SB2914eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2914 Engrossed LRB100 19157 SMS 34422 b

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 Section 20-110 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/20-110)

Sec. 20-110. Office of Retail Market Development. Within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, subject to appropriation, the Commission shall establish an Office of Retail Market Development and employ on its staff a Director of Retail Market Development to oversee the Office. The Director shall have authority to employ or otherwise retain at least 2 professionals dedicated to the task of actively seeking out ways to promote retail competition in Illinois to benefit all Illinois consumers.

The Office shall actively seek input from all interested parties and shall develop a thorough understanding and critical analyses of the tools and techniques used to promote retail competition in other states.

The Office shall monitor existing competitive conditions in Illinois, identify barriers to retail competition for all customer classes, and actively explore and propose to the Commission and to the General Assembly solutions to overcome identified barriers. The Director may include municipal aggregation of customers and creating and designing customer choice programs as tools for retail market development. Solutions proposed by the Office to promote retail competition must also promote safe, reliable, and affordable electric service.

On or before June 30 of each year, the Director shall submit a report to the Commission, the General Assembly, and the Governor, that details specific accomplishments achieved by the Office in the prior 12 months in promoting retail electric competition and that suggests administrative and legislative action necessary to promote further improvements in retail electric competition. Any information in this report involving price comparisons between electric utilities, electric utilities providing service outside their service territories, or alternative retail electric suppliers shall also include the combined value of additional products and services offered by the competitive retail electricity market, including, but not limited to, the cash value of energy control technologies provided, the megawatt hours of energy savings realized by customers utilizing energy control technologies, the megawatt hours of renewable energy exclusive of State mandated purchases, and the total amounts of cash or cash equivalent offers. The Commission may include other energy savings and marketing savings programs as they develop in the market.

(Source: P.A. 94-1095, eff. 2-2-07.)