State Rep. Winslow Asks for Power Outage Rebate Bill

A local legislator has called for utility companies to take responsibility for extended outages.

State Rep. Daniel Winslow (R-Norfolk) has asked the House Rules Committee to take action on a power outage rebate bill. According to a release from Winslow's office, the bill would require rebates to customers who go without power for more than eight hours. The rebate would be for two days of their average bill for each day the customer is without power.

"Right now, more than 90 percent of the residents in Wrentham are without power for an extended period of time for the second time in three months," Winslow said in a statement. "We need to make sure the residents of Massachusetts are being taken care of and the utility companies are held accountable to fix the problem in a timely manner."

The bill, Winslow said, would incentivize preventative maintenance like tree removal. He said the efforts by utility companies have been inadequate.

Winslow has previously asked area residents in Framingham.

Wrentham resident Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has criticized the response by utility companies as well, and speaking about the matter on Fox 25.