N.Y. PBS Law § 73 — New York Code / Act PBS / Article 4 / Section 73
Compensation to customers experiencing widespread prolonged outages
Status: in_force

§ 73. Compensation to customers experiencing widespread prolonged\noutages. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event\nthat a residential utility customer or a small business customer\nexperiences a widespread prolonged outage lasting at least seventy-two\nconsecutive hours or more without having been resolved by the utility\ncompany, the utility company shall:\n  (a) Provide a credit of twenty-five dollars on the balance of such\nresidential utility customer's account for each subsequent twenty-four\nhour period of service outage that occurs for such customers for more\nthan seventy-two consecutive hours after the occurrence of such\nwidespread prolonged outage.\n  (b) Provide reimbursement of any food spoiled due to lack of\nrefrigeration. Residential utility customers shall provide the utility\ncompany an itemized list of all food spoiled or proof of loss of food\nspoiled within fourteen days of the outage. The utility company shall\nreimburse the customer within thirty days of the receipt of the itemized\nlist or proof of loss, provided, however, that if the utility company\nhas applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this section,\nsuch utility company shall reimburse the customer within a time period\nto be determined by the commission after the commission renders a\ndecision on the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall\nnot exceed a total of two hundred thirty-five dollars for customers who\nprovide an itemized list. The amount of the reimbursement for customers\nwho provide proof of loss shall not exceed five hundred forty dollars.\n  (c) Provide reimbursement of prescription medication spoiled due to\nlack of refrigeration. Residential utility customers shall provide the\nutility company with an itemized list and proof of loss of prescription\nmedication due to lack of refrigeration within fourteen days of the\noutage. The utility company shall reimburse the customer within thirty\ndays of the receipt of the itemized list and proof of loss of\nprescription medication, provided, however, that if the utility company\nhas applied for a waiver pursuant to subdivision three of this section,\nsuch utility company shall reimburse the customer within a time period\nto be determined by the commission after the commission renders a\ndecision on the waiver request. The amount of the reimbursement shall\ntotal no more than the actual loss of perishable prescription medicine.\n  (d) Provide reimbursement to small business customers for any food\nspoiled due to lack of refrigeration. Small business customers shall\nprovide the utility company with an itemized list for all food spoiled\nand proof of loss within fourteen days of the outage. The utility\ncompany shall reimburse the small business customer within thirty days\nof the receipt of the itemized list and proof of loss, provided,\nhowever, that if the utility company has applied for a waiver pursuant\nto subdivision three of this section, such utility company shall\nreimburse the small business customer within a time period to be\ndetermined by the commission after the commission renders a decision on\nthe waiver request. The amount of their imbursement shall not exceed\nfive hundred forty dollars.\n  2. Any costs incurred by a utility company pursuant to this section\nshall not be recoverable from ratepayers.\n  3. Not later than fourteen calendar days after the occurrence of a\nwidespread prolonged outage, a utility company may petition the\ncommission for a waiver of the requirements of this section. The company\nshall have the burden of demonstrating that granting the waiver is fair,\nreasonable and in the public interest. In determining whether to grant\nsuch waiver, the commission shall consider: (a) whether the company\ncomplied with their submitted emergency response plan pursuant to the\nprovisions of subdivision twenty-one of section sixty-six of this\narticle; (b) whether any actions or omissions of the company contributed\nto the prolonging of the widespread prolonged outage; (c) the hardships\nendured by said company's customers due to the widespread prolonged\noutage; (d) the severity of the widespread prolonged outage; (e)\nconditions on the ground during the widespread prolonged outage and the\nsubsequent restoration; (f) balancing of the equities; and (g) any other\ncriteria the commission deems in the public interest to consider. The\ncommission shall issue a final decision regarding the grant of the\nrequested waiver no later than forty-five days after submission of the\npetition.\n  4. The commission shall promulgate procedures, standards,\nmethodologies and rules necessary to implement the provisions of this\nsection. Such rules and regulations shall define the terms "widespread\nprolonged outage", "small business customer" and "proof of loss".\n