Governor Cuomo Announces Newly Designed Statewide Specific Counsel for Ratepayer Security

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo currently announced that, in the wake of repeated failures by utility and telecom firms to fulfill their obligations to New Yorkers, he has appointed Rory Lancman, a seasoned lawyer and legislator, as statewide Unique Counsel for Ratepayer Protection. In this function, Lancman will stand for the passions of household and business consumers of New York’s controlled electric, gasoline, drinking water, and telecom firms, with the capability to participate as a celebration in Public Support Fee proceedings, conduct hearings and investigations, undertake discovery to compel paperwork and testimony, and normally marshal the sources of the Section of Community Company to safeguard the interests of ratepayers and maintain accountable individuals utilities and telecoms which are unsuccessful to meet their contractual and regulatory obligations to their shoppers. 
 
“Utility corporations do not have a God-specified suitable to operate in New York, and when they abuse and bully buyers they must be held accountable. I am producing a new position of Distinctive Counsel for Ratepayer Safety at the Department of Community Provider to aid be certain that transpires,” Governor Cuomo claimed. “Rory Lancman has a prolonged report of community company and his history would make him preferably suited to aid safeguard the pursuits of New Yorkers and make sure they get the company they are worthy of.”
 
Exclusively, as Exclusive Counsel, Mr. Lancman will assessment the general performance of all utilities in New York throughout all sectors — electrical, normal gasoline, private water, and telecommunications. His primary purpose will incorporate analyzing no matter if utilities are producing the investments needed irrespective of whether utilities are accomplishing as required whether utilities are responding sufficiently to consumers — equally residential and industrial and irrespective of whether utilities are complying with renewable electrical power objectives and requirements. As Unique Counsel, Mr. Lancman will enhance and improve the Department’s existing protections of utility purchaser pursuits.
 
“Just about every New Yorker need to be capable to flip on the lights, heat their homes and open up their faucets to thoroughly clean water mainly because their electricity, gasoline and h2o companies are meeting their obligations to give safe and sound, reliable, and very affordable service as the regulation needs,” reported Councilman Lancman. “I am honored by the Governor’s appointment and grateful for his commitment to keeping New York’s utilities and telecoms accountable to their most critical constituency — the level spending general public.”
 
The Special Counsel may make shows to the New York Point out General public Services Fee at its monthly conferences on results and file normal experiences to the Fee evaluating the operations of this kind of utilities. The Particular Counsel may well also situation stories, keep forums with shoppers and stakeholders in the community and different business sectors, and make tips regarding the requirement of laws, will also have a committed web-site landing site that will refer issues from customers for investigation by the Exclusive Counsel.
 
Division of General public Company CEO John B. Rhodes reported, “The Division of Public Company applauds Governor Cuomo for choosing this sort of an fantastic general public servant as Mr. Lancman to sign up for the agency and to aid assure ratepayers’ interests are safeguarded. Mr. Lancman will be an invaluable asset in our attempts to oversee utilities in New York Condition.”
 
A merchandise of NYC public educational institutions, Queens University and Columbia Law College, Rory Lancman invested over a ten years representing employees in discrimination and workplace basic safety matters, litigating cases in point out and federal court docket and ahead of city, condition, and federal companies, before being elected to the New York Condition Assembly in 2006 and the New York Town Council in 2013.
 
Lancman at present chairs the New York Metropolis Council Committee on the Justice Procedure, overseeing a great deal of the City’s civil and legal justice system, like the Mayor’s Business office of Criminal Justice, the boroughs’ five district lawyers, Town-funded public defenders and civil authorized services vendors, and the courts. He has authored numerous legal guidelines reforming the criminal justice technique and guarding women of all ages from domestic violence, executed robust oversight hearings main to more lawful system advancements, and has been an outspoken advocate and considered chief on civil rights and justice reform challenges through numerous op-eds and community appearances.
 
Prior to his election to the point out legislature, Lancman was an lively grassroots community chief, having served as an officer or president of his respective tenant, property owners, and condominium associations at numerous occasions in his everyday living as Chair of the Queens Hospital Middle Community Advisory Board throughout the struggle to avoid Mayor Rudy Giuliani from privatizing the hospital as an appointed NYC group setting up board member for sixteen yrs and as an infantry officer in New York’s own 42nd Infantry Division.