New York Senate Bill S07568

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

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

Caption

Requires electric companies to provide alternative measures to ensure customers with documented need for essential electricity for medical needs have access to electricity during power outages; requires electric companies to provide generators or lodging for such individuals and transportation for medical devices.

Summary

S07568 would amend the Public Service Law and the Public Authorities Law to expand utility emergency planning for customers who have a documented medical need for essential electricity. The bill requires electric companies and relevant service providers to include in their outreach and emergency response plans specific alternative measures for customers whose power cannot be adequately restored during an outage. Those measures must include, at a minimum, providing electric generators or lodging for the affected individual, and transportation for necessary medical devices as needed. The bill focuses on customers who rely on electricity for medical equipment such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, suction machines, feeding machines, dialysis machines, and infant apnea monitors. It also states that any costs incurred by an electric company in providing these alternative measures may not be passed on to ratepayers. The measure would take effect immediately and applies to both utility companies and the emergency response planning requirements of the public authority service provider framework.

Impact

This bill would change existing utility emergency planning requirements by making alternative accommodations mandatory for medically vulnerable customers during outages, rather than limiting utilities to identification and outreach. It would amend section 66 of the Public Service Law and section 1020-f of the Public Authorities Law, adding explicit obligations for generators, lodging, and transportation of medical devices. The bill also shifts the financial burden of these accommodations away from ratepayers by prohibiting utilities from recovering those costs through customer rates.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript or vote history, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge support or opposition. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears oriented toward protecting public health and continuity of care for customers with serious medical needs during outages, which suggests a consumer- and patient-protection rationale. No formal sentiment can be inferred beyond the bill’s clear emphasis on emergency preparedness and medical safety.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is cost allocation: the bill requires utilities to provide generators, lodging, and medical-device transportation, while also barring those costs from being borne by ratepayers. That could raise questions about who ultimately pays and how utilities would implement the mandate. Another possible issue is operational feasibility, including how utilities would identify eligible customers quickly, arrange lodging or generators during widespread outages, and coordinate transport of medical equipment in emergency conditions.