N.Y. Public Service Law § 5 (2026)

§ 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.