Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XXII Chapter 164
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 164, § 47A (2026)

Exemption from requirements allowing competitive choice of generation supply; prohibition of retail sales by nonmunicipal suppliers and electric companies within municipal service territory; sale of electricity at wholesale; sale of electricity in adjoining service territory; restrictions on service to present customers of municipal lighting plants; referendum on competitive choice of generation supply

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 47A. (a) Any municipal lighting plant established pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or special law shall be exempt from the requirements to allow competitive choice of generation supply, unless and until such lighting plant is dissolved pursuant to existing statutory procedures.

(b) A municipal lighting plant established pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or special law may prohibit retail sales by suppliers and electric companies to customers within the service territory of said lighting plant; provided, however, that a municipal lighting plant may supply generation service outside its own service territory for retail purposes only if outside suppliers may provide generation service within the service territory of said municipal lighting plant by mutual agreement with said lighting plant. Such agreement, upon execution, shall be submitted to the department and shall detail the manner in which any such supplier shall conduct business within the service territory of said lighting plant.

(c) A municipal lighting plant may sell electricity at wholesale, for resale, to aggregators, or other entities in bulk and shall not, in doing so, be deemed to be supplying generation services outside its own service territory for the purposes of subsection (b).

(d) A municipal lighting plant may sell electricity at retail, by mutual agreement or by order of the department as provided pursuant to section 47 or section 60 of this chapter, in the service territory of an adjoining electric company or a municipal lighting plant, and such sale shall not be deemed to be supplying generation service outside its own service territory for the purposes of subsection (b). Such mutual agreement shall be between the municipal lighting plant selling such electricity at retail and the adjoining electric company or other municipal lighting plant.

(e) No municipality, private corporation, or other entity selling or distributing electricity shall use existing lines or extend its lines except by mutual agreement with a municipal lighting plant or by order of the department as provided pursuant to section 47 or section 60 of this chapter in order to distribute or sell electricity to customers presently served by such municipal lighting plant.

(f) If a municipal lighting plant has not allowed retail customers served by it competitive choice of generation supply by March 1, 2003, the governing body for each city or town with such municipal lighting plant shall conduct a study, which shall include the holding of public hearings, and may make recommendations which may include, but shall not be limited to, conducting a referendum relative to competitive choice of generation supply for the customers of such municipal lighting plant.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 2000–2007 · leading case: Town of Norwood v. New England Power Co., 202 F.3d 408 (1st Cir. 2000).
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Town of Norwood v. New England Power Co., 202 F.3d 408 (1st Cir. 2000). · cites it 3× “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 164, § 47A. The prospective sale by New England Power of its low-cost hydroelectric and fossil generating facilities posed a potential problem for existing requirements-contract purchasers like Norwood, since New England Power’s existing tariff rates…”
Town of Norwood v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 476 F.3d 18 (1st Cir. 2007). “Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 164, § 47A. *21 Additionally, as part of its restructuring, NEPCO sought approval from FERC to sell virtually all of its non-nuclear generating facilities.”
Shea v. Boston Edison Co., 431 Mass. 251 (Mass. 2000). “G. L. c. 164, § 47A (a). However, the Act requires the governing body for all communities served by MLPs that have not already converted to the open market system by March 1, 2003, to conduct a study and hold public hearings, and the Act permits these communities to hold a…”
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