103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3356

 

Introduced 2/7/2024, by Sen. Doris Turner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 3855/1-10

    Amends the Power Agency Act. Adds provision to the definition of "equity investment eligible community" and "eligible community" to include energy communities, as defined by the federal Internal Revenue Code pursuant to the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, where residents have been subject to disproportionate burdens of unemployment created by the State's energy transition. Effective immediately.


LRB103 38392 CES 68527 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3356LRB103 38392 CES 68527 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by
5changing Section 1-10 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 3855/1-10)
7    Sec. 1-10. Definitions.
8    "Agency" means the Illinois Power Agency.
9    "Agency loan agreement" means any agreement pursuant to
10which the Illinois Finance Authority agrees to loan the
11proceeds of revenue bonds issued with respect to a project to
12the Agency upon terms providing for loan repayment
13installments at least sufficient to pay when due all principal
14of, interest and premium, if any, on those revenue bonds, and
15providing for maintenance, insurance, and other matters in
16respect of the project.
17    "Authority" means the Illinois Finance Authority.
18    "Brownfield site photovoltaic project" means photovoltaics
19that are either:
20        (1) interconnected to an electric utility as defined
21    in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this
22    Section, a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of
23    the Public Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative as

 

 

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1    defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act and
2    located at a site that is regulated by any of the following
3    entities under the following programs:
4            (A) the United States Environmental Protection
5        Agency under the federal Comprehensive Environmental
6        Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as
7        amended;
8            (B) the United States Environmental Protection
9        Agency under the Corrective Action Program of the
10        federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as
11        amended;
12            (C) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
13        under the Illinois Site Remediation Program; or
14            (D) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
15        under the Illinois Solid Waste Program; or
16        (2) located at the site of a coal mine that has
17    permanently ceased coal production, permanently halted any
18    re-mining operations, and is no longer accepting any coal
19    combustion residues; has both completed all clean-up and
20    remediation obligations under the federal Surface Mining
21    and Reclamation Act of 1977 and all applicable Illinois
22    rules and any other clean-up, remediation, or ongoing
23    monitoring to safeguard the health and well-being of the
24    people of the State of Illinois, as well as demonstrated
25    compliance with all applicable federal and State
26    environmental rules and regulations, including, but not

 

 

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1    limited, to 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845 and any rules for
2    historic fill of coal combustion residuals, including any
3    rules finalized in Subdocket A of Illinois Pollution
4    Control Board docket R2020-019.
5    "Clean coal facility" means an electric generating
6facility that uses primarily coal as a feedstock and that
7captures and sequesters carbon dioxide emissions at the
8following levels: at least 50% of the total carbon dioxide
9emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the
10time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to
11commence operation before 2016, at least 70% of the total
12carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise
13emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is
14scheduled to commence operation during 2016 or 2017, and at
15least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the
16facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction
17commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation
18after 2017. The power block of the clean coal facility shall
19not exceed allowable emission rates for sulfur dioxide,
20nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates and mercury for
21a natural gas-fired combined-cycle facility the same size as
22and in the same location as the clean coal facility at the time
23the clean coal facility obtains an approved air permit. All
24coal used by a clean coal facility shall have high volatile
25bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per
26million Btu content, unless the clean coal facility does not

 

 

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1use gasification technology and was operating as a
2conventional coal-fired electric generating facility on June
31, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 95-1027).
4    "Clean coal SNG brownfield facility" means a facility that
5(1) has commenced construction by July 1, 2015 on an urban
6brownfield site in a municipality with at least 1,000,000
7residents; (2) uses a gasification process to produce
8substitute natural gas; (3) uses coal as at least 50% of the
9total feedstock over the term of any sourcing agreement with a
10utility and the remainder of the feedstock may be either
11petroleum coke or coal, with all such coal having a high
12bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per
13million Btu content unless the facility reasonably determines
14that it is necessary to use additional petroleum coke to
15deliver additional consumer savings, in which case the
16facility shall use coal for at least 35% of the total feedstock
17over the term of any sourcing agreement; and (4) captures and
18sequesters at least 85% of the total carbon dioxide emissions
19that the facility would otherwise emit.
20    "Clean coal SNG facility" means a facility that uses a
21gasification process to produce substitute natural gas, that
22sequesters at least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions
23that the facility would otherwise emit, that uses at least 90%
24coal as a feedstock, with all such coal having a high
25bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per
26million Btu content, and that has a valid and effective permit

 

 

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1to construct emission sources and air pollution control
2equipment and approval with respect to the federal regulations
3for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality
4(PSD) for the plant pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act;
5provided, however, a clean coal SNG brownfield facility shall
6not be a clean coal SNG facility.
7    "Clean energy" means energy generation that is 90% or
8greater free of carbon dioxide emissions.
9    "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.
10    "Community renewable generation project" means an electric
11generating facility that:
12        (1) is powered by wind, solar thermal energy,
13    photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and
14    untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and
15    hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams;
16        (2) is interconnected at the distribution system level
17    of an electric utility as defined in this Section, a
18    municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or
19    operates electric distribution facilities, a public
20    utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public
21    Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative, as defined in
22    Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act;
23        (3) credits the value of electricity generated by the
24    facility to the subscribers of the facility; and
25        (4) is limited in nameplate capacity to less than or
26    equal to 5,000 kilowatts.

 

 

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1    "Costs incurred in connection with the development and
2construction of a facility" means:
3        (1) the cost of acquisition of all real property,
4    fixtures, and improvements in connection therewith and
5    equipment, personal property, and other property, rights,
6    and easements acquired that are deemed necessary for the
7    operation and maintenance of the facility;
8        (2) financing costs with respect to bonds, notes, and
9    other evidences of indebtedness of the Agency;
10        (3) all origination, commitment, utilization,
11    facility, placement, underwriting, syndication, credit
12    enhancement, and rating agency fees;
13        (4) engineering, design, procurement, consulting,
14    legal, accounting, title insurance, survey, appraisal,
15    escrow, trustee, collateral agency, interest rate hedging,
16    interest rate swap, capitalized interest, contingency, as
17    required by lenders, and other financing costs, and other
18    expenses for professional services; and
19        (5) the costs of plans, specifications, site study and
20    investigation, installation, surveys, other Agency costs
21    and estimates of costs, and other expenses necessary or
22    incidental to determining the feasibility of any project,
23    together with such other expenses as may be necessary or
24    incidental to the financing, insuring, acquisition, and
25    construction of a specific project and starting up,
26    commissioning, and placing that project in operation.

 

 

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1    "Delivery services" has the same definition as found in
2Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.
3    "Delivery year" means the consecutive 12-month period
4beginning June 1 of a given year and ending May 31 of the
5following year.
6    "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
7Opportunity.
8    "Director" means the Director of the Illinois Power
9Agency.
10    "Demand-response" means measures that decrease peak
11electricity demand or shift demand from peak to off-peak
12periods.
13    "Distributed renewable energy generation device" means a
14device that is:
15        (1) powered by wind, solar thermal energy,
16    photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and
17    untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, tree
18    waste, and hydropower that does not involve new
19    construction of dams, waste heat to power systems, or
20    qualified combined heat and power systems;
21        (2) interconnected at the distribution system level of
22    either an electric utility as defined in this Section, a
23    municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or
24    operates electric distribution facilities, or a rural
25    electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the
26    Public Utilities Act;

 

 

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1        (3) located on the customer side of the customer's
2    electric meter and is primarily used to offset that
3    customer's electricity load; and
4        (4) (blank).
5    "Energy efficiency" means measures that reduce the amount
6of electricity or natural gas consumed in order to achieve a
7given end use. "Energy efficiency" includes voltage
8optimization measures that optimize the voltage at points on
9the electric distribution voltage system and thereby reduce
10electricity consumption by electric customers' end use
11devices. "Energy efficiency" also includes measures that
12reduce the total Btus of electricity, natural gas, and other
13fuels needed to meet the end use or uses.
14    "Electric utility" has the same definition as found in
15Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.
16    "Equity investment eligible community" or "eligible
17community" are synonymous and mean the geographic areas
18throughout Illinois which would most benefit from equitable
19investments by the State designed to combat discrimination.
20Specifically, the eligible communities shall be defined as the
21following areas:
22        (1) R3 Areas as established pursuant to Section 10-40
23    of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, where residents
24    have historically been excluded from economic
25    opportunities, including opportunities in the energy
26    sector; and

 

 

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1        (2) environmental justice communities, as defined by
2    the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to the Illinois Power
3    Agency Act, where residents have historically been subject
4    to disproportionate burdens of pollution, including
5    pollution from the energy sector; and .
6        (3) energy communities, as defined by the federal
7    Internal Revenue Code pursuant to the federal Inflation
8    Reduction Act of 2022, where residents have been subject
9    to disproportionate burdens of unemployment created by the
10    State's energy transition.
11    "Equity eligible persons" or "eligible persons" means
12persons who would most benefit from equitable investments by
13the State designed to combat discrimination, specifically:
14        (1) persons who graduate from or are current or former
15    participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program,
16    the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the
17    Illinois Climate Works Preapprenticeship Program,
18    Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the
19    Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and
20    the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs
21    program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section
22    16-208.12 of the Public Utilities Act;
23        (2) persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled
24    in the foster care system;
25        (3) persons who were formerly incarcerated;
26        (4) persons whose primary residence is in an equity

 

 

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1    investment eligible community.
2    "Equity eligible contractor" means a business that is
3majority-owned by eligible persons, or a nonprofit or
4cooperative that is majority-governed by eligible persons, or
5is a natural person that is an eligible person offering
6personal services as an independent contractor.
7    "Facility" means an electric generating unit or a
8co-generating unit that produces electricity along with
9related equipment necessary to connect the facility to an
10electric transmission or distribution system.
11    "General contractor" means the entity or organization with
12main responsibility for the building of a construction project
13and who is the party signing the prime construction contract
14for the project.
15    "Governmental aggregator" means one or more units of local
16government that individually or collectively procure
17electricity to serve residential retail electrical loads
18located within its or their jurisdiction.
19    "High voltage direct current converter station" means the
20collection of equipment that converts direct current energy
21from a high voltage direct current transmission line into
22alternating current using Voltage Source Conversion technology
23and that is interconnected with transmission or distribution
24assets located in Illinois.
25    "High voltage direct current renewable energy credit"
26means a renewable energy credit associated with a renewable

 

 

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1energy resource where the renewable energy resource has
2entered into a contract to transmit the energy associated with
3such renewable energy credit over high voltage direct current
4transmission facilities.
5    "High voltage direct current transmission facilities"
6means the collection of installed equipment that converts
7alternating current energy in one location to direct current
8and transmits that direct current energy to a high voltage
9direct current converter station using Voltage Source
10Conversion technology. "High voltage direct current
11transmission facilities" includes the high voltage direct
12current converter station itself and associated high voltage
13direct current transmission lines. Notwithstanding the
14preceding, after September 15, 2021 (the effective date of
15Public Act 102-662), an otherwise qualifying collection of
16equipment does not qualify as high voltage direct current
17transmission facilities unless its developer entered into a
18project labor agreement, is capable of transmitting
19electricity at 525kv with an Illinois converter station
20located and interconnected in the region of the PJM
21Interconnection, LLC, and the system does not operate as a
22public utility, as that term is defined in Section 3-105 of the
23Public Utilities Act.
24    "Hydropower" means any method of electricity generation or
25storage that results from the flow of water, including
26impoundment facilities, diversion facilities, and pumped

 

 

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1storage facilities.
2    "Index price" means the real-time energy settlement price
3at the applicable Illinois trading hub, such as PJM-NIHUB or
4MISO-IL, for a given settlement period.
5    "Indexed renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit
6that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt
7hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource, the
8price of which shall be calculated by subtracting the strike
9price offered by a new utility-scale wind project or a new
10utility-scale photovoltaic project from the index price in a
11given settlement period.
12    "Indexed renewable energy credit counterparty" has the
13same meaning as "public utility" as defined in Section 3-105
14of the Public Utilities Act.
15    "Local government" means a unit of local government as
16defined in Section 1 of Article VII of the Illinois
17Constitution.
18    "Modernized" or "retooled" means the construction, repair,
19maintenance, or significant expansion of turbines and existing
20hydropower dams.
21    "Municipality" means a city, village, or incorporated
22town.
23    "Municipal utility" means a public utility owned and
24operated by any subdivision or municipal corporation of this
25State.
26    "Nameplate capacity" means the aggregate inverter

 

 

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1nameplate capacity in kilowatts AC.
2    "Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership,
3corporation, either domestic or foreign, company, association,
4limited liability company, joint stock company, or association
5and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal
6representative thereof.
7    "Project" means the planning, bidding, and construction of
8a facility.
9    "Project labor agreement" means a pre-hire collective
10bargaining agreement that covers all terms and conditions of
11employment on a specific construction project and must include
12the following:
13        (1) provisions establishing the minimum hourly wage
14    for each class of labor organization employee;
15        (2) provisions establishing the benefits and other
16    compensation for each class of labor organization
17    employee;
18        (3) provisions establishing that no strike or disputes
19    will be engaged in by the labor organization employees;
20        (4) provisions establishing that no lockout or
21    disputes will be engaged in by the general contractor
22    building the project; and
23        (5) provisions for minorities and women, as defined
24    under the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and
25    Persons with Disabilities Act, setting forth goals for
26    apprenticeship hours to be performed by minorities and

 

 

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1    women and setting forth goals for total hours to be
2    performed by underrepresented minorities and women.
3    A labor organization and the general contractor building
4the project shall have the authority to include other terms
5and conditions as they deem necessary.
6    "Public utility" has the same definition as found in
7Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.
8    "Qualified combined heat and power systems" means systems
9that, either simultaneously or sequentially, produce
10electricity and useful thermal energy from a single fuel
11source. Such systems are eligible for "renewable energy
12credits" in an amount equal to its total energy output where a
13renewable fuel is consumed or in an amount equal to the net
14reduction in nonrenewable fuel consumed on a total energy
15output basis.
16    "Real property" means any interest in land together with
17all structures, fixtures, and improvements thereon, including
18lands under water and riparian rights, any easements,
19covenants, licenses, leases, rights-of-way, uses, and other
20interests, together with any liens, judgments, mortgages, or
21other claims or security interests related to real property.
22    "Renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit that
23represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour
24of energy produced from a renewable energy resource.
25    "Renewable energy resources" includes energy and its
26associated renewable energy credit or renewable energy credits

 

 

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1from wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells and
2panels, biodiesel, anaerobic digestion, crops and untreated
3and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and hydropower that
4does not involve new construction of dams, waste heat to power
5systems, or qualified combined heat and power systems. For
6purposes of this Act, landfill gas produced in the State is
7considered a renewable energy resource. "Renewable energy
8resources" does not include the incineration or burning of
9tires, garbage, general household, institutional, and
10commercial waste, industrial lunchroom or office waste,
11landscape waste, railroad crossties, utility poles, or
12construction or demolition debris, other than untreated and
13unadulterated waste wood. "Renewable energy resources" also
14includes high voltage direct current renewable energy credits
15and the associated energy converted to alternating current by
16a high voltage direct current converter station to the extent
17that: (1) the generator of such renewable energy resource
18contracted with a third party to transmit the energy over the
19high voltage direct current transmission facilities, and (2)
20the third-party contracting for delivery of renewable energy
21resources over the high voltage direct current transmission
22facilities have ownership rights over the unretired associated
23high voltage direct current renewable energy credit.
24    "Retail customer" has the same definition as found in
25Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.
26    "Revenue bond" means any bond, note, or other evidence of

 

 

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1indebtedness issued by the Authority, the principal and
2interest of which is payable solely from revenues or income
3derived from any project or activity of the Agency.
4    "Sequester" means permanent storage of carbon dioxide by
5injecting it into a saline aquifer, a depleted gas reservoir,
6or an oil reservoir, directly or through an enhanced oil
7recovery process that may involve intermediate storage,
8regardless of whether these activities are conducted by a
9clean coal facility, a clean coal SNG facility, a clean coal
10SNG brownfield facility, or a party with which a clean coal
11facility, clean coal SNG facility, or clean coal SNG
12brownfield facility has contracted for such purposes.
13    "Service area" has the same definition as found in Section
1416-102 of the Public Utilities Act.
15    "Settlement period" means the period of time utilized by
16MISO and PJM and their successor organizations as the basis
17for settlement calculations in the real-time energy market.
18    "Sourcing agreement" means (i) in the case of an electric
19utility, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal
20facility and such electric utility, which agreement shall have
21terms and conditions meeting the requirements of paragraph (3)
22of subsection (d) of Section 1-75, (ii) in the case of an
23alternative retail electric supplier, an agreement between the
24owner of a clean coal facility and such alternative retail
25electric supplier, which agreement shall have terms and
26conditions meeting the requirements of Section 16-115(d)(5) of

 

 

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1the Public Utilities Act, and (iii) in case of a gas utility,
2an agreement between the owner of a clean coal SNG brownfield
3facility and the gas utility, which agreement shall have the
4terms and conditions meeting the requirements of subsection
5(h-1) of Section 9-220 of the Public Utilities Act.
6    "Strike price" means a contract price for energy and
7renewable energy credits from a new utility-scale wind project
8or a new utility-scale photovoltaic project.
9    "Subscriber" means a person who (i) takes delivery service
10from an electric utility, and (ii) has a subscription of no
11less than 200 watts to a community renewable generation
12project that is located in the electric utility's service
13area. No subscriber's subscriptions may total more than 40% of
14the nameplate capacity of an individual community renewable
15generation project. Entities that are affiliated by virtue of
16a common parent shall not represent multiple subscriptions
17that total more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an
18individual community renewable generation project.
19    "Subscription" means an interest in a community renewable
20generation project expressed in kilowatts, which is sized
21primarily to offset part or all of the subscriber's
22electricity usage.
23    "Substitute natural gas" or "SNG" means a gas manufactured
24by gasification of hydrocarbon feedstock, which is
25substantially interchangeable in use and distribution with
26conventional natural gas.

 

 

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1    "Total resource cost test" or "TRC test" means a standard
2that is met if, for an investment in energy efficiency or
3demand-response measures, the benefit-cost ratio is greater
4than one. The benefit-cost ratio is the ratio of the net
5present value of the total benefits of the program to the net
6present value of the total costs as calculated over the
7lifetime of the measures. A total resource cost test compares
8the sum of avoided electric utility costs, representing the
9benefits that accrue to the system and the participant in the
10delivery of those efficiency measures and including avoided
11costs associated with reduced use of natural gas or other
12fuels, avoided costs associated with reduced water
13consumption, and avoided costs associated with reduced
14operation and maintenance costs, as well as other quantifiable
15societal benefits, to the sum of all incremental costs of
16end-use measures that are implemented due to the program
17(including both utility and participant contributions), plus
18costs to administer, deliver, and evaluate each demand-side
19program, to quantify the net savings obtained by substituting
20the demand-side program for supply resources. In calculating
21avoided costs of power and energy that an electric utility
22would otherwise have had to acquire, reasonable estimates
23shall be included of financial costs likely to be imposed by
24future regulations and legislation on emissions of greenhouse
25gases. In discounting future societal costs and benefits for
26the purpose of calculating net present values, a societal

 

 

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1discount rate based on actual, long-term Treasury bond yields
2should be used. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the
3TRC test shall not include or take into account a calculation
4of market price suppression effects or demand reduction
5induced price effects.
6    "Utility-scale solar project" means an electric generating
7facility that:
8        (1) generates electricity using photovoltaic cells;
9    and
10        (2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than
11    5,000 kilowatts.
12    "Utility-scale wind project" means an electric generating
13facility that:
14        (1) generates electricity using wind; and
15        (2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than
16    5,000 kilowatts.
17    "Waste Heat to Power Systems" means systems that capture
18and generate electricity from energy that would otherwise be
19lost to the atmosphere without the use of additional fuel.
20    "Zero emission credit" means a tradable credit that
21represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour
22of energy produced from a zero emission facility.
23    "Zero emission facility" means a facility that: (1) is
24fueled by nuclear power; and (2) is interconnected with PJM
25Interconnection, LLC or the Midcontinent Independent System
26Operator, Inc., or their successors.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 103-154, eff. 6-28-23;
2103-380, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.