reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 163 § 7 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 7 - Service as Common Carrier

Section 7. Every corporation undertaking to perform the kind of public service authorized by this chapter shall thereupon become a common carrier, with all the duties and liabilities of common carriers, and the department shall have the same jurisdiction over the operation and the service rendered that it has over street railway companies, except that no corporation shall be required, without its consent, to extend its trackless trolley service beyond that described in its petition under the preceding section or in its offer to the department thereunder, and the department may permit the suspension or curtailment in whole or in part of the trackless trolley service of any corporation operating under authority of this chapter whenever, by reason of weather or traffic conditions, or of the condition of the highways, or the season of the year, such suspension or curtailment may be desirable for the safety of the traveling public or to avoid loss in operation.
MA Gen L ch 163 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 8 - Application of Laws Governing Street Railways

Section 8. Every corporation doing business under this chapter shall be subject to general laws governing street railway companies in respect to the future issue of stocks and bonds, consolidation, leases, revocation of permits and locations; and shall also be subject to the same regulation and supervision, and shall file with the department the same reports and information required of street railway companies, so far as such regulation, supervision and requirements are applicable to corporations doing business under this chapter and are consistent with its provisions.
MA Gen L ch 163 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 9 - Commencement of Operation; Limitation

Section 9. The right of any corporation to erect poles, wires and other appliances in accordance with any permit granted under section six, and to operate trackless trolley vehicles upon the line designated in such permit, shall cease as to so much thereof as shall not be in operation within two years after the date of approval by the department, or within such further time as it may, after a hearing, grant.
MA Gen L ch 163 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 10 - Purchase of Electricity

Section 10. Any corporation doing business under this chapter may purchase electricity from any person, city or town, engaged in its manufacture or distribution or from any street railway company, on such terms and conditions as the department approves, and, with like approval, may make contracts with any corporation having poles, wires, conduits or other structures or appliances within the limits of public ways or on private lands for the purchase or for the use of such poles, wires, conduits or other structures.
MA Gen L ch 163 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 11 - Purchase of Real and Personal Property

Section 11. Any corporation doing business under this chapter may purchase and hold personal and real estate necessary or convenient for the operation of its lines.
MA Gen L ch 163 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 163 - Trackless Trolley Companies|Section 12 - Security for Liability of Company; Persons Enforcing Payment

Section 12. The department of its own motion or upon petition of any interested party may, if after notice and a hearing it finds that such action is necessary for the protection of the public, require any corporation doing business under this chapter to furnish security by bond and/or otherwise, in such amount and of such character as it may, from time to time, determine and approve, for the payment of any final judgment which may be rendered against such corporation for any injury to person or property or for damages for causing the death of any person, by reason of any negligent or unlawful act, on the part of such corporation, its agents or employees, in the use or operation of vehicles by said system known as trolley motor or trackless trolley. Any bond so required shall run to the state treasurer as obligee. Any person so injured or damaged, or his executor or administrator, or the executor or administrator of any person whose death was so caused, may enforce payment of such judgment by suit on such bond in the name of the state treasurer, and in such suit the court may make any appropriate order for the application of any security required as aforesaid.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 1c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 1c - Marketing Companies

Section 1C. Any marketing company formed by an electric company shall be in the form of an affiliate of the electric company and shall be separate from any generation, transmission, or distribution company affiliate of the electric company. The department shall promulgate standards of conduct which shall ensure the separation of such affiliates and which shall be consistent with the following provisions: (i) a distribution company shall not give any affiliates any preference over non-affiliated suppliers or customers thereof in matters relating to any product or service; (ii) all products, services, discounts, rebates, and fee waivers offered by a distribution company shall be available to all customers and suppliers simultaneously, to the extent technically possible, on a comparable basis; (iii) a distribution company shall process all same or similar requests for any product, service, or information in the same manner and within the same period of time; (iv) a distribution company shall not condition or tie the provision of any product, service, or rate agreement by the distribution company to the provision of any product or service to which an affiliate is involved; (v) a distribution company shall not share with any affiliate any market information acquired or developed by the distribution company in the course of responding to requests for distribution service or any proprietary customer information without the prior written authorization by the customer; (vi) a distribution company shall refrain from presenting that any advantage accrues to customers or others in the use of its services as a result of that customer or others dealing with any such affiliate; (vii) a distribution company shall not engage in joint advertising or marketing programs with any affiliate; and (viii) employees of a distribution company shall not be shared with, and shall be physically separated from those of, any generating or marketing affiliate.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 1e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 1e - Performance Based Rate Schemes; Labor Displacement or Reductions; Mediation of Small Claims

Section 1E. (a) The department is hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to establish and require performance based rates for each distribution, transmission, and gas company organized and doing business in the commonwealth pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. In promulgating such performance based rate schemes, the department shall establish service quality standards each distribution, transmission, and gas company, including, but not limited to, standards for customer satisfaction service outages, distribution facility upgrades, repairs and maintenance, telephone service, billing service, and public safety provided, however, that such service quality standards shall include benchmarks for employee staff levels and employee training programs for each such distribution, transmission, and gas company.  (b) In complying with the service quality standards and employee benchmarks established pursuant to this section, a distribution, transmission, or gas company that makes a performance based rating filing after the effective date of this act shall not be allowed to engage in labor displacement or reductions below staffing levels in existence on November 1, 1997, unless such are part of a collective bargaining agreement or agreements between such company and the applicable organization or organizations representing such workers, or with the approval of the department following an evidentiary hearing at which the burden shall be upon the company to demonstrate that such staffing reductions shall not adversely disrupt service quality standards as established by the department herein. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent reduction of forces below the November 1, 1997 level through early retirement and severances negotiated with labor organizations before said date.  (c) The department shall promulgate regulations relative to an alternative dispute resolution process for the handling of damage claims by customers in an amount under $100. The department shall establish a 60 day timeline for the resolution of all mediation claims. The department shall issue a biannual report to the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy which shall include, but not be limited to, the following information: the nature of consumer claims, the number of consumer claims and the resolutions of consumer claims reviewed by the department during the previous 6 months. Said report shall be available for public review at the department.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 1i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 1i - Service Quality Standards Reports to Be Filed by Investor-Owned Electric Distribution, Transmission, and Natural Gas Distribution Companies; Penalty for Failure to Meet Service Quality Standards

Section 1I. Each investor-owned electric distribution, transmission, and natural gas distribution company shall file a report with the department by March first of each year comparing its performance during the previous calendar year to the department's service quality standards and any applicable national standards as may be adopted by the department. The department shall be authorized to levy a penalty against any distribution, transmission, or gas company which fails to meet the service quality standards in an amount up to and including the equivalent of 2.5 per cent of such company's transmission and distribution service revenues for the previous calendar year.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 1j (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 1j - Establishment of Standards of Acceptable Performance for Emergency Preparation and Restoration of Service for Electric and Gas Distribution Companies; Investigation of Violation of Standards; Penalties

[ Text of section effective until June 24, 2021. For text effective June 24, 2021, see below.]  Section 1J. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to establish standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of service for electric and gas distribution companies doing business in the commonwealth. The department shall levy a penalty not to exceed $250,000 for each violation for each day that the violation of the department's standards persists; provided, however, that the maximum penalty shall not exceed $20,000,000 for any related series of violations. The department shall open a full investigation, upon its own initiative, or upon petition of the attorney general or by the city council in an affected city or by the board of selectmen in an affected town, regarding a violation of the department's standards of acceptable performance to determine whether the electric or gas distribution company violated such standards; provided, however, that said petition shall be filed with the department not later than 90 days after the violation has been remedied. Chapter 164: Section 1J. Establishment of standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of service for electric and gas distribution companies; investigation of violation of standards; penalties [ Text of section as amended by 2021, 8, Secs. 79 and 80 effective June 24, 2021. For text effective until June 24, 2021, see above.]  Section 1J. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations to establish standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of service for electric and gas distribution companies doing business in the commonwealth. The department shall levy a penalty not to exceed $500,000 for each violation for each day that the violation of the department's standards persists; provided, however, that the maximum penalty shall not exceed $50,000,000 for any related series of violations. The department shall open a full investigation, upon its own initiative, or upon petition of the attorney general or by the city council in an affected city or by the board of selectmen in an affected town, regarding a violation of the department's standards of acceptable performance to determine whether the electric or gas distribution company violated such standards; provided, however, that said petition shall be filed with the department not later than 90 days after the violation has been remedied.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 1k (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 1k - Penalties to Be Credited Back to Customers

Section 1K. Any penalty levied by the department against an investor-owned electric distribution, transmission or natural gas distribution company for any violation of the department's standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of service for electric and gas distribution companies shall be credited back to the company's customers in a manner determined by the department.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 2 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 2 - Construction

Section 2. In construing sections 69G to 69O, inclusive, 70, 71, 74 to 83, inclusive, 92 to 95, inclusive, 103, 105, 106, 109, 112 to 114, inclusive, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 123 to 127, inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms ''corporation'', ''gas company'' and ''electric company'' shall include (i) all persons, firms, associations and private corporations which own or operate works or a distributing plant for the manufacture and sale, or distribution and sale of gas for heating and illuminating purposes, or of electricity, within the commonwealth, or (ii) or a transmission company that is affiliated with an ''electric company'', but shall not include any alternative energy producer other than persons, firms, associations, and private corporations expressly excluded from the definition of ''electric company'' in section 1; and in construing sections 103, 105, 109, 112 to 114, inclusive, 116, 117, 120, 121, and 123 to 127, inclusive, the terms ''corporation'', ''gas company'' and ''electric company'' shall include municipal corporations which own or may acquire municipal lighting plants. Electric companies, which engage in generation and which are not part of a vertically integrated electric company or do not have a distribution affiliate in the commonwealth, shall be exempt from sections 3 to 33, inclusive, and section 93. Electric companies, which engage solely in the transmission or transmission and sale of electricity, shall be exempt from this chapter to the extent that they are preempted by federal law.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 3 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 3 - Corporations Governed by Chapter

Section 3. This chapter shall apply to gas and electric companies organized or chartered under any general or special laws applicable thereto, and to the respective officers and stockholders of such corporations.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 4 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 4 - Application of Chapter 156b

Section 4. The following sections of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B shall apply to corporations subject to this chapter:  (a) Sections seven, nine, nine A, ten, fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, twenty, twenty-six, twenty-nine through forty, forty-two through fifty-nine, sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-five through sixty-nine, seventy-seven, ninety-nine through one hundred and thirteen and one hundred and fifteen.  (b) Section twenty-seven, except that paragraphs (b) and (c) thereof shall apply only to certificates issued after October first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.  (c) Sections sixty-three and sixty-four shall apply also to statements, reports, articles of organization, articles of amendment and articles of consolidation or merger required to be filed pursuant to this chapter or chapter one hundred and fifty-six B.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 4a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 4a - State Secretary; Examination of Documents; Approval; Instances of Corporate Omission

Section 4A. The state secretary shall examine each document submitted to him under the provisions of this chapter. If he finds that the provisions of law relative thereto have been complied with, he shall endorse his approval thereon, and upon payment of the fee provided in section thirty-three such document shall be deemed to be filed with the state secretary. The state secretary shall keep a record, conveniently indexed, of each such document, of his endorsement of approval, if given, of the date of submission, and of the date on which such document is filed, and shall keep such documents on file in his office in a manner convenient for public inspection. He shall cause a photographic or other copy to be made of articles of organization and amendments thereof so filed showing his approval endorsed thereon, and shall deliver the same to the corporation.  The state secretary shall report to the attorney general instances of neglect or omission on the part of corporations to comply with the provisions of law so that the attorney general may enforce the penalties therefor.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 5 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 5 - Organization of Corporation; Certification by State Secretary

Section 5. The organization of a corporation to be formed under this chapter shall be effected in accordance with the requirements of section twelve of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B and section six. A certified statement of the fact of incorporation by the state secretary shall be conclusive evidence of incorporation. Nothing contained in this chapter shall authorize the organization of a combined gas and electric company, unless the department, after notice and a public hearing, shall certify to the state secretary that it deems the public convenience will be promoted thereby.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 5a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 5a - Name; Restrictions; Injunctive Relief

Section 5A. The name of a corporation subject to this chapter shall contain the words ''gas company'' or ''electric company'', as the case may be. Such corporation shall not assume the name or trade name of another corporation established under the laws of the commonwealth, or of a corporation wherever established, firm, association or person carrying on business in the commonwealth, at the time of incorporation or change of name of the corporation assuming any such name or within three years prior thereto, or assume a name which is under reservation under the laws of the commonwealth for another or proposed corporation wherever established, or assume a name so similar to the foregoing as to be likely to be mistaken for it, except with the written consent of the said corporation, firm or association or of such person previously filed with the state secretary. The supreme judicial or superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, upon the application of any person interested or affected, to enjoin such corporation from doing business under a name assumed in violation of any provision of this section, although articles of organization or articles of amendment may have been approved and filed. Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of section eleven of chapter one hundred and fifty-six B shall apply to corporations subject to this chapter.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 8 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 8 - Amendment of Articles of Organization; Changes in Capital Stock or Corporate Name

Section 8. A corporation subject to this chapter may authorize, at a meeting duly called for the purpose, an amendment of its articles of organization by vote of the majority of each class of stock outstanding and entitled to vote thereon, effecting any one or more of the following:  (a) a change of the par value of the shares of its capital stock in accordance with clause (5) of paragraph (a) of section six, provided the aggregate par value of the outstanding shares shall not be increased by any such change, and provided further that such change shall not be effective unless the department shall approve the same on an application of the corporation filed within thirty days after the passage of the vote authorizing such change;  (b) an increase of its capital stock of any class then authorized, or a reduction of any such class of stock; and  (c) change of its corporate name.