NY S00968

Service providers must submit emergency response plans annually to the Public Service Commission by December 15th for review and approval.

Emergency response plans must include management staff identification, customer communications systems, outreach to customers with medical or critical infrastructure needs, employee safety provisions, mutual aid crew deployment procedures, equipment and supply sourcing, and procedures to secure downed wires within 36 hours.

The Public Service Commission may require amendments to plans, open investigations into plan sufficiency, and deny recovery of service restoration costs if a provider fails to reasonably implement its emergency response plan or causes materially longer outages.

Service providers must conduct annual drills to practice emergency response procedures with notification to and participation of municipal emergency responders and officials.

The Commission shall certify each provider's emergency response plan to the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and provide access to plans under the Public Officers Law; plans must be filed with county executives of Nassau and Suffolk counties and the mayor of New York City.