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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1883 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3400
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Steven Owens and Jennifer Balinsky Armini
_________________
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 prohibiting the use of ratepayer funds for utility lobbying, promotions, or perks.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven Owens29th Middlesex1/15/2025Kristin E. Kassner2nd Essex1/22/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/7/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/18/2025Tara T. Hong18th Middlesex2/23/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/23/2025Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/25/2025Natalie M. Blais1st Franklin2/27/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/28/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/28/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/28/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth2/28/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire3/1/2025Andres X. Vargas3rd Essex3/4/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/5/2025 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1883 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3400
By Representatives Owens of Watertown and Armini of Marblehead, a petition (accompanied by
bill, House, No. 3400) of Steven Owens, Kristin E. Kassner and others relative to prohibiting the
use of ratepayer funds for utility lobbying, promotions, or perks. State Administration and
Regulatory Oversight.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act prohibiting the use of ratepayer funds for utility lobbying, promotions, or perks.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 164 of the general laws is hereby amended by striking out section 33A and
2inserting in place thereof the following section:-
3 Section 33A. (a) No gas or electric company regulated by the department under this
4chapter may recover from any ratepayer of such company any direct or indirect expenditure by
5such company for promotional or political advertising as defined in this section.
6 For the purposes of this section, the following words and phrases shall have the following
7meanings:—
8 ''Advertising'', the commercial use by a utility of any media, including newspaper, printed
9matter, radio, and television, in order to transmit a message to a substantial number of members
10of the public or to such utility's consumers, including any costs associated with research,
11analysis, preparation, planning, or any other related costs identified by the department as related 2 of 5
12to public communication whose purpose is to promote the sale or consumption of natural gas,
13electricity, or other thermal energy, unless such advertising is specifically approved or ordered
14by the department.
15 ''Political advertising'', any advertising for the purpose of influencing public opinion with
16respect to legislative, administrative, or electoral matters, or with respect to any controversial
17issue of public importance.
18 ''Promotional advertising'', any advertising for the purpose of encouraging any person to
19select or use the service or additional service of a utility regulated by the department, or the
20selection or installation of any appliance or equipment designed to use such utility's service.
21 For the purposes of this section, the terms ''political advertising'' and ''promotional
22advertising'' shall not include advertising which informs consumers of any utility on how they
23can conserve energy, reduce peak demand for energy, or other services, or otherwise use the
24services of any utility in a cost-efficient manner; is required by federal or state laws or
25regulations; informs consumers regarding service interruptions, safety measures, or emergency
26conditions; concerns employment opportunities with a utility; or relates to any explanation or
27justification of existing or proposed rate schedules, or notification of hearings thereon which
28informs consumers of and stimulates the use of products or services which are subject to direct
29competition from products or services of entities not regulated by the department or any other
30government agency. A communication shall be considered advertising, promotional advertising,
31or political advertising if any portion of the communication is advertising, promotional
32advertising, or political advertising as defined herein. 3 of 5
33 (b) No gas or electric company regulated by the department shall recover through rates
34any direct or indirect cost associated with: (i) membership, dues, sponsorships, or contributions
35to any entity incorporated under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
36including business or trade associations; (ii) charitable giving expenses, including contributions
37in cash or other quantifiable value to organizations qualified under section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)
38of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; (iii) executive or legislative lobbying, as
39those terms are defined in section 39 of chapter 3, or soliciting others to engage in executive or
40legislative lobbying, including any costs for activities associated with lobbying such as policy
41research, analysis, preparation, and planning undertaken in support of lobbying; (iv)
42contributions to political candidates, campaign committees, issue committees, or independent
43expenditure committees or other political expenses; (v) institutional or good will advertising,
44which is primarily designed to improve the image of the company or the industry; (vi) litigation
45to influence, modify, or repeal existing federal, state or local regulations, legislation or
46ordinances; (vii) any costs, including marketing, administration, customer service, or other costs,
47for products or services not regulated by the department; (viii) tax penalties or fines issued
48against such company; (ix) travel, lodging, entertainment, gifts or food and beverage expenses
49for such company’s board of directors and officers or the board of directors and officers of the
50parent of such company; (x) any owned, leased or chartered aircraft for such company’s board of
51directors and officers or the board of directors and officers of the parent of such company; or (xi)
52investor relations.
53 (c) No gas or electric company regulated by the department shall recover through rates its
54direct or indirect costs associated with its attendance in, participation in, preparation for, or
55appeal of any contested proceeding conducted before the department. Such costs shall include, 4 of 5
56but need not be limited to, attorneys’ fees, fees to engage expert witnesses or consultants, the
57portion of employee salaries associated with such attendance, participation, preparation or appeal
58of a contested proceeding and related costs identified by the department.
59 (d) On or before March 1, and annually thereafter, each gas or electric company regulated
60by the department shall report to the department a list of expenses from the previous calendar
61year to ensure such company’s compliance with this section. Such report shall include, but need
62not be limited to: (i) a list of all outside services or vendors paid by such company; (ii) an
63itemized list of all expenses associated with activities described in subsections (a), (b), (c) for
64which recovery is prohibited by this section, including expenses made to third-party vendors,
65affiliates of such company, subsidiaries or parent of such company, or such company’s
66employees in the form of compensation; (iii) for each itemized expense associated with activities
67described in subsections (a), (b), (c), for which recovery is prohibited by this section, the billing
68amount, date, identity of payee, and an explanation of the expense sufficient to describe its
69purpose; (iv) the job title, portion of salary, and expenses of any employees of such company, or
70any affiliates or parent of such company, for performed work associated with the activities
71described in subsections (a), (b), (c), for which recovery is prohibited by this section; (v) in the
72case of an expense associated with activities described in subsections (a), (b), (c) for which
73recovery is prohibited by this section, made to a third-party vendor by a centralized service
74company, parent of such company, or other corporate affiliate of such company, the identity of
75that third-party vendor; and (vi) any other itemized information deemed relevant by the
76department.
77 No gas or electric company regulated by the department shall recover through rates any
78costs associated with the preparation of such report. 5 of 5
79 (e) The department and the office of ratepayer advocacy established pursuant to section
8011E of chapter 12 shall monitor and investigate compliance and noncompliance with this section.
81If the department determines that a gas or electric company regulated by the department
82improperly recorded an expense for which recovery is prohibited by this section, the department
83shall assess a non-recoverable penalty against such company in an amount that is not less than
84the total amount of costs improperly recorded. In addition to assessing a non-recoverable penalty
85against a company pursuant to this subsection, the department shall order such company to
86refund the amount improperly recovered, plus interest, to customers. For each penalty assessed
87and collected from any such company pursuant to this section, a portion of the penalty, as
88determined by the department, may be distributed to ratepayers through a rebate, or distributed to
89the department and the office of ratepayer advocacy for the purpose of increasing resources for
90enforcing this section.