New York Senate Bill S07567

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 4/22/25
• Refer: 4/22/25
• Refer: 1/7/26

Caption

Provides a reimbursement to small businesses and residential consumers of certain utilities for failure to provide contracted services; requires the Long Island power authority to do the same.

Summary

This bill would create a reimbursement or discount requirement for certain utility customers when contracted service is not provided for at least 48 hours after a disruption caused by equipment failure, weather, a natural disaster, or another service interruption. It applies to residential consumers and qualifying small businesses that receive service from gas, electric, gas and electric, water, steam, or municipally equivalent utility providers under the Public Service Law, and separately extends a similar requirement to the Long Island Power Authority and its service providers under the Public Authorities Law. The bill directs the Department of Public Service, and for the Long Island Power Authority the relevant board, to adopt rules within 180 days to determine how reimbursements will be calculated. The reimbursement must be credited against monthly charges. The bill defines a small business as a New York business that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs 50 or fewer people. It also states that any cost created by the reimbursement requirement may not be passed on to ratepayers.

Impact

The bill would amend the Public Service Law by adding a new section requiring utilities to provide customer credits when service outages persist beyond 48 hours after a qualifying disruption, and it would amend the Public Authorities Law to impose a similar obligation on the Long Island Power Authority. This would create a new statutory consumer protection and potentially affect billing practices, outage compensation policies, and regulatory rulemaking for covered utilities and public authorities. The measure would also require agency rulemaking to establish the reimbursement formula and implementation details.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears consumer-protection oriented and aimed at holding utilities accountable for prolonged service interruptions. There is no recorded committee discussion or vote history provided, so there is no evidence of formal support or opposition in the available record. The bill’s structure suggests a policy preference for customer relief after outages rather than leaving affected consumers and small businesses to absorb the full cost of extended service loss.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is how reimbursement costs would be calculated and whether utilities can absorb them without affecting broader rates, especially given the bill’s explicit statement that costs may not be borne by ratepayers. Utilities and public authorities may also object to the administrative burden of implementing credits after weather events or disasters, while consumer advocates would likely support the automatic reimbursement requirement. Another possible issue is the 48-hour threshold, which may be viewed by some as too long for essential services and by others as too short or too rigid for large-scale emergencies.