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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 164, § 58 (2026)

Schedule of prices for gas and electricity

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 58. There shall be fixed schedules of prices for gas and electricity, which shall not be changed oftener than once in three months. Any change shall take effect on the first day of a month, and shall first be advertised in a newspaper, if any, published in the municipality. No price in said schedules shall, without the written consent of the department, be fixed at less than production cost as it may be defined from time to time by order of the department. Such schedules of prices shall be fixed to yield not more than eight per cent per annum on the cost of the plant, as it may be determined from time to time by order of the department, after the payment of all operating expenses, interest on the outstanding debt, the requirements of the serial debt or sinking fund established to meet said debt, and also depreciation of the plant reckoned as provided in section fifty-seven, and losses; but any losses exceeding three per cent of the investment in the plant may be charged in succeeding years at not more than three per cent per annum. The gas and electricity used by the municipality for any purpose except street lighting shall be charged for in accordance with the prices in the fixed schedules. The gas and electricity used by the municipality for street lighting shall be charged for at a cost to be determined as follows: the sum of all operating expenses, interest on the outstanding debt, the requirements of the serial debt or sinking fund established to meet said debt, and also depreciation of the plant reckoned as provided in section fifty-seven, and losses, shall be the dividend; the kilowatt hours sold including those supplied for street lighting shall be the divisor, and the resulting quotient multiplied by the kilowatt hours supplied for street lighting shall be the cost to be charged to the municipality for street lighting. In lieu of the method of determining charges for electricity used by the municipality for street lighting, as set forth in the preceding sentence, electricity so used may be charged for at a cost in accordance with a street lighting schedule filed with and approved by the department.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1965–2012 · leading case: Bertone v. Dep't of Pub. Utils., 583 N.E.2d 829 (Mass. 1992).
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Bertone v. Dep't of Pub. Utils., 583 N.E.2d 829 (Mass. 1992). · cites it 4× “The Bertones argued to the department that the hookup charge was unlawfully discriminatory because the charge financed capital improvements that materially benefit a large class of existing HMLP customers who were not required to pay hook-up charges.”
Fitchburg Gas & Elec. Light Co. v. Dep't of Telecomm. & Energy, 801 N.E.2d 220 (Mass. 2004). “164, § IE (authority to establish rules and regulations for gas company base rates); G. L. c. 164, § 58 (procedures for gas and electricity price regulation); G.”
Town of Middleborough v. Middleborough Gas & Elec. Dep't, 664 N.E.2d 25 (Mass. 1996). “Specifically, DPU requires the submission of annual filings, limits annual earnings, and regulates such issues as accounting methods, billing practices, bidding procedures, and depreciation rates.”
Denver Street LLC v. Town of Saugus, 970 N.E.2d 273 (Mass. 2012). “However, in the quoted portion of Bertone , the court was weighing benefits as part of its analysis whether the fee was discriminatory under G. L. c. 164, § 58, a statute governing operation of municipal lighting plants, not whether there was a sufficiently particularized…”
Holyoke Water Power Co. v. City of Holyoke, 208 N.E.2d 801 (Mass. 1965). “Prior to March 1, 1963, the city “sold steam on an equal and uniform basis to steam customers in accordance with a rate schedule filed pursuant to” G. L. c. 164, § 58, but, “ef *444 fective as of March, 1, 1963, the [c]ity .”
Bd. of Gas & Elec. Commissioners v. Dep't of Pub. Utils., 294 N.E.2d 866 (Mass. 1973). “after the payment of all operating expenses, interest on the outstanding debt, the requirements of the serial debt or sinking fund established to meet said debt, and also depreciation of the plant.”
Arsenault v. City of Peabody, 378 N.E.2d 706 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978). “433, 437-438 [1973]), the only remaining legal issue raised by these cases appears to be whether the defendant’s use of a fuel adjustment clause, pursuant to which the unit cost of electricity may fluctuate (and has fluctuated) from month to month with fluctuations in the cost…”
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