Bill to let utilities share "life‑support" customer addresses for emergency planning raises privacy questions
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Summary
Representative Margaret Dry told the committee HB 15‑77 would allow utilities to share limited customer data (addresses or flags) with municipal emergency authorities for welfare checks during outages; Eversource and the Department of Energy were neutral but urged guardrails on data type, consent and security to avoid HIPAA and right‑to‑know pitfalls.
Representative Margaret Dry (Plainfield) introduced HB 15‑77 and framed it as a public‑safety measure developed after meetings on utility customer assistance programs. She told the committee utilities maintain "life‑support" lists for customers who rely on electricity for medical devices and that municipalities do not currently have reliable access to that information in emergencies. "It was a good thing that we did," she said of past local rescues, arguing an address‑only list or a welfare‑check flag could help responders find people during multi‑day outages.
Committee members pressed on privacy, HIPAA concerns and whether the bill should explicitly limit data types to medical conditions. "As I read this bill, I don't even see the word 'medical' in here," said one member, asking if the language would open sharing to broader categories of customer data. Dry acknowledged the language could be narrowed to medical information but said she wrote the statute as a short enumerated list and was open to tighter wording.
Griffin Roberge of Eversource told the committee the company is neutral but cautioned the bill's language is vague on what constitutes "individual data," when it can be shared, and what security standards municipal recipients must meet. Roberge described Eversource's existing processes: a medically coded customer designation (an opt‑in system requiring provider certification), outreach to medically coded customers before storms, and a municipal "hub" used to elevate community priorities to the utility during major events. He urged clear guardrails on permitted data, limited purposes, security practices and treatment of records once shared.
Meg Stone of the Department of Energy emphasized the law currently prohibits sharing customer data with third parties without customer consent except in narrowly defined circumstances; the department is neutral on the bill and recommends clarifying amendments and protections if the legislature wants to enable data sharing for emergency planning. Committee members suggested options including an opt‑in checkbox on utility forms, integration with the 911 CARES program run by the Department of Safety, or address‑only flags that trigger welfare checks without transmitting medical details.
What happens next: The committee heard extensive testimony and had follow‑up questions for utilities and the Department of Safety; no committee vote was taken during the Feb. 9 session. If the committee advances a bill, expect amendments to narrow permissible data types, require written municipal data handling agreements, and specify consent or opt‑in mechanisms.
