Bill Text: NJ A2914 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs public utility to reimburse municipality for police services required for safe completion of public utility project no later than 60 days after municipality submits bill to public utility.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee [A2914 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A2914-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Directs public utility to reimburse municipality for police services required for safe completion of public utility project no later than 60 days after municipality submits bill to public utility.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning public utilities and police services and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Police services" means the provision of services by a municipal law enforcement department or agency to ensure the health or safety of a person or property during the construction of a public utility project.
"Public utility" means a public utility as that term is defined in R.S.48:2-13.
"Public utility project" means any project necessary for the provision of a service provided by a public utility, including, but not limited to, the installation, maintenance, repair, relocation, excavation, or removal of any public utility infrastructure.
2. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, regulation, or order to the contrary, a public utility shall reimburse a municipality no later than 60 days after the municipality submits a bill to the public utility for all actual and related costs a municipality incurs in providing police services required for the safe completion of a public utility project, unless the municipality and public utility have a prior payment agreement established pursuant to local ordinance. If the public utility, after having received a bill from a municipality, elects to enter into negotiations with the municipality concerning the bill, the 60-day bill submission period shall pause on the day negotiations begin and shall resume the day negotiations end. A public utility's reimbursement to a municipality for police services shall not be recoverable from ratepayers.
b. In a civil action brought against a public utility by a municipality to recover financial losses sustained from providing police services, the court, in its discretion, may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the civil action incurred by a plaintiff recovering judgment. A public utility's payment of reasonable attorney's fees and costs of a civil action shall not be recoverable from ratepayers.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a public utility to reimburse a municipality no later than 60 days after the municipality submits a bill to the public utility for all actual and related costs a municipality incurs in providing police services required for the safe completion of a public utility project, unless the municipality and public utility have a prior payment agreement established pursuant to local ordinance. If the public utility, after having received a bill from a municipality, elects to enter into negotiations with the municipality concerning the bill, the 60-day bill submission period is to pause on the day negotiations begin and is to resume the day negotiations end. A public utility's reimbursement to a municipality for police services is not to be recoverable from ratepayers.
This bill also provides that in a civil action brought against a public utility by a municipality to recover financial losses sustained from providing police services, the court, in its discretion, may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs of a civil action incurred by a plaintiff recovering judgment. A public utility's payment of reasonable attorney's fees and costs of a civil action is not to be recoverable from ratepayers.
