Lt. Gov. McKee Introduces Legislation to Improve Emergency Preparation
Sunday, January 07, 2018
GoLocalProv News Team
Lt. Governor Dan McKee is planning to submit legislation to improve the emergency preparation and response of utility companies operating in Rhode island.
“Rhode Island already experienced one mishandled storm this year and bearing in mind tomorrow’s forecast, the time to pass legislation is now. This is a common-sense plan to hold the utility company accountable and protect Rhode Island families and businesses in the case of an emergency. If the utility company can abide by similar guidelines in Massachusetts, they should do the same in Rhode Island,” said McKee.
The legislation is modeled after Massachusetts law with input from the Division of Public Utilities & Carriers, municipal leaders, the League of Cities and Towns and the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.
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According to McKee's press release, the legislation will include five main provisions:
Performance standards: The DPUC will establish performance standards for acceptable emergency preparation and response for investor-owned utility companies. Failure to meet the standards will result in penalties of up to $100,000 daily per violation.
Emergency response plans: Utility companies will be required to submit annual emergency response plans to the DPUC. Failure to file will result in a fine of $500 per day. If the utility company fails to follow the emergency response plan, the company may not recover its storm-associated costs by charging the ratepayers.
Credits for ratepayers: All fines paid by utility companies for violating this legislation will be credited back to Rhode Island ratepayers.
RIEMA liaison: Investor-owned utility companies must designate an employee to be present at the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency when the State Emergency Operations Center is activated.
Community liaisons: Investor-owned utility companies must designate an employee to serve as a community liaison for each municipality. Each community liaison will provide cities and towns with at least 3 outage reports per day.
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Sponsor: GoLocalProv
Sample: N=403
Rhode Island General Election Voters Margin of Error: +/- 4.9% at 95% Confidence Level
Interviewing Period: October 9-11, 2017
Mode: Landline (61%) and Mobile (39%)
Telephone Directed by: John Della Volpe, SocialSphere, Inc.
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Unaffiliated: 49%
Democrat: 32%
Republican: 15%
Moderate: .4%
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Probably be voting: 13%
50-50: 9%
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Right track: 39%
Wrong track: 45%
Mixed: 10%
Don't know/Refused: .6%
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Jobs and economy: 21%
Education: 12%
Taxes: 12%
Roads: 12%
State budget: 9%
Corruption/Public integrity: .8%
Healthcare: 3%
Governor: 3%
Homelessness: 2%
Immigration: 2%
Other: 7%
Don’t know: .9%
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Changed for the better: 35%
Changed for the worse: 16%
Not changed at all: 43%
Don't know/Refused: 5%
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Changed for the better: 26%
Changed for the worse: 19%
Not changed at all: 54%
Don't know/Refused: 1%
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Definitely approve: 15%
Probably approve: 14%
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Probably reject: 19%
Definitely reject: 48%
Don't know: 4%
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18-24: 7%
25-34: 15%
35-44: 15%
45-54: 20%
55-64: 17%
65+: 25%
Don't know/refused: 1%
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0-11: 2%
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Technical/Vocational school: 1%
Some college: 23%
College grad: 34%
Graduate degree: 24%
Don't know/refused: 1%
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More $75,000 but less than $100,000: 13%
More $100,000 but less than $150,000: 17%
$150,000 or more: 13%
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English: 13%
Italian: 13%
Irish: 12%
Black or African American: 6%
Latino/Hispanic: 6%
French: 6%
Portuguese: 3%
Jewish: 3%
German: 1%
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Good: 29%
Fair: 23%
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Cannot rate: 6%
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Good: 22%
Fair: 21%
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Cannot rate: 7%
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Good: 29%
Fair: 21%
Poor: 27%
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Cannot rate: 8%
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Good: 30%
Fair: 20%
Poor: 18%
Never heard of: 13%
Cannot rate: 11%
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Good: 28%
Fair: 30%
Poor: 31%
Never heard of: 1%
Cannot rate: 3%
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Good: 16%
Fair: 21%
Poor: 8%
Never heard of: 26%
Cannot rate: 25%
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Good: 20%
Fair: 28%
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Cannot rate: 19%
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Good: 18%
Fair: 24%
Poor: 13%
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Cannot rate: 21%
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Good: 21%
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Cannot rate: 23%
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