§ 68 — Certificate of public convenience and necessity

§ 68. Certificate of public convenience and necessity. 1. Certificate\nrequired. No gas corporation or electric corporation shall begin\nconstruction of a gas plant or electric plant without first having\nobtained the permission and approval of the commission. No such\ncorporation shall exercise any right or privilege under any franchise\nhereafter granted, or under any franchise heretofore granted but not\nheretofore actually exercised, or the exercise of which shall have been\nsuspended for more than one year, without first having obtained a\ncertificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the\ncommission. Before such certificate shall be issued a certified copy of\nthe charter of such corporation shall be filed in the office of the\ncommission, together with a verified statement of the president and\nsecretary of the corporation, showing that it has received the required\nconsent of the proper municipal authorities. The commission shall have\npower to grant the permission and approval herein specified whenever it\nshall after due hearing determine that such construction or such\nexercise of the right, privilege or franchise is convenient and\nnecessary for the public service. In making such a determination, the\ncommission shall consider the economic feasibility of the corporation,\nthe corporation's ability to finance improvements of a gas plant or\nelectric plant, render safe, adequate and reliable service, and provide\njust and reasonable rates, and whether issuance of a certificate is in\nthe public interest. Except as provided in article fourteen-A of the\ngeneral municipal law, no municipality shall build, maintain and operate\nfor other than municipal purposes any works or systems for the\nmanufacture and supplying of gas or electricity for lighting purposes\nwithout a certificate of authority granted by the commission. If the\ncertificate of authority is refused, no further proceedings shall be\ntaken by such municipality before the commission, but a new application\nmay be made therefor after one year from the date of such refusal.\n 2. Revocation or modification of certificate. The commission may\ncommence a proceeding, conducted in accordance with the commission's\nrules and regulations, to revoke or modify a combined electric and gas\ncorporation's certificate as it relates to such corporation's service\nterritory or any portion thereof based on findings of repeated\nviolations of this chapter or rules or regulations adopted thereto that\ndemonstrate a failure of such corporation to continue to provide safe\nand adequate service. Whenever the commission has reason to believe that\nsuch corporation's certificate may be subject to revocation or\nmodification, it shall notify such corporation of the facts and nature\nof each act or failure to act allegedly warranting such revocation or\nmodification, and the statute, regulation or order allegedly violated,\nand otherwise consider the following factors:\n (a) the factors identified in subdivision one of this section for\nissuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity;\n (b) whether another person, firm or corporation is qualified,\navailable, and prepared to provide alternative service that is adequate\nto serve the public convenience and necessity, and that the transition\nto such alternative person, firm or corporation is in the public\ninterest; and\n (c) upon any other standards and procedures deemed necessary by the\ncommission to ensure continuity of safe and adequate service, and due\nprocess.\n