STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8372 IN SENATE January 24, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni- cations AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to utility interve- nor reimbursement; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the utility intervenor account The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 2 24-c to read as follows: 3 § 24-c. Utility intervenor reimbursement. 1. As used in this 4 section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 (a) "Compensation" means payment from the utility intervenor account 6 fund established by section ninety-seven-uuuu of the state finance law, 7 for all or part, as determined by the department, of reasonable advo- 8 cate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs 9 for preparation and participation in a proceeding. 10 (b) "Participant" means a group of persons that apply jointly for an 11 award of compensation under this section and who represent the interests 12 of a significant number of residential or small business customers, or a 13 not-for-profit organization in this state authorized pursuant to its 14 articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of resi- 15 dential or small business utility customers. For purposes of this 16 section, a participant does not include a non-profit organization or 17 other organization whose principal interests are the welfare of a public 18 utility or its investors or employees, or the welfare of one or more 19 businesses or industries which receive utility service ordinarily and 20 primarily for use in connection with the profit-seeking manufacture, 21 sale, or distribution of goods or services. 22 (c) "Other reasonable costs" means reasonable out-of-pocket expenses 23 directly incurred by a participant that are directly related to the 24 contentions or recommendations made by the participant that resulted in 25 a substantial contribution. 26 (d) "Party" means any interested party, respondent public utility, or 27 commission staff in a hearing or proceeding. 28 (e) "Proceeding" means a complaint, or investigation, rulemaking, or 29 other formal proceeding before the commission, or alternative dispute EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02365-01-3S. 8372 2 1 resolution procedures in lieu of formal proceedings as may be sponsored 2 or endorsed by the commission, provided however such proceedings shall 3 be limited to those arising under and proceeding pursuant to the follow- 4 ing articles of this chapter: (1) the regulation of the price of gas and 5 electricity, pursuant to article four of this chapter except those 6 described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision twelve of 7 section sixty-six of this chapter; (2) the regulation of the price of 8 steam, pursuant to article four-A of this chapter; (3) the submetering, 9 remetering or resale of electricity to residential premises, pursuant to 10 sections sixty-five and sixty-six of this chapter, and pursuant to regu- 11 lations regarding the submetering, remetering, or resale of electricity 12 adopted by the commission; and (4) such sections of this chapter as are 13 applicable to a proceeding in which the commission makes a finding on 14 the record that the public interest requires the reimbursement of utili- 15 ty intervenor fees pursuant to this section. 16 (f) "Significant financial hardship" means that the participant will 17 be unable to afford, without undue hardship, to pay the costs of effec- 18 tive participation, including advocate's fees, expert witness fees, and 19 other reasonable costs of participation. 20 (g) "Small business" means a business with a gross annual revenue of 21 two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less. 22 (h) "Substantial contribution" means that, in the judgment of the 23 department, the participant's application may substantially assist the 24 commission in making its decision because the decision may adopt in 25 whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or 26 specific policy or procedural recommendations that will be presented by 27 the participant. 28 2. A participant may apply for an award of compensation under this 29 section in a proceeding in which such participant has sought active 30 party status as defined by the department. The department shall deter- 31 mine appropriate procedures for accepting and responding to such appli- 32 cations. At the time of application, such participant shall serve on 33 every party to the proceeding notice of intent to apply for an award of 34 compensation. 35 An application shall include: 36 (a) A statement of the nature and extent and the factual and legal 37 basis of the participant's planned participation in the proceeding as 38 far as it is possible to describe such participation with reasonable 39 specificity at the time the application is filed. 40 (b) At minimum, a reasonably detailed description of anticipated advo- 41 cates and expert witness fees and other costs of preparation and partic- 42 ipation that the participant expects to request as compensation. 43 (c) If participation or intervention will impose a significant finan- 44 cial hardship and the participant seeks payment in advance to an award 45 of compensation in order to initiate, continue or complete participation 46 in the hearing or proceeding, such participant must include evidence of 47 such significant financial hardship in its application. 48 (d) Any other requirements as required by the department. 49 3. (a) Within thirty days after the filing of an application the 50 department shall issue a decision that determines whether or not the 51 participant may make a substantial contribution to the final decision in 52 the hearing or proceeding. If the department finds that the participant 53 requesting compensation may make a substantial contribution, the depart- 54 ment shall describe this substantial contribution and determine the 55 amount of compensation to be paid pursuant to subdivision four of this 56 section.S. 8372 3 1 (b) Notwithstanding subdivision four of this section, if the depart- 2 ment finds that the participant has a significant financial hardship, 3 the department may direct the public utility or utilities subject to the 4 proceeding to pay all or part of the compensation to the department to 5 be provided to the participant prior to the end of the proceeding. In 6 the event that the participant discontinues its participation in the 7 proceeding without the consent of the department, the department shall 8 be entitled to, in whole or in part, recover any payments made to such 9 participant to be refunded to the public utility or utilities that 10 provided such payment. 11 (c) The computation of compensation pursuant to paragraph (a) of this 12 subdivision shall take into consideration the market rates paid to 13 persons of comparable training and experience who offer similar 14 services. The compensation awarded may not, in any case, exceed the 15 comparable market rate for services paid by the department or the public 16 utility, whichever is greater, to persons of comparable training and 17 experience who are offering similar services. 18 (d) Any compensation awarded to a participant and not used by such 19 participant shall be returned to the department for refund to the public 20 utility or utilities that provided such payment. 21 (e) The department shall require that participants seeking payment 22 maintain an itemized record of all expenditures incurred as a result of 23 such proceeding. 24 (i) The department may use the itemized record of expenses to verify 25 the claim of financial hardship by a participant seeking payment pursu- 26 ant to paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section. 27 (ii) The department may use the record of expenditures in determining, 28 after the completion of a proceeding, if any unused funds remain. 29 (iii) The department shall preserve the confidentiality of the partic- 30 ipant's records in making any audit or determining the availability of 31 funds after the completion of a proceeding. 32 (f) In the event that the department finds that two or more partic- 33 ipants' applications have substantially similar interests, the depart- 34 ment may require such participants to apply jointly in order to receive 35 compensation. 36 4. Any compensation pursuant to this section shall be paid at the 37 conclusion of the proceeding by the public utility or utilities subject 38 to the proceeding within thirty days. Such compensation shall be remit- 39 ted to the department which shall then remit such compensation to the 40 participant. 41 5. The department shall deny any award to any participant who attempts 42 to delay or obstruct the orderly and timely fulfillment of the depart- 43 ment's responsibilities. 44 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 97-uuuu 45 to read as follows: 46 § 97-uuuu. Utility intervenor account. 1. There is hereby established 47 in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of 48 taxation and finance a fund to be known as the utility intervenor 49 account. 50 2. Such account shall consist of all utility intervenor reimbursement 51 monies received from utilities pursuant to section twenty-four-c of the 52 public service law. 53 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 54 have become a law.