SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1543        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2177

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Rebecca L. Rausch

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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 advancing water access equity through utility reporting requirements.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1543        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2177

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act advancing water access equity through utility reporting requirements.

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 22 of chapter 25 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subparagraph (e) the following subparagraphs:- 

(f)  Public and private water utilities shall file quarterly reports with the executive office of energy and environmental affairs regarding customer service data. The reports shall be public record and shall include, but shall not be limited to the following information, disaggregated by zip codes: 

(1) The number of customers receiving service from a water utility provider; 

(2) The number customer disconnection notices sent due to bill nonpayment;  

(3) The number and dates of water shut offs that took place and average time between service disconnection due to non-payment and service reconnection;

(4) The number of customer accounts that became eligible for disconnection due to bill nonpayment but were not disconnected because of any legally mandated or voluntary suspension of disconnections due to the coronavirus 2019 pandemic; 

(5) The number of customers charged late fees, penalties, reconnection fees, interest, and any other charge associated with late payment of a bill; 

(6) The number of liens on real property placed, sold, or enforced due to nonpayment; 

(7) The number of customers enrolled in deferred payment agreements at the end of each month, and the average length of the repayment term under those agreements; 

(8) The number of customers that entered into, successfully completed, or defaulted from a deferred payment agreement;

(9) Customer assistance programs available to water consumers, including terms of eligibility, and available budget for each program; 

(10) The number of customers receiving assistance under each customer assistance program at the end of each month, the total dollar amount of assistance provided, and the number of customers who were denied assistance; and

(11) The methods and contents of general communications by local utilities and public utilities to customers concerning their rights and available assistance programs if customers are unable to pay their bills in full.

(g) The executive office of energy and environmental affairs may adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. 

(h) Annually, not later than March 15, the executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall report to the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on environment, natural resources and agriculture data concerning the results of such equity audit reports.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024.