Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Section 58A of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sentences:- A sufficient deposit to secure the payment for gas or electricity for 3 months may be required in advance from any consumer, and if the advance deposit is retained for a longer period than 6 months, the interest rate shall be paid annually to said consumer or credited to his account. The rate of interest shall be revised annually and shall be equal to yields on Treasury securities at constant, fixed maturity 1-year rate as published by the Federal Reserve System and as established 12 months ending December of the prior year.