NY A11056

Requires Public Service Commission to establish minimum customer rights standards for electric corporations during service disruptions lasting 12+ hours, including refunds/discounts on basic service charges, backup generators or temporary lodging for customers with life-saving equipment, and compensation for lost work-from-home income.

Mandates electric corporations establish a year-round priority phone number for customers with life-saving equipment and special needs customers to access information about outages, restoration times, and available resources before, during, and after service disruptions.

Requires electric corporations to distribute dry ice and deploy co-located power charging stations within 12 hours of restoration operations beginning for outages affecting 5,000+ customers, with stations placed within one-quarter mile for cities with 1 million+ residents.

Establishes reimbursement requirements for customers' spoiled food and medication due to outages exceeding 12 hours, with claims under $225 requiring only itemized lists and claims over $225 requiring documented proof; allows one food claim per week and unlimited medication claims.

Mandates pre-outage and ongoing customer communications via website, email, phone, text, and news media in at least one non-English language, including storm severity, safety precautions, restoration updates, and information about available assistance programs.