SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1853        FILED ON: 1/14/2009

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1530

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act further regulating utility customer service..

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

SECTION 1.   Section 1E of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(e) A distribution company or gas company as defined in section 1 that intends to transfer to another state a call center, billing center or complaint handling function or activity located in the commonwealth, shall provide advance notice to the department not less than 60 days before the transfer; but, the notice shall not be required if the transfer does not result in a net reduction of the number of commonwealth-based employees responding to calls, processing bills or handling complaints. A company required to provide notice under this subsection shall include in the notice sufficient information, data, or results of studies to demonstrate that the proposed transfer provides net benefits to its customers, considering all costs and savings and any impacts on service quality. The department shall promptly review the information, data or results of studies and, before the expiration of 60 days from its receipt of the information, determine whether the proposed transfer is in the best interests of the company's customers. If the department fails to make and issue an affirmative finding within the 60 days, the company shall not proceed with the transfer; but the company may file a new notice under this subsection at any time.