Do you support this bill?

Senate Bill S8865

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires utilities to notify property owners prior to beginning certain services

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Energy And Telecommunications Committee

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

2025-S8865 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Energy And Telecommunications
Law Section:
Public Service Law
Laws Affected:
Add §119-f, Pub Serv L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
S5918

2025-S8865 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires utilities to notify property owners prior to beginning any non-emergency construction or other work that may interfere with a property owner's ability to use, or access such owner's property; requires notice to include, but not limited to, a description of the work to be performed, the expected duration of such work, the location of such work, any road closures or detours that may occur due to such work, any action that may directly and materially impact the use of such property, and the contact information for the utility performing such work; provides notice may include electronic communications, signage, and written materials; exempts cases where a natural or man-made disaster or state of emergency occurs.

2025-S8865 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8865 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8865
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 12, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
   cations
 
 AN  ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring corpo-
   rations and municipalities to notify property owners prior  to  begin-
   ning certain services

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a  new  section
 119-f to read as follows:
   § 119-F. NOTIFICATION OF WORK. 1. PRIOR TO BEGINNING ANY NON-EMERGENCY
 CONSTRUCTION  OR  OTHER  WORK FOR WHICH A UTILITY HAS A VALID PERMIT AND
 WHICH THE UTILITY  REASONABLY  BELIEVES  WILL  DIRECTLY  AND  MATERIALLY
 IMPACT THE USE OF RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL OR OTHER PROPERTY, SUCH UTILI-
 TY  SHALL PROVIDE NOTICE OF SUCH WORK. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE
 TERM "UTILITY" SHALL INCLUDE: A  GAS  CORPORATION,  AN  ELECTRIC  CORPO-
 RATION,  A  GAS  AND  ELECTRIC CORPORATION, A WATER CORPORATION, A STEAM
 CORPORATION, A TELEGRAPH CORPORATION, A TELEPHONE CORPORATION OR A MUNI-
 CIPALITY RENDERING EQUIVALENT UTILITY SERVICES.  SUCH  NOTICE  SHALL  BE
 PROVIDED  TO  CUSTOMERS THE UTILITY REASONABLY BELIEVES WILL BE DIRECTLY
 AND MATERIALLY IMPACTED BY SUCH WORK.
   2. SUCH NOTICE SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, A DESCRIPTION  OF
 THE  WORK  TO  BE  PERFORMED,  THE  EXPECTED  DURATION OF SUCH WORK, THE
 LOCATION OF SUCH WORK, ANY ROAD CLOSURES OR DETOURS THAT MAY  OCCUR  DUE
 TO SUCH WORK, ANY ACTION THAT MAY DIRECTLY AND MATERIALLY IMPACT THE USE
 OF SUCH PROPERTY, AND THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR THE UTILITY PERFORMING
 SUCH  WORK.  SUCH NOTICE MAY INCLUDE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS, SIGNAGE,
 AND WRITTEN MATERIALS.
   3. SUCH NOTICE SHALL BE GIVEN AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS PRACTICABLE  BEFORE
 THE  START OF WORK BUT NOT MORE THAN THIRTY DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THE START
 OF SUCH WORK.
   4. THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION SHALL NOT APPLY IN  THE  CASE  OF  A
 NATURAL  OR  MAN-MADE DISASTER OR STATE OF EMERGENCY PURSUANT TO ARTICLE
 TWO-B OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW, OR WHERE THE NEED  TO  PROVIDE  SUCH  NOTICE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.