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Senate bill would require utilities to reimburse consumers for food and medication losses after lengthy outages
Summary
Senate Bill 1552, offered by Senator McCreery and explained on the floor, would allow consumers to seek reimbursement from electric utilities for food and medications lost in outages lasting more than 48 hours; sponsor said monopoly utilities must make consumers whole when service is unreliable.
Senate Bill 1552, offered by Senator McCreery, would allow an electric utility to cover a consumer’s loss of goods such as food or medication when a power outage lasts longer than 48 hours.
On the floor, a senator identified in the transcript as "Senator from 20 fourth" explained the bill’s purpose: "This proposed legislation creates provisions in which an electric utility shall cover a consumer's loss of goods such as food or medication due to a power outage that lasts longer than 48 hours." The speaker argued that monopoly utilities have an obligation to provide reliable power and that consumers should be reimbursed when that reliability fails.
The bill was read by the secretary on the floor; at the time of introduction the sponsor listed was Senator McCreery. No committee referral, hearing date, floor debate beyond the introduction, or vote outcome appears in the transcript excerpt.
Next steps: as introduced, S.B. 1552 will be referred to the committee process where hearings, fiscal analyses, and possible amendments will determine whether it advances to a floor vote.
