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H 3531

911 Call Abuse

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Bill Chumley and 5 co-sponsors

Massachusetts H3531 establishes performance-based ratemaking for gas companies that links service quality, safety, and workforce protections to rates, with a mandatory just-transit

Referred to Committee on Judiciary
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Bill Summary · H 3531

Bill Summary — H 3531 (House No. 3531)

Note up front: the bill packet provided contains two different pieces of text. The primary Massachusetts bill text labeled House No. 3531 (filed 1/13/2025, sponsored by Rep. Frank A. Moran) addresses natural gas workforce safety and performance‑based ratemaking. Also appended is an unrelated South Carolina draft amending 911 call‑abuse law to include disruptive 911 texting. This summary focuses on the Massachusetts H 3531 natural‑gas bill and then briefly summarizes the appended 911 text for clarity.

Overview (Massachusetts — Natural Gas Workforce Safety)

Purpose: to require the Department (DPU) to adopt performance‑based ratemaking (PBR) for gas distribution and transmission companies that explicitly incorporates service‑quality standards and workforce protections to ensure pipeline safety during the transition to net‑zero emissions.

Primary change: replaces Section 1E of Chapter 164 and amends Section 145 of Chapter 164 to add workforce, training, infrastructure and “just transition” planning requirements as components of PBR and targeted infrastructure replacement programs.

Key provisions

  • DPU-authorized PBR: The Department must promulgate rules establishing performance‑based rates for distribution, transmission, and gas companies and set service quality standards covering:
    • customer satisfaction, outages, facility upgrades, repairs/maintenance, telephone and billing service;
    • public and occupational safety, training and certifications for in‑house and contractor employees;
    • map/record accuracy and in‑house staffing benchmarks to ensure pipeline safety during the net‑zero transition.
  • Workforce benchmarks and staffing:
    • Service quality standards must include employee staff level benchmarks and training programs.
    • Companies making PBR filings after the act’s effective date may not reduce staffing below levels in place on January 1, 2022, except under collective bargaining, approved just‑transition measures, or with DPU approval after an evidentiary hearing showing no adverse safety/service impacts. (Early retirement/severance negotiated before that date is not barred.)
  • Just Transition Plans (required as part of PBR filings), to be DPU‑approved, must include:
    1. A chronology for transition to net‑zero energy supply/distribution.
    2. In‑house staffing levels per classification sufficient for safety/reliability.
    3. Training/workforce development for residual natural gas, electric, and alternative energy roles.
    4. Mitigation measures for workforce impacts (cross‑training, hiring preferences, early‑retirement incentives, etc.).
    5. If substantial partial/complete cessation of gas operations is anticipated:
      • plans to avoid social welfare costs to Commonwealth/ratepayers/taxpayers;
      • measures to ensure pension solvency; and
      • measures to reduce employee displacement from Massachusetts energy sector.
  • Small claims ADR: DPU must create an alternative dispute resolution process for customer damage claims under $100, with a 60‑day resolution timeline and a biannual public report to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
  • Eligible infrastructure replacement (amendment to Section 145): defines “eligible” projects (criteria include post–Jan 1, 2015 work, public‑safety/reliability improvements, leak reductions, not adding new‑customer revenue, not already in rate base, may include advanced leak repair tech and replacement with utility‑scale non‑emitting renewable thermal infrastructure).

Who is affected

  • Gas distribution and transmission companies operating in Massachusetts (and their parent corporations).
  • In‑house and contractor employees of those companies and labor organizations.
  • Ratepayers, taxpayers, and the Commonwealth (pension/transition cost exposure).
  • DPU and the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

Procedural status & timeline

  • Filed/prefiled: Dec 5, 2024 (prefiled); filed 1/13/2025.
  • Introduced/first read: 1/14/2025.
  • Referred: Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy committee (2/27/2025) and references in records to Committee on Judiciary (document shows some committee referrals to Judiciary on 1/14/2025 and 12/5/2024 — possibly procedural artifacts).
  • Hearings: listed hearings scheduled/rescheduled for 11/13/2025 (multiple listings).
  • Current status shown as “Referred to Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.”

Brief note on appended 911-call‑abuse text (South Carolina draft)

The appended South Carolina draft would amend S.C. Code §23‑47‑80 to expressly prohibit disruptive text‑to‑911 conduct (e.g., texting 911 in such volume as to disrupt service). Violations are misdemeanors punishable by up to six months imprisonment, a fine up to $200, or both, effective upon governor approval. This text appears unrelated to MA H 3531.

If you want, I can:
- Produce a focused one‑page brief for legislators or stakeholders about the MA gas workforce provisions; or
- Prepare a redlined comparison between current Chapter 164 language and the proposed changes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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