New York Assembly Bill A04713

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/4/25
• Report Pass: 5/28/25
• Refer: 5/28/25
• Report Pass: 6/5/25
• Refer: 6/5/25
• Report Pass: 6/13/25
• Refer: 6/13/25

Caption

Requires utility companies maintain a toll free number for consumers to call to report service outages which shall be made available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Summary

A04713 would require certain utility and utility-like service providers in New York to maintain a toll-free phone number for reporting service outages. The bill applies to gas, electric, gas-and-electric, water, and steam corporations, as well as municipalities providing equivalent utility services, and separately to cable television and internet service providers. The number must be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have the capacity to handle high call volume during emergencies or extreme weather. Providers must also display the number prominently on their websites and on the first page of customer bills. The bill creates a new statutory requirement in the Public Service Law, Public Authorities Law, and General Business Law, and makes noncompliance subject to existing penalties under section 25 of the Public Service Law. For municipalities, the bill allows a petition for exemption if the requirement would be unduly burdensome. The measure would take effect 90 days after becoming law.

Impact

If enacted, the bill would add new outage-reporting obligations across multiple sectors of utility regulation in New York, expanding consumer-facing service standards for both traditional utilities and cable/internet providers. It would amend the Public Service Law, Public Authorities Law, and General Business Law to require toll-free outage hotlines, public posting requirements, and emergency call-capacity expectations, while tying violations to existing enforcement penalties. Municipal utility providers would have a limited path to seek exemption based on burden.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests generally favorable support for the bill as it moved through Assembly committees, with strong majority votes at each stage. The committee pattern indicates broad agreement that consumers should have a reliable, accessible way to report outages, especially during emergencies. No committee transcript is available, so the record reflects support more than detailed debate.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to be the operational and financial burden on providers, especially municipalities, smaller utilities, and service providers that may need to upgrade staffing and call-handling capacity to comply. That concern is reflected in the bill’s exemption process for municipalities claiming undue burden. The no votes in committee suggest some members may have questioned the mandate’s cost, feasibility, or regulatory reach, particularly as it extends to cable and internet providers in addition to traditional utilities.