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S 655

Enacts the corporate accountability for tax expenditures act

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jamaal Bailey and 3 co-sponsors

Massachusetts water utilities must quarterly report disaggregated customer-service data by ZIP code to EOEEA, enabling transparency and targeted equity improvements.

REFERRED TO CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS
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Bill Summary · S 655

Summary — S.655: An Act advancing water access equity through utility reporting requirements

Status: Referred to Corporations, Authorities and Commissions (filed 1/17/2025; hearing scheduled 6/3/2025; reported favorably to Senate Ways & Means 7/03/2025)
Primary sponsor: Sen. Rebecca L. Rausch (Norfolk, Worcester & Middlesex)
Effective date if enacted: January 1, 2026

Purpose

The bill requires public and private water utilities operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to collect and regularly report customer-service data to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). The stated intent is to increase transparency and produce disaggregated data to identify and address inequities in water access and affordability.

Key provisions

  • Amends section 22 of chapter 25 of the General Laws by adding new reporting requirements (new subparagraphs (f)–(h)).
  • Quarterly reports: All public and private water utilities must file quarterly customer-service reports with EOEEA. Reports must be public records and disaggregated by ZIP code.
  • Required data elements (excerpted):
    • Number of customers served by provider.
    • Number of disconnection notices sent for nonpayment.
    • Number and dates of actual water shutoffs and average time between disconnection and reconnection.
    • Number of accounts that became eligible for disconnection but were not disconnected due to COVID-era suspension of disconnections.
    • Counts of customers charged late fees, penalties, reconnection fees, interest, or other late-payment charges.
    • Number of liens placed, sold, or enforced on real property for nonpayment.
    • Number of customers enrolled in deferred payment agreements at month-end and average repayment term.
    • Counts of customers who entered, completed, or defaulted on deferred payment agreements.
    • Inventory of customer assistance programs, including eligibility terms and available budgets.
    • Number of customers receiving assistance (month-end), total dollars provided, and number denied assistance.
    • Methods and content of utility communications informing customers of rights and available assistance.
  • EOEEA authority: EOEEA may adopt implementing regulations.
  • Annual reporting: By March 15 each year, EOEEA must report to the Senate and House committees on Ways & Means and the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources & Agriculture summarizing results of these equity-audit reports.

Who would be affected

  • Public and private water utilities providing service in Massachusetts (reporting and administrative compliance).
  • Utility customers, especially low-income households and communities where shutoffs, liens, and delinquencies are concentrated — data disaggregation by ZIP code targets geographic equity analysis.
  • EOEEA and legislative oversight committees (data receipt, regulation, and annual reporting).

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Transparency: Enables identification of geographic and demographic disparities in disconnections, liens, and program access.
  • Policy design: Data can inform targeted assistance programs, moratoria decisions, and regulatory interventions.
  • Administrative burden: Utilities (particularly smaller systems) will incur costs to collect, disaggregate, and report data; the bill does not appropriate funding for implementation.
  • Privacy and data use: Public ZIP-code-level reporting increases transparency but may raise privacy considerations if combined with other datasets.
  • Enforcement & implementation: EOEEA rulemaking authority provides a path for detailed reporting standards and timelines.

Next steps / procedural

  • Pending committee consideration and any amendments. If enacted, reporting requirements take effect January 1, 2026.

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

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