Senator Barry Finegold was elected in 2018 to represent the Second Essex and Middlesex District which includes Andover, Dracut, Lawrence and Tewksbury, a seat he previously held from 2010 to 2015. He currently serves as the Chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws and Chair of the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet, and Cybersecurity.
Residents and businesses in Andover and Lawrence were traumatized, and a young man lost his life in September 2018 due to the negligence of Columbia Gas. Holding utility companies accountable and prioritizing safety is essential to ensuring a tragedy like this never happens again.” -Barry
After listening to those affected by the Columbia Gas explosions in his district, Senator Finegold filed a bill to make sure a disaster like that never happens again. The legislation, if passed, would make public utility companies more accountable to ratepayers, prioritizing safety and cost recovery to better prevent and respond to any such emergencies.
Highlights of the bill include:
gas companies could be fined up to $5M per day that service is not restored past the "reasonable date" set by DPU
a more aggressive timeline for repairing level 1 and 2 leaks and creating a timeline to repair level 3 leaks in school zones
required mutual aid between public utility companies in the event of an emergency
customers who lose service for more than 24 hours would be credited for that month of service by the public utility company
insurance policies that cover "business interruptions" would need to include declared public utility emergencies in their definition of business interruption
The bill has bipartisan support from legislators across the Merrimack Valley, including Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and Representatives Marcos Devers, Christina Minicucci, Frank Moran & Tram Nguyen.