reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 164 § 116b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 116b - Gas Company to Provide Maintenance and Improvement of Gate Boxes During Street, Sidewalk or Road Repair; Application for Assistance

Section 116B. Whenever the commonwealth or a city or town undertakes the repair of streets, roads or sidewalks the appropriate gas company shall provide for the maintenance and improvements of its gate boxes located in the streets, roads or sidewalks to be repaired, so that the gate boxes are more easily and immediately accessible. A gas company may apply for funds under chapter 90 to assist in paying the costs of the maintenance and improvement.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 117 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 117 - Written Statement of Amount Recorded Given by Meter Reader

Section 117. When a gas or electric meter in a building owned or used by a customer of a gas or electric company is read by an employee or agent of such company, he shall, upon request, deliver to the person using the gas or electricity measured by the meter a written statement of the amount recorded by the meter at that time.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 118 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 118 - Easy Ascertainment of Electric Meter Reading

Section 118. Meters for measuring electricity for lighting purposes supplied to consumers shall register the quantity of electricity passing through them in kilowatt hours, so that the number of kilowatt hours consumed may easily be ascertained by the consumer.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 119 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 119 - Meter Rentals

Section 119. No charge for the use of a meter or for other similar purpose covering any portion of twelve consecutive months in connection with the supply of gas or electricity for domestic use only shall be made by a corporation, other than a municipality, furnishing the same, in addition to the charge for the gas or electricity delivered, if the consumer during such time uses electricity to the value of nine dollars or gas to the value of seven dollars; provided that, subject to the approval of the department, rates may be graduated according to the quantities of gas or electricity used, and, subject to like approval, such a charge may be made to customers furnished gas or electricity seasonally or under promotional rates or room or area rates. Whoever makes a charge contrary to this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. This section shall not apply to charges for sale or rental of appliances.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 119a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 119a - Itemized Statement of Quantity of Gas, Electricity or Fuel Used at Each of Several Rates

Section 119A. When a consumer is charged for gas or electricity at several rates according to the quantity used, his bill, to the extent that the gas or electricity is used for domestic purposes, shall be so itemized as to show the quantity charged for at each rate, and where the use is for other than domestic purposes such detail shall be furnished by the company on request of the consumer, and the bill shall contain a statement to this effect. All fuel charges imposed by electric companies pursuant to section ninety-four G shall be itemized separately on all bills to customers.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 120 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 120 - Testing Electric Meters in Use; Cost of Test

Section 120. A customer of a corporation subject to this chapter, or such corporation, may apply to the department for an examination and test of any electric meter, demand indicator, so called, and any other device or appliance installed by such corporation upon a customer's premises and used by such corporation to determine the charge to the customer for its service. The department shall forthwith cause such examination and test as in its judgment is practicable and reasonable to be made by a competent and disinterested person, and shall furnish to the corporation and to the customer a certificate of the result and expense thereof. If, upon such examination and test, it appears that the appliance does not register correctly, the department may order the corporation to correct or remove such meter, demand indicator or other device or appliance and to substitute a correct meter, demand indicator or other device or appliance therefor. All fees for examinations and tests shall in the first instance be paid by the person or corporation making application therefor; but if the examination or test is made at the request of a customer, and the meter is found to be incorrect because too fast, the corporation shall pay such fees to the department, to be repaid by it to the applicant. A meter shall be deemed correct for the purposes of this section if it appears from such examination or test that it does not vary more than two per cent from the standard approved by the department. This section shall not authorize or prohibit differential prices for electricity supplied by any such company.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 121 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 121 - Entry Upon Premises to Make Test; Compensation of Person Making Test; Rules and Regulations

Section 121. The person designated to make such examination and test may at any reasonable time enter upon the premises where the meter to be inspected is placed for the purpose of making the inspection. He shall receive such compensation for his services as the department may determine, together with his necessary traveling and other expenses, which shall be audited by the department and paid by the commonwealth; but the total amount of compensation and expenses shall not exceed three thousand dollars in any year; and if the total amount of such compensation and expenses shall in any year exceed the amount of the fees received for such examinations and tests, the excess shall be assessed and recovered from the electric companies in the manner now provided for the assessment and recovery of the other expenses of the department. The department may establish such rules and regulations, fix such standards, prescribe such fees, and employ such means and methods in, and in connection with, such examinations and tests of electric meters as it deems most practicable, expedient and economical. The department may purchase such materials, apparatus and standard measuring instruments for such examinations and tests as it deems necessary.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 122 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 122 - Use of Incorrect Meter; Refund

Section 122. Whoever, being engaged in the sale of electricity, maintains upon the premises of a customer for the purpose of determining the charge to be made for electricity supplied to him a meter, demand indicator or other mechanical device or appliance which is found upon examination and test, as provided in section one hundred and twenty, to register incorrectly as against such customer, shall refund to him such an amount as, if not agreed upon, shall, upon application of the customer and after opportunity given to the vendor to be heard, be determined by the department.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 123 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 123 - Prepayment Meters; Risk of Loss of Deposits

Section 123. All gas and electric companies using prepayment meters shall be responsible for the loss by fire of any money deposited in said meters.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124 - Entry of Premises to Stop Gas or Electricity

Section 124. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a gas or electric company may stop gas or electricity from entering the premises of any person failing to pay the amount due therefor or for the use of the meter or instrument necessary to measure supply of service; and for such purpose, the officers, servants or workmen thereof may, after three days' notice by mail, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, enter his premises between the hours of eight in the forenoon and four in the afternoon and separate and take away such meter or other property of the company, and may disconnect any meter, pipe, wires, fittings or other works, whether they are property of the company or not, from its mains, pipes or wires. In the event a person is being serviced by gas or electricity at two or more premises at the same time, a gas or electric company may enter only those premises to which the unpaid amount relates.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124a - Shutting Off or Failing to Restore Service During Serious Illness

Section 124A. No gas or electric company shall shut off or fail to restore gas or electric service in any residence during such time as there is a serious illness therein; provided, however, that a registered physician or the local board of health certifies in writing to the company that such serious illness exists; and provided, further, that the customer cannot afford to pay any overdue bill because of a financial hardship. Any such certification by a registered physician or local board of health shall be effective unless and until found invalid, after review, by the department. The department may promulgate such rules and regulations consistent with this section as it deems reasonable and necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124b - Shutting Off Gas or Electric Service for Failure to Pay for Appliances; Prohibition

Section 124B. No gas or electric company shall shut off gas or electric service in any home for the reason that a person has failed to pay for an appliance purchased from such company.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124c - Nursing Homes, Homes for the Aged, Convalescent Homes, and Hospitals; Shutting Off Gas or Electric Service

Section 124C. No gas or electric utility intending to shut off gas or electricity in any licensed nursing home, home for the aged, convalescent home or hospital, shall do so without first giving fourteen days' notice in writing to the customer and to the department. Such utility may thereafter shut off such service only upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by the department.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124e - Termination of Gas and Electric Service; Households With Residents 65 or Older

Section 124E. No gas or electric company shall shut off gas or electric service to any household in which all residents are sixty-five years of age or older, for failure to pay an outstanding indebtedness for said service without first complying with all rules and regulations of the department related thereto.  The department shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to ensure that termination of service shall be authorized only after said company has complied with such reasonable methods of collection as may be approved by the department.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124f (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124f - Shutting Off Service During Financial Hardship

Section 124F. No gas or electric company shall between November fifteenth and March fifteenth shut off gas or electric service to any residential customer who cannot pay an overdue charge because of financial hardship, when such gas or electric service is used to provide heat or to operate the heating system of the customer's unit or building. The department may promulgate such rules and regulations consistent with this section as it deems reasonable and necessary to implement the provision of this section.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124g - Restoration of Service Upon Payment

Section 124G. No gas or electric company which shuts off gas or electric service of a residential customer in compliance with the provisions of this chapter shall, upon receipt of full payment or such partial payment as such company deems satisfactory by such customer, fail to restore full and complete service.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124h (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124h - Shutting Off Service in Residence Where Infant Domiciled

Section 124H. No gas or electric company shall shut off gas or electric service in any residence in which there is domiciled a person under the age of twelve months provided that the customer cannot afford to pay any overdue bill because of financial hardship. The department may promulgate such rules and regulations consistent with this section as it deems reasonable and necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 124i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 124i - Penalties

Section 124I. Any company found by the department to have wilfully violated sections one hundred and twenty-four A to one hundred and twenty-four H, inclusive, shall be assessed a penalty after a hearing by the department, in an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 125 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 125 - Refusal to Supply Because of Default of Previous Occupant

Section 125. A gas or electric company shall not refuse to supply gas or electricity for any building or premises to a person applying therefor who is not in arrears to it for any gas or electricity previously supplied to him, because a bill for gas or electricity remains unpaid by a previous occupant of such building or premises.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 125a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 125a - Supply to Commonwealth or Municipality After Expiration of Contract; Price

Section 125A. A gas or electric company, generation company, wholesale generation company, or supplier which has been furnishing gas or electricity to the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, under a contract that has expired may, until a new contract for supplying gas or electricity to the commonwealth or such political subdivision has lawfully been made, continue to furnish the same to the commonwealth or such political subdivision, notwithstanding any provision of general or special law, city or town charter, or of any ordinance or by-law regulating the making of such contracts. The price, which the commonwealth or such political subdivision shall be liable in contract to pay for gas or electricity so furnished, shall be in accordance with the terms of such expired contract or a schedule of rates filed under section ninety-four or as ordered by the department under the provisions of section ninety-three.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 126 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 126 - Wilful Injury or Interference With Gas Meter or Other Property; Penalty; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 126. Whoever wilfully or fraudulently injures, disconnects, removes or otherwise interferes with, or suffers to be injured, disconnected, removed or otherwise interfered with, any meter, pipes or fittings belonging to a gas company or to any person, or prevents a meter from duly registering the quantity of gas supplied through the same, or in any way hinders or interferes with its proper action of just registration, or fraudulently burns or wastes the gas of such company or of any person, or whoever attaches a pipe or any appliance to a main or pipe belonging to a gas company, or, without the written consent of such company, uses or causes to be used any gas supplied by such company, unless the same passes through a meter set by the company, or uses or causes to be used, any gas charge to any person without his written consent, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.  The existence of any of the conditions with reference to meters or attachments described in this section shall be prima facie evidence that a firm, corporation or other business entity, commercial or industrial, to whom such gas is, at the time, being furnished by or through such meters or attachments has, with intent to defraud, created or caused to be created with reference to such meters or attachments, the condition so existing; provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether or not the defendant was responsible for the acts alleged to have been committed; provided, further, that the prima facie evidence referred to in this paragraph shall not apply to a residential customer; provided, further, that the prima facie evidence referred to in this paragraph shall not apply to any firm, corporation or other business entity, commercial or industrial, so furnished with gas for less than thirty-one days or until there has been at least one meter reading, whichever first occurs.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 126a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 126a - Impersonating an Officer or Servant of a Gas or Electric Company; Penalties

Section 126A. Whoever falsely assumes, pretends to be or holds himself out as an officer or servant of a gas or electric company for the purpose of gaining access to any premises shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both such fine and imprisonment.
MA Gen L ch 164 § 127 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XXII - Corporations|Chapter 164 - Manufacture and Sale of Gas and Electricity|Section 127 - Intentional Injury to Electric Meter or Other Property; Penalty; Prima Facie Evidence

Section 127. Whoever unlawfully and with intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a prospective or previously rendered service the charge or compensation for which is measured by a meter or other mechanical device injures or destroys, or suffers to be injured or destroyed, any meter, pipe, conduit, wire, line, pole, lamp or other apparatus belonging to a corporation engaged in the manufacture or sale of electricity or to any person, or whoever unlawfully and with intent to avoid payment by himself or another person for a prospective or previously rendered service prevents an electric meter from duly registering the quantity of electricity supplied, or in any way interferes with its proper action or just registration, or, without the consent of such corporation or person, unlawfully and intentionally diverts or suffers to be diverted any electrical current from any wire of such corporation or person, or otherwise unlawfully and intentionally uses or causes to be used, without the consent of such corporation or person, any electricity manufactured or distributed by such corporation, or charged to such person, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.  The existence of any of the conditions with reference to meters or attachments described in this section shall be prima facie evidence that a firm, corporation or other business entity, commercial or industrial, to whom such electricity is, at the time, being furnished by or through such meters or attachments has, with intent to defraud, created or caused to be created with reference to such meters or attachments, the condition so existing; provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to limit the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether or not the defendant was responsible for the acts alleged to have been committed; provided, further, that the prima facie evidence referred to in this paragraph shall not apply to a residential customer; provided, further, that the prima facie evidence referred to in this paragraph shall not apply to any firm, corporation or other business entity, commercial or industrial, so furnished with electricity for less than thirty-one days or until there has been at least one meter reading, whichever first occurs.