Bill > S445

Introduced Session

This bill requires a public utility (utility) to reimburse a business customer for financial losses incurred by the business customer during the period when the business customer ceases operations due to a service interruption to the business customer requiring the utility to repair or replace its equipment on the business customer's property. The Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is to determine the amount of any reimbursement cost the utility is to pay its business customer for that loss upon examining appropriate documentation provided to the BPU by the business customer, as determined by the BPU. A utility is not to include in its rate base or otherwise recover from ratepayers the amount of the reimbursement cost that the BPU determines is due to the business customer. The bill is not to apply to a business customer incurring losses due to a utility service interruption occurring during an emergency event. "Emergency event" is defined as a natural or humanly caused occurrence arising from conditions beyond the control of the utility, including but not limited to, a thunderstorm, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, flood, heat wave, snowstorm, or ice storm, which results in: (1) a sustained service interruption to at least five percent of the customers within an operating area or at least five percent of the utility's customers within a municipality or county located in an operating area; or (2) the declaration of a state of emergency or disaster by the State or by the federal government.

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Jim Holzapfel (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document