ALBANY, N.Y. - A third of all gasoline stations in New York will be required to have proper wiring to run backup generators in case of emergencies, the governor announced this week. The requirement appears in Gov. Andrew Cuomo??s 30-day budget amendments, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports.

The final proposal would impact gasoline stations located within a half mile of an emergency route or major highway to have the proper wiring. Those retailers would receive state assistance of up to $10,000 to comply with the requirements, which the governor indicated would be enough for the work to be done. However, wiring can cost upwards of $20,000 per facility to upgrade the electrical panel to accommodate the amperage required by a generator. The $10,000 will not cut it for many retailers, according to many NACS retail members.

However, the second half of the mandate ?" that those gas stations have the ability to run a generator within a day of any emergency ?" would not be covered by the state. While the stations are not required to purchase and have a generator on the premises, they would have to be prepared to get one up and running within 24 hours of an emergency.

"They have to have those arrangements established," said the governor during a news conference. "The wiring we can pay."

Of New York??s 6,000 stations, 2,000 would have to make these preparations. The legislation gives those station owners a year to comply.

"The New York Association of Convenience Stores shares the governor's desire for motor fuel retailers to remain open during an emergency. We were pleased to provide input to his staff as the proposal was being developed, but disappointed the process concluded so hastily without a full vetting of the cost burden on our members and the workability of the plan," Jim Calvin, NYACS president, told NACS Daily.

Newly built gasoline stations would be required to have proper wiring, but tiny gasoline stations would be exempt, no matter where they are located. The Legislature must approve the budget by March 31, which is for the fiscal year that begins April 1.

A backgrounder on how Hurricane Sandy affected the fuels market ?" and a look at possible solutions to avoid future problems (hint: not generators) was published as part of the 2013 NACS Retail Fuels Report. It notes, "(T)o mandate generators at stores would not have helped with Sandy, given the widespread upstream problems. If power is out at the store, it is likely that the nearby upstream operations are also without power. No amount of power at the retail station would expedite the delivery of fuel if these systems are not operable."