with a
 publicly owned power authority. The legislature found that "There  is  a
 lack  of  confidence that the needs of the residents and of commerce and
 industry in the service area for electricity can be supplied in a  reli-
 able,  efficient and economic manner by the Long Island lighting company
 (hereinafter referred to as "LILCO")" and "Such matters of state concern
 best can be dealt with by replacing such investor owned utility  with  a
 publicly owned power authority."
   In  1995,  LIPA replaced LILCO as the electric company for its service
 area. However, LIPA was never established  as  a  true  "publicly  owned
 power  authority"  as  originally  envisioned  by the State Legislature.
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11537-02-3
 S. 7441--A                          2
 
 Rather, since 1995, LIPA has opted for a  third-party  management  model
 whereby  LIPA  contracts  its  responsibility to manage the utility to a
 private, investor owned utility company.
   LIPA is the only utility in the nation that is operated under a third-
 party  management model. This model has repeatedly failed its customers.
 There has been a lack of transparency,  oversight,  and  accountability.
 This  failure  has  been most dramatically evidenced in the unacceptable
 storm response by LIPA and its third-party contractors during Superstorm
 Sandy in 2012 and Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020.
   After more than 25 years of unsatisfactory management under the third-
 party management model, a better alternative must be implemented.   That
 inquiry  must  begin with the original intent of chapter 517 of the laws
 of 1986, whereby LIPA was to directly manage and operate the utility  as
 a  true public power utility. Initial investigations by LIPA after Trop-
 ical Storm Isaias in 2020-2021 indicate that both ratepayer savings  and
 increased  management  efficiencies could be achieved through the public
 power model.
   Consequently, it is the purpose  of  this  section  to  implement  the
 original vision for LIPA intended by chapter 517 of the laws of 1986, as
 a publicly owned power company. The legislature hereby creates a commis-
 sion  to provide the legislature with the specific actions, legislation,
 and timeline necessary to restructure LIPA into a  true  publicly  owned
 power authority. The public must participate in that process so that the
 new  LIPA  becomes transparent with proper oversight and accountability.
 The legislative commission shall submit its final report to the legisla-
 ture no later than [April first] NOVEMBER THIRTIETH, two thousand  twen-
 ty-three.
   10. No later than [December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-two] MAY
 FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-THREE,  the commission shall issue a draft
 report to the members of the legislature regarding the establishment  of
 a public power model for the Long Island Power Authority. The commission
 shall  hold  at least one public hearing with a public comment period in
 each of the counties comprising the service  area  of  the  Long  Island
 Power  Authority  on the draft report no later than [February fifteenth]
 OCTOBER FIRST, two thousand twenty-three  and  before  issuing  a  final
 report.
   11.  [No  later than February first, two thousand twenty-three] WITHIN
 THIRTY DAYS OF THE ISSUANCE OF THE COMMISSION'S DRAFT REPORT, the  comp-
 troller  shall  have the discretion to review the draft report and issue
 to  the  legislature  any  recommendations  relative  to  the   findings
 contained  in  the  draft report which relates to the establishment of a
 public power model for the Long Island Power Authority.
   12. No later than [April first] NOVEMBER THIRTIETH, two thousand twen-
 ty-three, the commission shall issue a final report to  the  members  of
 the  legislature regarding the establishment of a public power model for
 the Long Island Power Authority. Such report shall  provide  any  legis-
 lation required to implement the public power model.
   §  2.  Severability.  If  any provision of this act or the application
 thereof shall for any reason be  adjudged  by  any  court  of  competent
 jurisdiction  to  be  invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or
 invalidate the remainder of this act, but shall be confined in its oper-
 ation to the provision thereof directly involved in the  controversy  in
 which the judgment shall have been rendered.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.