New York Senate Bill S05181

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/19/25
• Refer: 2/19/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Provides that each electric corporation shall establish a unique priority phone number that shall remain in operation every day of the year for customers who have documented their need for essential electricity for medical needs; makes related provisions.

Summary

This bill would require every electric corporation in New York to create and maintain a dedicated priority phone number, available every day of the year, for customers who have documented medical need for essential electricity. Utilities would have to publicize that number through bill inserts, email, and their websites, and provide information to help existing customers confirm or renew their registration as medically dependent customers. The bill also expands the services available through that priority line. Customers could use it before or during an outage to register their medical need, get storm and emergency information, report outages, learn estimated restoration times, access safety guidance, find dry ice, charging sites, and cooling centers, and obtain information about claims for spoiled food or medication. It also contemplates future commission rulemaking on restoration prioritization, backup generators, lodging compensation, and transportation to a hospital or facility that can power life-saving equipment.

Impact

The bill would amend section 66 of the Public Service Law by adding new requirements for electric corporations serving customers with documented medical need for essential electricity. It creates a new utility customer-service obligation, mandates notice and outreach, and requires utilities to provide specialized outage and emergency information to a defined class of vulnerable customers. The measure would not directly alter rate-setting or general outage rules, but it would impose new operational and communication duties on electric utilities and potentially interact with Public Service Commission emergency-response policies and future rulemakings.

Sentiment

The available context shows no recorded committee debate or votes, so there is no documented opposition or support in the materials provided. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to be framed as a consumer-protection and public-safety bill aimed at helping medically vulnerable customers maintain access to critical electric service and emergency information during outages. The overall tone of the proposal is protective and service-oriented rather than controversial.

Contention

No specific points of contention are reflected in the provided transcripts or voting history. Potential areas of debate, if the bill advances, could include the administrative burden on utilities, how customers document medical need, privacy concerns around medical registration, and whether the bill should require additional guarantees such as restoration priority, backup power, or compensation. The text itself signals that some of those issues may be addressed later through commission rulemaking rather than directly in the statute.