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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2145 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2238 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Joanne M. Comerford |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act protecting consumers from unreasonable utility rate increases. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and WorcesterSteven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable1/31/2025John C. VelisHampden and Hampshire2/12/2025Adam GomezHampden2/18/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2145 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2238 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Comerford, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2238) of Joanne M. Comerford, |
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| 19 | 19 | | Steven George Xiarhos, John C. Velis and Adam Gomez for legislation to protect consumers |
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| 20 | 20 | | from unreasonable utility rate increases. Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 2088 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act protecting consumers from unreasonable utility rate increases. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 Chapter 164 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 94I the |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2following section:- |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 94J. (a) In any base rate proceeding conducted by the department under section |
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| 34 | 34 | | 494 for electric companies or gas companies, the department may not approve an allowed return |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5on equity higher than the average allowed return on equity approved in neighboring states over |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6the preceding 4 years. Such requirement may be waived only upon a specific showing that the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7constitutional rights of the electric or gas company would otherwise be violated. 2 of 2 |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8 (b) The determination of allowed return on equity under this section shall not include |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9compensation related to programs under section 21 of chapter 25 or any performance incentives |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10designed to promote the efficient, clean, and reliable operation of the electric or gas system. |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 (c) For the purposes of this section, “neighboring states” shall mean Connecticut, Rhode |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12Island, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. |
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