HB5101 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 18968 SMS 34218 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5101

Introduced , by Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

220 ILCS 5/16-101A
220 ILCS 5/16-118
220 ILCS 5/19-107 new
220 ILCS 5/19-135

Amends the Public Utilities Act. In provisions concerning services provided by electric utilities to alternative retail electric suppliers, requires that customers are enrolled with an alternative retail electric supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in the Illinois Power Agency Act when certain electric utilities file a tariff. Creates a natural gas aggregation process by municipalities, townships, and counties. Provides that the corporate authorities of a municipality, township board, or county board of a county may adopt an ordinance under which it may aggregate residential and small commercial retail natural gas loads located within the municipality, township, or county and may enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural gas and related services and equipment. Provides that a single billing option shall be offered to customers for both the services provided by the alternative gas supplier and the delivery services provided by the gas utility, provided that the customers are enrolled with the natural gas aggregation process. Requires a gas utility to file a tariff that allows alternative gas suppliers to issue single bills to residential and small commercials customers, provided that the customers are enrolled with the natural gas aggregation process. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Sections 16-101A, 16-118, and 19-135 and by adding Section 19-107 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/16-101A)

Sec. 16-101A. Legislative findings.

(a) The citizens and businesses of the State of Illinois have been well-served by a comprehensive electrical utility system which has provided safe, reliable, and affordable service. The electrical utility system in the State of Illinois has historically been subject to State and federal regulation, aimed at assuring the citizens and businesses of the State of safe, reliable, and affordable service, while at the same time assuring the utility system of a return on its investment.

(b) Competitive forces are affecting the market for electricity as a result of recent federal regulatory and statutory changes and the activities of other states. Competition in the electric services market may create opportunities for new products and services for customers and lower costs for users of electricity. Long-standing regulatory relationships need to be altered to accommodate the competition that could fundamentally alter the structure of the electric services market.

(c) With the advent of increasing competition in this industry, the State has a continued interest in assuring that the safety, reliability, and affordability of electrical power is not sacrificed to competitive pressures, and to that end, intends to implement safeguards to assure that the industry continues to operate the electrical system in a manner that will serve the public's interest. Under the existing regulatory framework, the industry has been encouraged to undertake certain investments in its physical plant and personnel to enhance its efficient operation, the cost of which it has been permitted to pass on to consumers. The State has an interest in providing the existing utilities a reasonable opportunity to obtain a return on certain investments on which they depended in undertaking those commitments in the first instance while, at the same time, not permitting new entrants into the industry to take unreasonable advantage of the investments made by the formerly regulated industry.

(d) A competitive wholesale and retail market must benefit all Illinois citizens. The Illinois Commerce Commission should act to promote the development of an effectively competitive electricity market that operates efficiently and is equitable to all consumers. Consumer protections must be in place to ensure that all customers continue to receive safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally safe electric service. The sale and marketing of electricity by door-to-door and telephonic means have proven an ineffective way to ensure access to affordable, competitive electricity. Electricity is a fundamental necessity for the people of the State of Illinois, and in order to protect the people of this State and State energy assistance funds from price gouging and misleading marketing, the State shall pursue municipal aggregation of retail customers as the competitive model.

(e) All consumers must benefit in an equitable and timely fashion from the lower costs for electricity that result from retail and wholesale competition and receive sufficient information to make informed choices among suppliers and services. The use of renewable resources and energy efficiency resources should be encouraged in competitive markets.

(f) The efficiency of electric markets depends both upon the competitiveness of supply and upon the price-responsiveness of the demand for service. Therefore, to ensure the lowest total cost of service and to enhance the reliability of service, all classes of the electricity customers of electric utilities should have access to and be able to voluntarily use real-time pricing and other price-response and demand-response mechanisms.

(g) Including cost-effective renewable resources and demand-response resources in a diverse electricity supply portfolio will reduce long-term direct and indirect costs to consumers by decreasing environmental impacts and by avoiding or delaying the need for new generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. It serves the public interest to allow electric utilities to recover costs for reasonably and prudently incurred expenses for electricity generated by renewable resources and demand-response resources.

(h) Including electricity generated by clean coal facilities, as defined under Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, in a diverse electricity procurement portfolio will reduce the need to purchase, directly or indirectly, carbon dioxide emission credits and will decrease environmental impacts. It serves the public interest to allow electric utilities to recover costs for reasonably and prudently incurred expenses for sourcing electricity generated by clean coal facilities.

(Source: P.A. 94-977, eff. 6-30-06; 95-481, eff. 8-28-07; 95-1027, eff. 6-1-09.)

(220 ILCS 5/16-118)

Sec. 16-118. Services provided by electric utilities to alternative retail electric suppliers.

(a) It is in the best interest of Illinois energy consumers to promote fair and open competition in the provision of electric power and energy and to prevent anticompetitive practices in the provision of electric power and energy. Therefore, to the extent an electric utility provides electric power and energy or delivery services to alternative retail electric suppliers and such services are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and are not competitive services, they shall be provided through tariffs that are filed with the Commission, pursuant to Article IX of this Act. Each electric utility shall permit alternative retail electric suppliers to interconnect facilities to those owned by the utility provided they meet established standards for such interconnection, and may provide standby or other services to alternative retail electric suppliers. The alternative retail electric supplier shall sign a contract setting forth the prices, terms and conditions for interconnection with the electric utility and the prices, terms and conditions for services provided by the electric utility to the alternative retail electric supplier in connection with the delivery by the electric utility of electric power and energy supplied by the alternative retail electric supplier.

(b) An electric utility shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of the Act that would allow alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located to issue single bills to the retail customers for both the services provided by such alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility and the delivery services provided by the electric utility to such customers, provided that customers are enrolled with an alternative retail electric supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 1-92 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection shall (i) require partial payments made by retail customers to be credited first to the electric utility's tariffed services, (ii) impose commercially reasonable terms with respect to credit and collection, including requests for deposits, (iii) retain the electric utility's right to disconnect the retail customers, if it does not receive payment for its tariffed services, in the same manner that it would be permitted to if it had billed for the services itself, and (iv) require the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility that elects the billing option provided by this tariff to include on each bill to retail customers an identification of the electric utility providing the delivery services and a listing of the charges applicable to such services. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions. In addition, an electric utility, an alternative retail electric supplier or electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located, and a customer served by such alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility, may enter into an agreement pursuant to which the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility pays the charges specified in Section 16-108, or other customer-related charges, including taxes and fees, in lieu of such charges being recovered by the electric utility directly from the customer.

(c) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that provides alternative retail electric suppliers, and electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located, with the option to have the electric utility purchase their receivables for power and energy service provided to residential retail customers and non-residential retail customers with a non-coincident peak demand of less than 400 kilowatts, provided that customers are enrolled with an alternative retail electric supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 1-92 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Receivables for power and energy service of alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located shall be purchased by the electric utility at a just and reasonable discount rate to be reviewed and approved by the Commission after notice and hearing. The discount rate shall be based on the electric utility's historical bad debt and any reasonable start-up costs and administrative costs associated with the electric utility's purchase of receivables. The discounted rate for purchase of receivables shall be included in the tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (c). The discount rate filed pursuant to this subsection (c) shall be subject to periodic Commission review. The electric utility retains the right to impose the same terms on retail customers with respect to credit and collection, including requests for deposits, and retain the electric utility's right to disconnect the retail customers, if it does not receive payment for its tariffed services or purchased receivables, in the same manner that it would be permitted to if the retail customers purchased power and energy from the electric utility. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (c) shall permit the electric utility to recover from retail customers any uncollected receivables that may arise as a result of the purchase of receivables under this subsection (c), may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions, and shall provide for the prudently incurred costs associated with the provision of this service pursuant to this subsection (c). Nothing in this subsection (c) permits the double recovery of bad debt expenses from customers.

(d) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that would provide alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located with the option to have the electric utility produce and provide single bills to the retail customers for both the electric power and energy service provided by the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility and the delivery services provided by the electric utility to the customers, provided that customers are enrolled with an alternative retail electric supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 1-92 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The tariffs filed pursuant to this subsection shall require the electric utility to collect and remit customer payments for electric power and energy service provided by alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection shall require the electric utility to include on each bill to retail customers an identification of the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility that elects the billing option. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (d) may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions and shall provide for the recovery of prudently incurred costs associated with the provision of service pursuant to this subsection (d). The costs associated with the provision of service pursuant to this Section shall be subject to periodic Commission review.

(e) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers in this State shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that provides alternative retail electric suppliers, and electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located, with the option to have the electric utility purchase 2 billing cycles worth of uncollectible receivables for power and energy service provided to residential retail customers and to non-residential retail customers with a non-coincident peak demand of less than 400 kilowatts upon returning that customer to that electric utility for delivery and energy service after that alternative retail electric supplier, or an electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customer is located, has made reasonable collection efforts on that account, provided that customers are enrolled with an alternative retail electric supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 1-92 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Uncollectible receivables for power and energy service of alternative retail electric suppliers, or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located, shall be purchased by the electric utility at a just and reasonable discount rate to be reviewed and approved by the Commission, after notice and hearing. The discount rate shall be based on the electric utility's historical bad debt for receivables that are outstanding for a similar length of time and any reasonable start-up costs and administrative costs associated with the electric utility's purchase of receivables. The discounted rate for purchase of uncollectible receivables shall be included in the tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (e). The electric utility retains the right to impose the same terms on these retail customers with respect to credit and collection, including requests for deposits, and retains the right to disconnect these retail customers, if it does not receive payment for its tariffed services or purchased receivables, in the same manner that it would be permitted to if the retail customers had purchased power and energy from the electric utility. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (e) shall permit the electric utility to recover from retail customers any uncollectable receivables that may arise as a result of the purchase of uncollectible receivables under this subsection (e), may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions, and shall provide for the prudently incurred costs associated with the provision of this service pursuant to this subsection (e). Nothing in this subsection (e) permits the double recovery of utility bad debt expenses from customers. The electric utility may file a joint tariff for this subsection (e) and subsection (c) of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 95-700, eff. 11-9-07.)

(220 ILCS 5/19-107 new)

Sec. 19-107. Aggregation of natural gas load by municipalities, townships, and counties.

(a) The sale and marketing of natural gas by door-to-door and telephonic means has proven an ineffective way to ensure access to affordable, competitive natural gas. Natural gas is a fundamental necessity for the people of the State of Illinois, and in order to protect the people of this State and State energy assistance funds from price gouging and misleading marketing, the State shall pursue municipal aggregation of retail customers as the competitive model.

(b) This Section applies to a natural gas utility serving more than 700,000 customers in southern and central Illinois and a natural gas utility serving more than 1,000,000 customers in northern Illinois.

(c) The corporate authorities of a municipality, township board, or county board of a county may adopt an ordinance under which it may aggregate in accordance with this Section residential and small commercial retail natural gas loads located, respectively, within the municipality, the township, or the unincorporated areas of the county and, for that purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of natural gas and related services and equipment.

The corporate authorities, township board, or county board may also exercise such authority jointly with any other municipality, township, or county. Two or more municipalities, townships, or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate a process jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote of each particular municipality, township, or county as required by this Section.

If the corporate authorities, township board, or the county board seek to operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail customers, then prior to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to aggregation of residential and small commercial retail natural gas loads, the corporate authorities of a municipality, the township board, or the county board of a county shall submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or not the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail customers. Any county board that seeks to submit such a referendum to its residents shall do so only in unincorporated areas of the county where no natural gas aggregation ordinance has been adopted.

In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the general election law, notice of the referendum shall state briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether the corporate authorities, the township board, or the county board shall adopt an opt-out aggregation program for residential and small commercial retail customers shall be submitted to the electors of the municipality, township board, or county board at a regular election and approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. The corporate authorities, township board, or county board must certify to the proper election authority, which must submit the question at an election in accordance with the Election Code.

The election authority must submit the question in substantially the following form:

Shall the (municipality, township, or county in which the question is being voted upon) have the authority to arrange for the supply of natural gas for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such program?

The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".

If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities, township board, or county board may implement an opt-out aggregation program for residential and small commercial retail customers.

A referendum must pass in each particular municipality, township, or county that is engaged in the aggregation program. If the referendum fails, then the corporate authorities, township board, or county board shall operate the aggregation program as an opt-in program for residential and small commercial retail customers.

No aggregation shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the members of the corporate authority, township board, or county board voting upon the ordinance.

A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a public utility or an alternative gas supplier.

For purposes of this Section, "township" means the portion of a township that is an unincorporated portion of a county that is not otherwise a part of a municipality. In addition to such other limitations as are included in this Section, a township board shall only have authority to aggregate residential and small commercial customer loads in accordance with this Section if the county board of the county in which the township is located (i) is not also submitting a referendum to its residents at the same general election that the township board proposes to submit a referendum under this subsection (a), (ii) has not received authorization through passage of a referendum to operate an opt-out aggregation program for residential and small commercial retail customers under this subsection (a), and (iii) has not otherwise enacted an ordinance under this subsection (a) authorizing the operation of an opt-in aggregation program for residential and small commercial retail customers as described in this Section.

(d) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this Section, the corporate authorities, the township board, or the county board, with assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, shall develop a plan of operation and governance for the aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this Section, the corporate authorities, township board, or county board shall hold at least 2 public hearings on the plan. Before the first hearing, the corporate authorities, township board, or county board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the date, time, and location of each hearing. Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to this Section shall:

(1) provide for universal access to all applicable residential customers and equitable treatment of applicable residential customers;

(2) describe demand management and energy efficiency services to be provided to each class of customers; and

(3) meet any requirements established by law concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this Section.

(e) The process for soliciting bids for natural gas and other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the purchase of natural gas and other related services shall be conducted in the following order:

(1) The corporate authorities, township board, or county board may solicit bids for natural gas and other related services. The bid specifications may include a provision requiring the bidder to disclose the fuel type of natural gas to be procured on behalf of the aggregation program customers. The corporate authorities, township board, or county board may consider the proposed source of natural gas to be procured or generated to be put into the gas system on behalf of aggregation program customers in the competitive bidding process. The Commission may issue guidance on voluntary uniform standards for bidder disclosures of the source of natural gas to be procured or generated to be put into the gas system on behalf of aggregation program customers.

(2) A township board shall request from the natural gas utility those residential and small commercial customers within their aggregate area either by zip code or zip codes or other means as determined by the natural gas utility. The natural gas utility shall then provide to the township board the residential and small commercial customers, including the names and addresses of residential and small commercial customers, electronically. The township board shall be responsible for authenticating the residential and small commercial customers contained in this listing and providing edits of the data to affirm, add, or delete the residential and small commercial customers located within its jurisdiction. The township board shall provide the edited list to the natural gas utility in an electronic format or other means selected by the natural gas utility and certify that the information is accurate.

(3) Notwithstanding Section 16-122, a natural gas utility that provides residential and small commercial retail natural gas service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the corporate authorities, township board, or the county board in the aggregate area, submit to the requesting party, in an electronic format, those account numbers, names, and addresses of residential and small commercial retail customers in the aggregate area that are reflected in the natural gas utility's records at the time of the request, provided that a township board has first provided an accurate customer list to the natural gas utility as provided in this Section.

Any corporate authority, township board, or county board receiving customer information from a natural gas utility shall be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of the information described in Section 16-122 and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and a natural gas utility shall not be held liable for any claims arising out of the provision of information pursuant to this paragraph (3).

(f) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county board operate under an opt-in program for residential and small commercial retail customers, then the corporate authorities, township board, or county board shall comply with all of the following:

(1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the corporate authorities, township board, or county board shall allow residential and small commercial retail customers to commit to the terms and conditions of a bid that has been selected by the corporate authorities, township board, or county board.

(2) If (A) the corporate authorities, township board, or county board award proposed agreements for the purchase of natural gas and other related services and (B) an agreement is reached between the corporate authorities, township board, or county board for those services, then customers committed to the terms and conditions according to paragraph (1) of this subsection (f) shall be committed to the agreement.

(g) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county board operate as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail customers, then it shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully inform residential and small commercial retail customers in advance that they have the right to opt out of the aggregation program. The disclosure shall prominently state all charges to be made and shall include full disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103, how to access it, and the fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are currently receiving service under that Section.

(h) Any person or entity retained by a municipality or county, or jointly by more than one such unit of local government, to provide input, guidance, or advice in the selection of a natural gas supplier for an aggregation program shall disclose in writing to the involved units of local government the nature of any relationship through which the person or entity may receive, either directly or indirectly, commissions or other remuneration as a result of the selection of any particular natural gas supplier. The written disclosure must be made prior to formal approval by the involved units of local government of any professional services agreement with the person or entity, or no later than October 1, 2019 with respect to any such professional services agreement entered into prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly. The disclosure shall cover all direct and indirect relationships through which commissions or remuneration may result, including the pooling of commissions or remuneration among multiple persons or entities, and shall identify all involved natural gas suppliers. The disclosure requirements in this subsection (h) are to be liberally construed to ensure that the nature of financial interests are fully revealed, and these disclosure requirements shall apply regardless of whether the involved person or entity is licensed under Section 16-115C. Any person or entity that fails to make the disclosure required under this subsection (h) is liable to the involved units of local government in an amount equal to all compensation paid to such person or entity by the units of local government for the input, guidance, or advice in the selection of a natural gas supplier, plus reasonable attorneys fees and court costs incurred by the units of local government in connection with obtaining such amount.

(i) This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate residential and small commercial retail natural gas loads.

(220 ILCS 5/19-135)

Sec. 19-135. Single billing. It is the intent of the General Assembly that in any service area where customers are able to choose their natural gas supplier, a single billing option shall be offered to customers for both the services provided by the alternative gas supplier and the delivery services provided by the gas utility, provided that customers are enrolled with the alternative natural gas supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 19-107. A gas utility shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that allows alternative gas suppliers to issue single bills to residential and small commercial customers, provided that customers are enrolled with the alternative natural gas supplier through the municipal aggregation process described in Section 19-107, for both the services provided by the alternative gas supplier and the delivery services provided by the gas utility to customers; provided that if a form of single billing is being offered in a gas utility's service area on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly, that form of single billing shall remain in effect unless and until otherwise ordered by the Commission.

(Source: P.A. 92-852, eff. 8-26-02.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.