§ 3 — Annual assessments against electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph companies

Section 3. The director is hereby authorized to make an annual assessment against each electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph company doing business in the commonwealth and subject to the supervision of the department of public utilities, based upon intrastate operating revenues of each of such companies derived from the sales of electric, water, gas, telephone and telegraph services, respectively, as shown on the annual report or annual statement of each such company filed with the appropriate supervising agency. Such assessment shall be in such amount as determined and certified annually by the director to be sufficient to produce one million three hundred fifty-five thousand one hundred and forty-five dollars in revenue to the commonwealth and shall be assessed proportionately against each such company on the basis of such intrastate operating revenues of each such company; provided, however, that in addition to such assessment amount, the assessment shall include amounts to be credited to the General Fund for fringe benefit costs including, but not limited to, group life and health insurance and retirement benefits, paid vacations and holidays and sick leave, not to exceed twenty-two percent of the amount attributable to personnel costs of the attorney general's office subject to assessment under the provisions of this section and under section eleven E of chapter twelve in the fiscal year in which such assessment is made; and, provided further, that if the attorney general fails to expend in any fiscal year the total amount of one million three hundred fifty-five thousand one hundred and forty-five dollars for the purposes set forth under the provisions of said section eleven E of said chapter twelve, any amount unexpended in such fiscal year shall be credited against the assessment to be made in the following year and the assessment in such following year shall be reduced by such unexpended amount.Assessments made under this section may be credited to the normal operating costs of each such company and shall be utilized by the attorney general solely for the purposes set forth under the provisions of section eleven E of chapter twelve. The director is hereby authorized to make a further annual assessment for the purpose of providing funds to the attorney general for the representation of consumer interests in proceedings held pursuant to section ninety-four G of chapter one hundred and sixty-four and such other proceedings as may be reasonably related to said section ninety-four G. Such assessments shall be assessed proportionately against each electric company under the jurisdictional control of the department of public utilities based upon the intrastate operating revenues of each such company derived from wholesale and retail sales of electricity within the commonwealth as shown in the annual report of such company to the department. Such assessment shall be made at a rate which shall be determined and certified annually by the director as sufficient to produce not more than seventy-five thousand dollars in revenue to be credited to the General Fund for each fiscal year for which such assessment is made.