Skip to main content
H 7332Public Services

Public Utilities and Carriers - Duties of Utilities and Carriers

Public utilities must maintain a physical customer service office located within Rhode Island to assist customers in person.

Signed into law68 Yea0 Nay7 Not voting
Population
Affected
85
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 28, 2026Committee House Corporations

Plain-English Summary

This legislation mandates that every public utility licensed to operate in Rhode Island must maintain a physical customer service office within the state. This office requires sufficient staffing to handle customer needs. The facility must be open to the public for answering inquiries, meeting with customers in person, accepting bill payments, and performing other duties as assigned by the Public Utilities Commission.

For younger readers

This law creates a new rule for companies that provide electricity, gas, or water to homes in Rhode Island. These companies, known as public utilities, must have a real office building inside the state. They cannot just handle problems over the phone from far away. At this office, there must be workers ready to help people who live here. Customers can go there to ask questions, talk to workers face-to-face, or pay their bills. The state group in charge of utilities can also give this office other jobs to help customers.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Public utility companiesUtility customersPublic Utilities CommissionUtility employeesRhode Island residents
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures equitable access to essential services for low-income or elderly residents who may lack internet access or bank accounts and rely on in-person bill payments.
  • Promotes the creation and retention of local jobs within the state, preventing critical administrative work from being outsourced to other states or countries.
  • Increases corporate accountability by forcing large utility monopolies to maintain a physical presence in the communities they serve.
  • Utility companies will likely pass the operational costs of renting and staffing physical offices onto consumers, potentially raising rates for those already struggling to pay bills.
  • The language "reasonably staffed" is vague and may allow corporations to provide the bare minimum of service while technically complying with the law.
  • Focusing resources on physical administrative offices might divert funds that could be better spent on infrastructure upgrades or green energy transition initiatives.
For Conservatives
  • Supports the local economy by ensuring that businesses operating within the state invest in local real estate and employment rather than sending operations overseas.
  • Prioritizes the needs of Rhode Island residents and businesses over the operational convenience of large, often foreign-owned or out-of-state corporations.
  • Improves customer service quality by ensuring residents can interact with representatives who are physically present and likely more familiar with local issues.
  • Represents government overreach into private business operations by dictating exactly where a company must locate its internal departments.
  • Creates an additional regulatory burden and overhead cost for businesses, which interferes with the free market and efficient allocation of resources.
  • Granting the Public Utilities Commission the power to direct "any other services" creates an open-ended mandate that could be abused to expand bureaucracy.

Votes

Loading votes...

Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 7 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 39-2 of the General Laws entitled "Duties of Utilities and Carriers" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 39-2-29. Duty to maintain customer service operations within the state. Every public utility operated and licensed to provide services to the residents and businesses within the state under chapter 1 of title 39, shall maintain a customer service operation physically located within the state which is reasonably staffed to meet the expectations of the public. The customer service operation shall be available to answer customer inquiries, meet with customers, accept payment of bills, and perform any other services that the public utilities commission may direct from time to time.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.