SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2137        FILED ON: 11/23/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2087

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Benjamin B. Downing

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the emergency service response of public utility companies.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2137        FILED ON: 11/23/2011

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2087

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act relative to the emergency service response of public utility companies.

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. Subsection (a) of section 4C of chapter 25 of the General Laws, as appearing the Official 2010 edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 11-12, the words “who serves less than 100,000 customers in the commonwealth”.

SECTION 2. Subsection (j) of section 4C of said chapter 25, as so appearing, is hereby repealed.

SECTION 3. Subsection (a) of section 85B of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (2), and inserting in place thereof, the following paragraph:-

(2) a communications system with customers during an emergency that includes continuous access to staff assistance and includes daily updates on estimated return of service.

SECTION 4. Paragraph (4) of said subsection (a) of said section 85B of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “agencies” in line 17, the following words:-  including staff posted at Massachusetts emergency management association’s Emergency Operations Center

SECTION 5. Said subsection (a) of said section 85B of said chapter 164, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (7) the following paragraph:-

(8) designation of a Massachusetts-based call center for service assistance for the duration of an emergency, or until full service is restored, whichever comes first.  Said call center must be staffed continuously for the length of the emergency and to ensure sufficient staffing levels to handle the extraordinary volume of customer calls.

SECTION 6. Said section 85B of said chapter 164, as so appearing,  is hereby further amended by inserting after subsection (d) the following subsections:-

(e) Each investor-owned electric distribution, transmission or natural gas distribution company, when implementing an emergency response plan, must designate staff to remain stationed at the Massachusetts emergency management association’s Emergency Operations Center for the length of an emergency.  Said staff will coordinate communications efforts with local officials and emergency management officials, as required by this section.

(f) Notwithstanding any existing power or authority, each electric distribution, transmission and natural gas distribution company conducting business in the commonwealth shall provide periodic reports to the department and the Massachusetts emergency management association regarding emergency conditions and restoration performance during an emergency event.