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General Terms and Conditions
Effective: May 1, 1996
The following Terms and Conditions are a part of all rates, and compliance
by the Customer is a condition precedent to the initial and continuing
supply of electricity by Shrewsbury Electric (the Department).
| General |
| 1. |
The supply of
electric service is contingent upon the Department's ability
to secure and retain the necessary location for its poles, wires,
conduit, cable and other apparatus. The character of service
to be made available at each location will be determined by
the Department. In general, the standard voltage supplied will
be 120/240 volts, single phase. Contact the Department for information
on availability of other voltages and service characteristics. |
| 2. |
Such wiring and
other electrical equipment and apparatus as may be necessary
in order to utilize the service shall be provided, installed,
maintained, and used by the Customer in accordance with the
requirements, if any, of the National Electrical Safety Code,
and of all public authorities having jurisdiction of the same,
and the requirements of the Department. In general, the Department
will not provide any service until the Customer's wiring has
been inspected and approved for energization. |
| 3. |
In general, all
customers shall be served from one service location and one
meter. Apartment buildings shall be served through one service,
one building service meter, and individual meters for each occupancy.
In the case of more than one building in an apartment complex,
each building service meter shall be considered an individual
and separate account and will be billed separately. |
| 4. |
Service cannot
be supplied unless and until the customer completes an "Application
for Electric Service" which is available from the Department.
Service can only be supplied pursuant to an Authorized Agent
of the Department. No agent or employer of the Department is
authorized to orally modify any term, provision or rate of the
Department.
A customer shall be and remain the customer of record and shall
be liable for service taken until such time as the customer
of record requests termination of service and a final meter
reading is recorded. |
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| Requirements of Providing Service |
| 5. |
The Customer shall
wire to the point designated by the Department, at which point
the Company will connect its service. |
| 6. |
The Department
shall construct or install overhead or underground distribution
facilities or other equipment determined by the Department to
be appropriate for a customer under the following conditions:
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A.
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The owners of
record shall grant the Department, without cost, perpetual rights
and easements, including rights of ingress and egress, free
and clear of encumbrances of record, the form and content of
which shall be acceptable to and approved by the Department.
Such rights and easements must be granted to and accepted by
the Department prior to the start of construction. |
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B.
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The Customer shall
furnish the Department with an approved subdivision plan or
plans, together with all available grades and land clearing
information, street improvements details, locations of water
mains, sewer lines, gas lines, property lines, and easements
to parties other than the Department. |
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C.
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When the Customer
requests an overhead electric service extension, the Department
shall install, own, and maintain the service to the point of
attachment on the Customer's structure in accordance with the
Department's specifications. |
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D.
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The Department
shall own and maintain all underground primary electric service
which includes all underground service to the low voltage side
of the transformer. When the Customer requests an underground
primary electric service extension, the Customer shall be responsible
for the arrangements and expenses described in accordance with
specifications and requirements of the Department. |
| 7. |
The Department
shall not be required to install a service or meter for a garage,
barn or other out-buildings, so located that it may be supplied
with electricity through a service and meter in the main building.
The Department may, in the exercise of reasonable judgment,
refuse to supply service to load's of unusual characteristics
that might adversely affect the quality of service supplied
to other customers, the public safety, or the safety of Department
personnel. In lieu of such refusal, the Department may require
a customer to install at its expense any necessary regulating
and protective equipment in accordance with requirements and
specifications of the Department. |
| 8. |
The Customer shall
furnish and install upon its premises such service conductors,
service equipment, including oil circuit breaker if used, and
meter mounting device a shall conform with specifications issued
from time to time by the Department. The Department may seal
such service equipment and meter mounting device, and adjust,
set and seal such oil circuit breaker and such seals shall not
be broken and such adjustments or settings shall not be changed
or in any way interfered with by the Department. |
| 9. |
The Customer's
wiring, piping, apparatus, and equipment shall, at all times,
conform to the requirements of any legally constituted authorities
and to those of the Department, and the Customer shall keep
such wiring, piping, apparatus, and equipment in proper repair. |
| 10. |
The Department
shall make, or cause to be made, application for any necessary
street permits, and shall not be required to supply service
until a reasonable time after such permits are granted. The
Customer shall obtain or cause to be obtained all permits or
certificates, except street permits, necessary to give the Department
or its agents access to the Customer's equipment and to enable
its conductors to be connected therewith. |
| 11. |
The Customer shall
furnish and maintain, at no cost to the Department, the necessary
space, housing, fencing, and foundations for all equipment that
is installed on its premises in order to supply the Customer
with electricity, whether such equipment is furnished by the
Customer or the Department. Such space, housing, fencing, and
foundations shall be in conformity with the Department's specifications
and subject to its approval. |
| 12. |
Whenever the estimated
expenditures for the equipment necessary to supply electricity
to a Customer's premises shall be of such an amount that the
income to be derived therefrom at the applicable rates will,
in the opinion of the Department, be insufficient to warrant
such expenditures, the Department may require a Customer to
guarantee a minimum annual payment of commitment for a term
of years or to pay the whole or a part of the cost of such equipment.
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| Protection of Company Property |
| 13. |
The Department
shall have the right of access at all reasonable times to the
premises on which it meters, other appliances and equipment
are located for the purpose of examining or removing the same.
The Department will test a Customer's meter, at the Customer's
request, once in a twelve-month period at no cost. The cost
for each additional meter test requested by a Customer within
such twelve-month period will be $15.00. If the meter test is
found to be accurate, the fee paid by the customer will not
be refunded. A meter shall be deemed inaccurate if it registers
more than two percent above or below the standard measure approved
by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. |
| 14. |
The Customer shall
not injure, interfere, destroy or tamper with the meter or other
property of the Department nor suffer or permit any person to
do so. The Customer shall not permit access for any purpose
whatsoever, except by authorized employees of the Department,
to the meter or other appliances and equipment of the Department,
and shall provide for their safekeeping. The Customer shall
use all reasonable precautions to protect the property of the
Department located on the premises of the customer form damage
and interference and shall be responsible for all damages to,
or loss of, such property of the Department. |
| 15. |
The Customer shall
so maintain and operate its electric equipment and apparatus
as not to endanger or interfere with the service of the Department.
Electric meters are the property of the Department. No one but
authorized Department personnel shall cut and open the Department
padlock seal on a meter, remove and install a meter, install
jumper pieces or other bypassing devices, remove or install
sleeves, change the meter registration, or tamper in any way
with the electric meter. Meters damaged accidentally or otherwise
will be replaced at the expense of the property owner where
the meter is located. When a meter is found to be tampered with,
service to that meter will be disconnected. To have service
restored, the Customer must first pay a $45.00 reconnection
fee, payable in cash to the Department. In addition to charges
for electricity used, but not metered as a result of the tampering,
all costs attributable to investigation of the tampering, calculation
of amounts owed and any other administrative costs will be charged
to the Customer. All instances of meter tampering will be reported
to the Police Department for investigation and prosecution.
To restore service after it has been disconnected, application
must be made in person at the Department's offices. In addition
to the fee for tampering, a deposit will be required, equal
to three months' average consumption on the premises in question.
Service will be reconnected within 24 hours after payment of
the aforementioned fees and deposit, if the matter has been
resolved to the satisfaction of the Department. |
| 16. |
Whenever the Department
determines that an unauthorized and unmetered use of electricity
is being made on the premises of a Customer, the Department
may, at the Customer's expense, make such changes in the location
of its meters, appliances and equipment on said premises as
will, in the opinion of the Department, prevent such unauthorized
and unmetered use from being made. |
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| Payment of Bills - Remedies, Security |
| 17. |
All bills shall
be due and payable upon receipt. However, bills rendered to
residential customers shall not be due for purposes of terminating
service for non-payment, until (a) 45 days from the date of
receipt of (b) a period at least equal to the time that has
elapsed between receipt of such bill and the most recent previous
bill, whichever period of time is greater. |
| 18. |
When a bill is
rendered to a non-residential Customer other than the Commonwealth
or a political subdivision thereof on a monthly basis and the
prior bill has not been paid, interest at the rate of 1-1/2%
per month will be charged on the unpaid balance, including any
outstanding interest charges, from the date of receipt until
the date of payment. For purposes of this paragraph the date
of receipt of a bill by a Customer shall be presumed to be three
days following the date of mailing, unless the bill is delivered
rather than mailed, in which case the date of receipt shall
be the same as the date of delivery. |
| 19. |
Subject to the
provisions of Paragraph 16, the Department shall have the right
to discontinue its service on due notice and to remove its property
from the premises in case the customer fails to pay any bill
due the company for each service, or fails to perform any of
its obligations to the Department. After such discontinuance,
a reconnection charge may be made to the Department for restoration
of service.
The Department may discontinue the supply of service and/or
remove its equipment from the Customer's premises if the Customer
fails to comply with the provisions of the Tariffs, Terms and
Conditions and Requirements for Service or any supplementary
or special agreement entered into with the Department, subject
to any applicable residential customer billing and termination
procedures of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
found at 220 C.M.R. 25.00.
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| 20. |
The Department
may require a deposit of cash or other collateral satisfactory
to it as security for the prompt payment of any indebtedness
for: (a) any new customer; (b) any present customer requesting
service at a new location; or (c) from any present non-residential
customer. The deposit required will not exceed the equivalent
of three months' average use. |
| 21. |
The Department
will credit to the customer's account, once each year, interest
on all cash deposits held for more than six months at a 6 per
cent interest rate. |
| 22. |
The Department
may bill a customer for reasonable outside collection costs,
including attorney fees associated with unpaid balances. |
| 23. |
The Department
is subject to and will apply the Massachusetts Department of
Public Utilities' Regulations, 220 C.N.R. 29.00, setting forth
the procedures for billing residential property owners cited
for violations of certain provisions of the State Sanitary Code.
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| Lien Upon Real Estate for Nonpayment of Service Charge |
| If the rates and charges due to the Department for
supplying or providing electricity or services or furnishing materials
or appliances in connection therewith to or for any real estate at
the request of the owner are not paid on or before their due date
as described in Section 17 of these Terms and Conditions, such rates
and charges, together with interest due thereon and costs, including
attorneys fees relative thereto, shall become a lien upon such real
estate.
Pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 58C, such a lien shall take effect
by operation of law on the day immediately following the due date
of such rate or charge, and, unless dissolved by payment or abatement,
shall continue until such rate or charge has been added to or committed
as a tax under M.G.L. c. 164, § 58D, and thereafter, unless
so dissolved, shall continue as a tax on real estate as provided
in G.L. c. 60, § 37. If any such rate or charge is not added
to or committed as a tax under G.L. c. 164, § 58D for the next
fiscal year commencing after the inception of the lien, then the
lien shall terminate on October 1 of the third year following the
year in which such charge becomes due.
Notwithstanding such a lien, any such overdue rate or charge may
be collected through any other legal means, including the shutting
off of electricity or services.
Pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 58D, if a rate or charge for which
a lien is in effect under G.L. c. 164, § 58C has not been added
to or committed as a tax and re- mains unpaid when the assessors
are preparing a real estate tax list and warrant to be committed
by them under G.L. c. 59, § 53, the Manager of SELP shall certify
such rate or charge to the assessors, who shall forthwith add such
rate or charge to the tax on the property to which it relates and
commit it with their warrant to the collector of taxes as part of
such tax. If the property to which such rate or charge relates is
tax exempt, such rate or charge shall be committed as the tax.
Pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 58E, upon commitment as a tax or
part of tax under M.G.L. c. 164, § 58D, all such charges shall
be subject to the provisions of law relative to interest on the
taxes of which they become, or, if the property were not tax exempt,
would become a part.
Pursuant to G.L. c. 164, § 58F, an owner of real estate aggrieved
by a charge imposed thereon may apply for an abatement by filing
a petition with the SELP Board of Light Commissioners, within the
time allowed by law for filing an application for abatement of tax
of which such charge is, or, if the property were not tax exempt,
would have been a part, and if the SELP Board of Light Commissioners
finds that such charge is more than is properly due, a reasonable
abatement shall be made.
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| Rate Schedules - Changes |
| 24. |
Any changes in
the application of rate schedules, at the request of a Customer,
shall be implemented in accordance with the Department's tariffs;
provided however, that rate changes requested by Customers shall
not be applied retroactively to the Customers' service.
Pursuant to M.G.L. c.164 the Department has the right to change
its tariffs rates, terms and conditions. The Department provides
various services under its rates, special contracts and terms
and conditions. |
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| Measurement of Electricity - Billing Period |
| 25. |
Meters of either
the indoor or outdoor type shall be installed by the Department
at locations to be designated by the Department. The Department
may at any time change any meter installed by it. The Department
may also change the location of any meter or change from an
indoor type to an outdoor type, provided that the cost of the
change shall be borne by the Department except when such change
is pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 15. If more than
one meter is installed, unless it is installed at the Department's
option, the Monthly Charge for Service delivered through each
meter shall be computed separately under the applicable rate. |
| 26. |
Whenever reference
is made to "month" in connection with electricity
delivered, service furnished, or payments to be made, it shall
mean the period between two successive regular monthly meter
readings, the second of which occurs in the month to which reference
is made. |
| 27. |
The demand is
the maximum rate of taking electricity. Under ordinary load
conditions it will be based upon one or more fifteen-minute
peaks as herein defined. A fifteen-minute peak is the average
rate of delivery of electricity during any fifteen-minute period
as determined by any suitable instrument. In the case of extremely
fluctuating loads, however, where the demand based on the average
over fifteen minutes does not fairly represent the maximum demand
imposed by the Customer, the demand will be based upon the instantaneous
peak or the peak for a shorter period than fifteen minutes.
If the fluctuating load causes a deterioration of the Department's
service to its other customers, the Department shall specify
a service arrangement that avoids the deterioration and the
Customer owning or operating the equipment that causes the fluctuation
shall pay the cost to implement the new service arrangement
together with applicable taxes. |
| 28. |
Holidays applicable
to the Department's tariffs are as follows on the dates that
they are observed in the Department's service territory:
New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Patriots' Day, President's
Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day,
Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. |
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| Auxiliary and Temporary Service |
| 29. |
Service supplied
by the Department shall not be used to supplement or relay,
or as a standby to any other service, unless the Customer shall
make such guarantees in respect to the payment for such service
as shall be just and reasonable in each case. Service cannot
be resold. Where such service is supplied, the Customer shall
not operate its plant in parallel with the Department's system
without the consent of the Department, and then only under such
conditions as the Department may specify from time to time. |
| 30. |
Temporary service
is service which will not continue for a sufficient period to
yield the Department adequate revenue at its regular rates to
justify the expenditures necessary to provide such service.
The Department may require a Customer requesting temporary service
to pay the full amount of the estimated cost of installing and
removing the requested connection, in advance of the installation
of the connection by the Department. In addition, the Customer
will be required to make payments for electricity at the regular
rates. |
| 31. |
The Department
may, provided it has spare generating and transmission capacity,
supply electricity for trial purposes at other than its regular
rates. The period for the trial must be no longer than is necessary
for the demonstration and must be specified in an agreement
with the Customer. |
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| Liabilities |
| 32. |
Whenever the integrity
of the supply of electric service may be threatened by conditions
on the Department's system or on a part or parts of the transmission
and/or distribution system with which the Department is interconnected,
the Department, in its sole judgment, may curtail or interrupt
electrical service to the Customer and such curtailment or interruption
shall not constitute default by the Department. The Department
shall not be responsible for any failure to supply electric
service nor interruption or abnormal voltage of the supply,
or any damage resulting from the restoration of service, if
such failure, interruption, abnormal voltage, or damage is without
willful default or gross negligence on its part. |
| 33. |
. The Department
shall not be liable for, or in any way in respect of, any interruption,
abnormal voltage, discontinuance or reversal of its service,
due to causes beyond its immediate control whether accident,
labor difficulties, condition of fuel supply, the attitude of
any public authority, or failure to receive any electricity
for which in any manner contracted, or due to the operation
in accordance with good utility practice of an emergency load
reduction program by the Department or one with whom it has
contracted for a supply of electricity, or inability for any
other reason to maintain uninterrupted and continuous service. |
| 34. |
The Department
shall not be liable for damage to the person or property of
the Customer or any other persons resulting from the use of
electricity or the presence of the Department's appliances and
equipment on the Customer's premises. In any event, for non-residential
customers served under general service rates, the Department
shall not be liable in contract, in tort (including negligence
under G.L. c.258 and Mass. G.L. c. 93A), strict liability or
otherwise for any special, indirect, or consequential damages
whatsoever including, but not limited to, loss of profits or
revenue, loss of use of equipment, cost of capital, cost of
temporary equipment, overtime, business interruption, spoilage
of goods, claims of customers of the Customer or other economic
harm. |
| 35. |
Neither by inspection
nor non-rejection nor in any other way does the Department give
any warranty, expressed or implied as to the adequacy, safety
or other characteristics of any equipment, wiring or devices,
installed on the customer's premises. The Department shall not
be liable for damages resulting in any way from the supplying
or use of electricity or from the presence or operation of the
Company's service, conductors, appurtenances or other equipment
on the customer's premises. |
| 36. |
The customer assumes
full responsibility for the proper use of electricity furnished
by the Department and for the condition, suitability, and safety
of any and all wires, cable, devices, or appurtenances energized
by electricity on the customer's premises, or owned or controlled
by the customer that are not the Department's property. The
customer shall indemnify and save harmless the Department from
and against any and all claims, expenses, legal fees, losses,
suits, awards, or judgments for injuries to or deaths of persons
or damage of any kind, whether to property or otherwise, arising
directly or indirectly by reason of (1) the routine presence
in or use of electricity over the wires, cables, devices or
appurtenances owned or controlled by the customer; or (2) the
failure of the customer to perform any of his or her duties
and obligations as set forth in the Tariffs, Terms and Conditions
and Requirements for Service were such failure creates safety
hazards; or (3) the customer's improper use of electricity or
electric wires, cables, devices, or appurtenances. Except as
otherwise provided by law, the Department shall be liable for
damages claimed to have resulted from the Department's conduct
of its business only when the Department, its employees or agents
have acted in a grossly negligent, or intentionally wrongful
manner. |
| 37. |
The Department
may discontinue the supply of service and/or remove its equipment
from the customer's premises if the customer fails to comply
with the provisions of the Tariffs, Terms and Conditions and
Requirements for Service or any supplementary or special agreement
entered into with the Department, subject to any applicable
billing and termination procedures of the MDPU. The Department
may also discontinue service and remove its equipment from the
customers' premises in case of violation of any general laws,
local ordinances or by-laws, or government regulations. The
Department may assess an Account Restoration Charge upon such
discontinuance of service. |
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For more inquiries
or information contact us at 508-841-8500.
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