June 3, 2009 — Press Release
BOSTON — Representative Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg) rose before her colleagues in the House today to give her maiden speech in favor of "An Act regarding accountability of public utility companies." The bill, which passed unanimously, came in response to the December 11th ice storm that devastated much of Benson's district. "Unitil's inadequate response to the December ice storm highlighted the need for more regulation" said Benson. "My constituents lived through a nightmare, and I don't want to see this happen to anyone in Massachusetts again."
The bill strengthens oversight of public utilities, requiring companies to seek approval of their emergency management plans and mutual aid agreements from the Department of Public Utilities. Privately owned utility companies must also undergo annual reviews of their service quality by the DPU, and are subject to penalties if they do not meet industry standards. Finally, the bill increases fines to act as a disincentive for failure to follow emergency plans, and as the maximum penalty, allows the DPU, in conjunction with the Attorney General, to replace failing management by putting the company in receivership.
While the new law cannot retroactively penalize Unitil, it gives the DPU more power and increases disincentives to hold utilities accountable for their performance. "This bill provides the protection for our communities that has been lacking for too long" said Benson. "We need to learn from the devastation we experienced in December and move forward to prevent this from happening again." Benson will continue to work with the DPU and the Attorney General to investigate and hold Unitil accountable.
