N.Y. Public Service Law § 5: Jurisdiction, powers and duties of public service commission

§ 5. Jurisdiction, powers and duties of public service commission. 1.

The jurisdiction, supervision, powers and duties of the public service

commission shall extend under this chapter:

b. To the manufacture, conveying, transportation, sale or distribution

of gas (natural or manufactured or mixture of both) and electricity for

light, heat or power, to gas plants and to electric plants and to the

persons or corporations owning, leasing or operating the same.

c. To the manufacture, holding, distribution, transmission, sale or

furnishing of steam for heat or power, to steam plants and to the

persons or corporations owning, leasing or operating the same.

d. To every telephone line which lies wholly within the state and that

part within the state of New York of every telephone line which lies

partly within and partly without the state and to the persons or

corporations owning, leasing or operating any such telephone line.

e. To every telegraph line which lies wholly within the state and that

part within the state of New York of every telegraph line which lies

partly within and partly without the state and to the persons or

corporations owning, leasing or operating any such telegraph line.

f. To the furnishing or distribution of water for domestic, commercial

or public uses and to water systems and to the persons or corporations

owning, leasing or operating the same.

g. To every stock yard within the state and to the stock yard company

owning, leasing or operating the same, to the same extent and in respect

to the same objects and purposes as such jurisdiction extends, under

this chapter, to depots, freight houses and shipping stations of a

common carrier, including the duty of such stock yard company to submit

reports and be subjected to investigation as if it were a common

carrier, and the powers and duties of such commission to fix charges and

make and enforce orders relating to adequate service by such company.

h. A corporation or person owning or holding a majority of the stock

of a common carrier, gas corporation or electrical corporation subject

to the jurisdiction of the public service commission shall be subject to

the supervision of the public service commission in respect of the

relations between such common carrier, gas corporation or electrical

corporation and such owners or holders of a majority of the stock

thereof in so far as such relations arise from or by reason of such

ownership or holding of stock thereof or the receipt or holding of any

money or property thereof or from or by reason of any contract between

them; and in respect of such relations shall in like manner and to the

same extent as such common carrier, gas corporation or electrical

corporation be subject to examination of accounts, records and

memoranda, and shall furnish such reports and information as the public

service commission shall from time to time direct and require, and shall

be subject to like penalties for default therein.

i. To thermal energy provided by gas corporations, electric

corporations, or combination gas and electric corporations.

2. The commission shall encourage all persons and corporations subject

to its jurisdiction to formulate and carry out long-range programs,

individually or cooperatively, for the performance of their public

service responsibilities with economy, efficiency, and care for the

public safety, the preservation of environmental values and the

conservation of natural resources.

3. Application of the provisions of this chapter to one-way paging or

two-way mobile radio telephone service with the exception of such

services provided by means of cellular radio communication is suspended

unless the commission, no sooner than one year after the effective date

of this subdivision, makes a determination, after notice and hearing,

that regulation of such services should be reinstituted to the extent

found necessary to protect the public interest because of a lack of

effective competition.

4. Upon finding that it is in the public interest to do so, the

commission may exempt from any or all of the provisions of this chapter,

for such period of time as it deems appropriate, an association of

homeowners owning and operating any water plant or water-works and

distributing water only to customers having an interest and voice in its

operation.

5. The commission shall develop a plan to maximize the use of

telecommuting to conserve energy otherwise used by the personnel of the

department in commuting to their assigned workplace. Within one year of

the effective date of this subdivision, the commission shall submit a

report to the governor and the legislature on the impact of such plan to

include, but not be limited to, energy conservation, air quality,

workforce acceptance, office costs and potential cost savings.

6. a. Application of the provisions of this chapter to cellular

telephone services is suspended unless the commission, no sooner than

one year after the effective date of this subdivision, makes a

determination, after notice and hearing, that suspension of the

application of the provisions of this chapter shall cease to the extent

found necessary to protect the public interest.

b. For the purpose of determining whether a cellular provider is

subject to taxation under section one hundred eighty-six-a of the tax

law on a gross income or gross operating income basis, during a period

of suspension prescribed pursuant to this section, the tax status of

such provider shall be determined on the day previous to the day such

suspension commenced and such status shall continue during the period of

such suspension.

c. Notwithstanding paragraph a of this subdivision, the commission may

designate any commercial mobile radio or cellular telephone service

providers as an eligible telecommunications carrier for purposes of

providing lifeline service, in addition to any commercial mobile radio

or cellular telephone service providers designated as such pursuant to

47 U.S.C. § 214(e) and 47 U.S.C. § 214(e)(2), without requiring any such

provider to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity

pursuant to section ninety-nine of this chapter. The commission is

authorized and directed to promulgate all rules and regulations

necessary to implement the provisions of this paragraph, and to

establish standards and safeguards for approval as an eligible

telecommunications carrier for purposes of providing lifeline service.

Such standards and safeguards shall include, but not be limited to, the

provider's managerial, financial and technical capability and expertise,

including whether the provider has forfeited eligible telecommunications

carrier designation in another state or been subject to the imposition

of substantial monetary penalties by the federal communications

commission or another state. Upon adoption by the commission, such

standards and safeguards shall apply to new applicants, and shall not

apply to previously approved providers or affiliated entities of such

providers with common financial, managerial and technical capability and

expertise.