Connecticut General Statutes Title 16. Public Service Companies § 16-32l. Residential customer credits for distribution-system service outage. Recovery of costs. Waiver of requirements

(a) For the purposes of this section:

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes, on and after July 1, 2021, each electric distribution company shall provide to residential customers of such company a credit of twenty-five dollars, on the balance of such customer's account, for each day of distribution-system service outage that occurs for such customers for more than ninety-six consecutive hours after the occurrence of an emergency.

(c) Any costs incurred by an electric distribution company pursuant to this section shall not be recoverable.

(d) Not later than fourteen calendar days after the occurrence of an emergency, an electric distribution company may petition the authority for a waiver of the requirements of this section. Any petition for a waiver made under this subsection shall include the severity of the emergency, line and restoration crew safety issues and conditions on the ground, and shall be conducted as a contested case proceeding. The burden of proving that such waiver is reasonable and warranted shall be on the electric distribution company. In determining whether to grant such waiver, the authority shall consider whether the electric distribution company received approval and reasonable funding allowances, as determined by the authority, to meet infrastructure resiliency efforts to improve such company's performance.

(e) On or before January 1, 2021, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall initiate a proceeding to consider the implementation of the residential customer credit and waiver provisions of this section and establish circumstances, standards and methodologies applicable to each electric distribution company and necessary to implement the provisions of this section, including any modifications to the ninety-six-consecutive-hour standard in subsection (b) of this section. The authority shall issue a final decision in such proceeding on or before July 1, 2021.