A.2496 (Brodsky)

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The Business Council of New York State, Inc., has reviewed the aforementioned legislation and opposes its enactment.

The legislation declares that the outage at Indian Point 2 was caused by "imprudent and negligent actions by Consolidated Edison" without any recourse to an investigation currently underway at the Public Service Commission. Further, this bill would prohibit the Public Service Commission from allowing Consolidated Edison to recover any costs associated with replacement power as a result of an outage on February 15, 2000 at the Indian Point 2 Nuclear generating facility. A basic and underlying fault with the legislation is the disregard for the review process by the Public Service Commission in regards to the outage and any cost incurred as a result of the loss of power. This review is currently still underway. The bill, therefor, circumvents the proper authorities with the necessary expertise to determine the facts and make recommendations.

It should also be noted that similar legislation was passed in 2000 (Chapter 190 of the Laws of 2000) and was subsequently determined to be unconstitutional by the United States District Court, Northern District of New York. That decision was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals (Second Circuit).

The bill disregards due process and legislatively formulates a conclusion without the benefit of input from the investigating authorities. For these reasons, The Business Council opposes this legislation and advocates against its enactment.