HB5514 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 39335 CES 69496 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5514

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Rep. Jay Hoffman

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 3855/1-5
20 ILCS 3855/1-10
20 ILCS 3855/1-20
20 ILCS 3855/1-75
220 ILCS 5/16-108
220 ILCS 5/16-111.5

Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Authorizes the Illinois Power Agency to develop a high voltage direct current (HVDC) renewable energy credit procurement for HVDC renewable energy credits. Provides that, within 120 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, the Agency shall develop a HVDC renewable energy credit procurement plan limited to the procurement of HVDC renewable energy credits. Sets forth requirements and procedures for the procurement plan. Amends the Public Utilities Act to make conforming changes.

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 Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by changing Sections 1-5, 1-10, 1-20, and 1-75 as follows:

(20 ILCS 3855/1-5)

Sec. 1-5. Legislative declarations and findings. The General Assembly finds and declares:

(1) The health, welfare, and prosperity of all Illinois residents require the provision of adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(1.5) To provide the highest quality of life for the residents of Illinois and to provide for a clean and healthy environment, it is the policy of this State to rapidly transition to 100% clean energy by 2050.

(2) (Blank).

(3) (Blank).

(4) It is necessary to improve the process of procuring electricity to serve Illinois residents, to promote investment in energy efficiency and demand-response measures, and to maintain and support development of clean coal technologies, generation resources that operate at all hours of the day and under all weather conditions, zero emission facilities, and renewable resources.

(5) Procuring a diverse electricity supply portfolio will ensure the lowest total cost over time for adequate, reliable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service.

(6) Including renewable resources and zero emission credits from zero emission facilities in that 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. Developing new renewable energy resources in Illinois, including brownfield solar projects and community solar projects, will help to diversify Illinois electricity supply, avoid and reduce pollution, reduce peak demand, and enhance public health and well-being of Illinois residents.

(7) Developing community solar projects in Illinois will help to expand access to renewable energy resources to more Illinois residents.

(8) Developing brownfield solar projects in Illinois will help return blighted or contaminated land to productive use while enhancing public health and the well-being of Illinois residents, including those in environmental justice communities.

(9) Energy efficiency, demand-response measures, zero emission energy, and renewable energy are resources currently underused in Illinois. These resources should be used, when cost effective, to reduce costs to consumers, improve reliability, and improve environmental quality and public health.

(10) The State should encourage the use of advanced clean coal technologies that capture and sequester carbon dioxide emissions to advance environmental protection goals and to demonstrate the viability of coal and coal-derived fuels in a carbon-constrained economy.

(10.5) The State should encourage the development of interregional high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission lines that benefit Illinois. All ratepayers in the State served by the regional transmission organization where the HVDC converter station is interconnected benefit from the long-term price stability and market access provided by interregional HVDC transmission facilities. The benefits to Illinois include: reduction in wholesale power prices; access to lower-cost markets; enabling the integration of additional renewable generating units within the State through near instantaneous dispatchability and the provision of ancillary services; creating good-paying union jobs in Illinois; and, enhancing grid reliability and climate resilience via HVDC facilities that are installed underground.

(10.6) The health, welfare, and safety of the people of the State are advanced by developing new HVDC transmission lines predominantly along transportation rights-of-way, with an HVDC converter station that is located in the service territory of a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act serving more than 3,000,000 retail customers, and with a project labor agreement as defined in Section 1-10 of this Act.

(10.8) Procurement of renewable resources transmitted over new HVDC transmission lines benefits all ratepayers by decarbonizing the Illinois economy by providing as much as 17,958,000 megawatt-hours of diversified renewable energy resources annually while improving reliability through fully dispatchable high-voltage direct current transmission facilities that cannot be provided through development of local renewable generation or transmission alone.

(11) The General Assembly enacted Public Act 96-0795 to reform the State's purchasing processes, recognizing that government procurement is susceptible to abuse if structural and procedural safeguards are not in place to ensure independence, insulation, oversight, and transparency.

(12) The principles that underlie the procurement reform legislation apply also in the context of power purchasing.

(13) To ensure that the benefits of installing renewable resources are available to all Illinois residents and located across the State, subject to appropriation, it is necessary for the Agency to provide public information and educational resources on how residents can benefit from the expansion of renewable energy in Illinois and participate in the Illinois Solar for All Program established in Section 1-56, the Adjustable Block program established in Section 1-75, the job training programs established by paragraph (1) of subsection (a) of Section 16-108.12 of the Public Utilities Act, and the programs and resources established by the Energy Transition Act.

The General Assembly therefore finds that it is necessary to create the Illinois Power Agency and that the goals and objectives of that Agency are to accomplish each of the following:

(A) Develop electricity procurement plans to ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability, for electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois and for small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that (i) on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois and (ii) request a procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. The procurement plan shall be updated on an annual basis and shall include renewable energy resources and, beginning with the delivery year commencing June 1, 2017, zero emission credits from zero emission facilities sufficient to achieve the standards specified in this Act.

(B) Conduct the competitive procurement processes identified in this Act.

(C) Develop electric generation and co-generation facilities that use indigenous coal or renewable resources, or both, financed with bonds issued by the Illinois Finance Authority.

(D) Supply electricity from the Agency's facilities at cost to one or more of the following: municipal electric systems, governmental aggregators, or rural electric cooperatives in Illinois.

(E) Ensure that the process of power procurement is conducted in an ethical and transparent fashion, immune from improper influence.

(F) Continue to review its policies and practices to determine how best to meet its mission of providing the lowest cost power to the greatest number of people, at any given point in time, in accordance with applicable law.

(G) Operate in a structurally insulated, independent, and transparent fashion so that nothing impedes the Agency's mission to secure power at the best prices the market will bear, provided that the Agency meets all applicable legal requirements.

(H) Implement renewable energy procurement and training programs throughout the State to diversify Illinois electricity supply, improve reliability, avoid and reduce pollution, reduce peak demand, and enhance public health and well-being of Illinois residents, including low-income residents.

(I) Implement procurement of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)

(20 ILCS 3855/1-10)

Sec. 1-10. Definitions.

"Agency" means the Illinois Power Agency.

"Agency loan agreement" means any agreement pursuant to which the Illinois Finance Authority agrees to loan the proceeds of revenue bonds issued with respect to a project to the Agency upon terms providing for loan repayment installments at least sufficient to pay when due all principal of, interest and premium, if any, on those revenue bonds, and providing for maintenance, insurance, and other matters in respect of the project.

"Authority" means the Illinois Finance Authority.

"Brownfield site photovoltaic project" means photovoltaics that are either:

(1) interconnected to an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section, a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act and located at a site that is regulated by any of the following entities under the following programs:

(A) the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended;

(B) the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Corrective Action Program of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended;

(C) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency under the Illinois Site Remediation Program; or

(D) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency under the Illinois Solid Waste Program; or

(2) located at the site of a coal mine that has permanently ceased coal production, permanently halted any re-mining operations, and is no longer accepting any coal combustion residues; has both completed all clean-up and remediation obligations under the federal Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977 and all applicable Illinois rules and any other clean-up, remediation, or ongoing monitoring to safeguard the health and well-being of the people of the State of Illinois, as well as demonstrated compliance with all applicable federal and State environmental rules and regulations, including, but not limited, to 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845 and any rules for historic fill of coal combustion residuals, including any rules finalized in Subdocket A of Illinois Pollution Control Board docket R2020-019.

"Clean coal facility" means an electric generating facility that uses primarily coal as a feedstock and that captures and sequesters carbon dioxide emissions at the following levels: at least 50% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation before 2016, at least 70% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation during 2016 or 2017, and at least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation after 2017. The power block of the clean coal facility shall not exceed allowable emission rates for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates and mercury for a natural gas-fired combined-cycle facility the same size as and in the same location as the clean coal facility at the time the clean coal facility obtains an approved air permit. All coal used by a clean coal facility shall have high volatile bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content, unless the clean coal facility does not use gasification technology and was operating as a conventional coal-fired electric generating facility on June 1, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 95-1027).

"Clean coal SNG brownfield facility" means a facility that (1) has commenced construction by July 1, 2015 on an urban brownfield site in a municipality with at least 1,000,000 residents; (2) uses a gasification process to produce substitute natural gas; (3) uses coal as at least 50% of the total feedstock over the term of any sourcing agreement with a utility and the remainder of the feedstock may be either petroleum coke or coal, with all such coal having a high bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content unless the facility reasonably determines that it is necessary to use additional petroleum coke to deliver additional consumer savings, in which case the facility shall use coal for at least 35% of the total feedstock over the term of any sourcing agreement; and (4) captures and sequesters at least 85% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit.

"Clean coal SNG facility" means a facility that uses a gasification process to produce substitute natural gas, that sequesters at least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit, that uses at least 90% coal as a feedstock, with all such coal having a high bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content, and that has a valid and effective permit to construct emission sources and air pollution control equipment and approval with respect to the federal regulations for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD) for the plant pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act; provided, however, a clean coal SNG brownfield facility shall not be a clean coal SNG facility.

"Clean energy" means energy generation that is 90% or greater free of carbon dioxide emissions.

"Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.

"Community renewable generation project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) is powered by wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams;

(2) is interconnected at the distribution system level of an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or operates electric distribution facilities, a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative, as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act;

(3) credits the value of electricity generated by the facility to the subscribers of the facility; and

(4) is limited in nameplate capacity to less than or equal to 5,000 kilowatts.

"Costs incurred in connection with the development and construction of a facility" means:

(1) the cost of acquisition of all real property, fixtures, and improvements in connection therewith and equipment, personal property, and other property, rights, and easements acquired that are deemed necessary for the operation and maintenance of the facility;

(2) financing costs with respect to bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the Agency;

(3) all origination, commitment, utilization, facility, placement, underwriting, syndication, credit enhancement, and rating agency fees;

(4) engineering, design, procurement, consulting, legal, accounting, title insurance, survey, appraisal, escrow, trustee, collateral agency, interest rate hedging, interest rate swap, capitalized interest, contingency, as required by lenders, and other financing costs, and other expenses for professional services; and

(5) the costs of plans, specifications, site study and investigation, installation, surveys, other Agency costs and estimates of costs, and other expenses necessary or incidental to determining the feasibility of any project, together with such other expenses as may be necessary or incidental to the financing, insuring, acquisition, and construction of a specific project and starting up, commissioning, and placing that project in operation.

"Delivery services" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Delivery year" means the consecutive 12-month period beginning June 1 of a given year and ending May 31 of the following year.

"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Director" means the Director of the Illinois Power Agency.

"Demand-response" means measures that decrease peak electricity demand or shift demand from peak to off-peak periods.

"Distributed renewable energy generation device" means a device that is:

(1) powered by wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, tree waste, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams, waste heat to power systems, or qualified combined heat and power systems;

(2) interconnected at the distribution system level of either an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or operates electric distribution facilities, or a rural electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act;

(3) located on the customer side of the customer's electric meter and is primarily used to offset that customer's electricity load; and

(4) (blank).

"Energy efficiency" means measures that reduce the amount of electricity or natural gas consumed in order to achieve a given end use. "Energy efficiency" includes voltage optimization measures that optimize the voltage at points on the electric distribution voltage system and thereby reduce electricity consumption by electric customers' end use devices. "Energy efficiency" also includes measures that reduce the total Btus of electricity, natural gas, and other fuels needed to meet the end use or uses.

"Electric utility" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Equity investment eligible community" or "eligible community" are synonymous and mean the geographic areas throughout Illinois which would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination. Specifically, the eligible communities shall be defined as the following areas:

(1) R3 Areas as established pursuant to Section 10-40 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, where residents have historically been excluded from economic opportunities, including opportunities in the energy sector; and

(2) environmental justice communities, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to the Illinois Power Agency Act, where residents have historically been subject to disproportionate burdens of pollution, including pollution from the energy sector.

"Equity eligible persons" or "eligible persons" means persons who would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination, specifically:

(1) persons who graduate from or are current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the Illinois Climate Works Preapprenticeship Program, Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section 16-208.12 of the Public Utilities Act;

(2) persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system;

(3) persons who were formerly incarcerated;

(4) persons whose primary residence is in an equity investment eligible community.

"Equity eligible contractor" means a business that is majority-owned by eligible persons, or a nonprofit or cooperative that is majority-governed by eligible persons, or is a natural person that is an eligible person offering personal services as an independent contractor.

"Facility" means an electric generating unit or a co-generating unit that produces electricity along with related equipment necessary to connect the facility to an electric transmission or distribution system.

"General contractor" means the entity or organization with main responsibility for the building of a construction project and who is the party signing the prime construction contract for the project.

"Governmental aggregator" means one or more units of local government that individually or collectively procure electricity to serve residential retail electrical loads located within its or their jurisdiction.

"High voltage direct current converter station" means the collection of equipment that converts direct current energy from a high voltage direct current transmission line into alternating current using Voltage Source Conversion technology and that is interconnected with transmission or distribution assets located in Illinois.

"High voltage direct current renewable energy credit" means a renewable energy credit associated with a renewable energy resource where the renewable energy resource has entered into a contract to transmit the energy associated with such renewable energy credit over high voltage direct current transmission facilities.

"High voltage direct current transmission facilities" means the collection of installed equipment that converts alternating current energy in one location to direct current and transmits that direct current energy to a high voltage direct current converter station using Voltage Source Conversion technology. "High voltage direct current transmission facilities" includes the high voltage direct current converter station itself and associated high voltage direct current transmission lines. Notwithstanding the preceding, after September 15, 2021 (the effective date of Public Act 102-662), an otherwise qualifying collection of equipment does not qualify as high voltage direct current transmission facilities unless: (i) its developer entered into a project labor agreement, (ii) more than 100 miles of its Illinois footprint is built underground, (iii) the facilities are is capable of transmitting electricity at 525kv or above, and (iv) the facilities include with an Illinois converter station physically located in and interconnected in the Illinois footprint region of the PJM Interconnection, LLC, and the system does not operate as a public utility in Illinois, as that term is defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Hydropower" means any method of electricity generation or storage that results from the flow of water, including impoundment facilities, diversion facilities, and pumped storage facilities.

"Index price" means the real-time energy settlement price at the applicable Illinois trading hub, such as PJM-NIHUB or MISO-IL, for a given settlement period.

"Indexed renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource, the price of which shall be calculated by subtracting the strike price offered by a new utility-scale wind project or a new utility-scale photovoltaic project from the index price in a given settlement period.

"Indexed renewable energy credit counterparty" has the same meaning as "public utility" as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Local government" means a unit of local government as defined in Section 1 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.

"Modernized" or "retooled" means the construction, repair, maintenance, or significant expansion of turbines and existing hydropower dams.

"Municipality" means a city, village, or incorporated town.

"Municipal utility" means a public utility owned and operated by any subdivision or municipal corporation of this State.

"Nameplate capacity" means the aggregate inverter nameplate capacity in kilowatts AC.

"Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation, either domestic or foreign, company, association, limited liability company, joint stock company, or association and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

"Project" means the planning, bidding, and construction of a facility.

"Project labor agreement" means a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that covers all terms and conditions of employment on a specific construction project and must include the following:

(1) provisions establishing the minimum hourly wage for each class of labor organization employee;

(2) provisions establishing the benefits and other compensation for each class of labor organization employee;

(3) provisions establishing that no strike or disputes will be engaged in by the labor organization employees;

(4) provisions establishing that no lockout or disputes will be engaged in by the general contractor building the project; and

(5) provisions for minorities and women, as defined under the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, setting forth goals for apprenticeship hours to be performed by minorities and women and setting forth goals for total hours to be performed by underrepresented minorities and women.

A labor organization and the general contractor building the project shall have the authority to include other terms and conditions as they deem necessary.

"Public utility" has the same definition as found in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Qualified combined heat and power systems" means systems that, either simultaneously or sequentially, produce electricity and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source. Such systems are eligible for "renewable energy credits" in an amount equal to its total energy output where a renewable fuel is consumed or in an amount equal to the net reduction in nonrenewable fuel consumed on a total energy output basis.

"Real property" means any interest in land together with all structures, fixtures, and improvements thereon, including lands under water and riparian rights, any easements, covenants, licenses, leases, rights-of-way, uses, and other interests, together with any liens, judgments, mortgages, or other claims or security interests related to real property.

"Renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource.

"Renewable energy resources" includes energy and its associated renewable energy credit or renewable energy credits from wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells and panels, biodiesel, anaerobic digestion, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams, waste heat to power systems, or qualified combined heat and power systems. For purposes of this Act, landfill gas produced in the State is considered a renewable energy resource. "Renewable energy resources" does not include the incineration or burning of tires, garbage, general household, institutional, and commercial waste, industrial lunchroom or office waste, landscape waste, railroad crossties, utility poles, or construction or demolition debris, other than untreated and unadulterated waste wood. "Renewable energy resources" also includes high voltage direct current renewable energy credits and the associated energy converted to alternating current by a high voltage direct current converter station to the extent that: (1) the generator of such renewable energy resource contracted with a third party to transmit the energy over the high voltage direct current transmission facilities, and (2) the third-party contracting for delivery of renewable energy resources over the high voltage direct current transmission facilities have ownership rights over the unretired associated high voltage direct current renewable energy credit.

"Retail customer" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Revenue bond" means any bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the Authority, the principal and interest of which is payable solely from revenues or income derived from any project or activity of the Agency.

"Sequester" means permanent storage of carbon dioxide by injecting it into a saline aquifer, a depleted gas reservoir, or an oil reservoir, directly or through an enhanced oil recovery process that may involve intermediate storage, regardless of whether these activities are conducted by a clean coal facility, a clean coal SNG facility, a clean coal SNG brownfield facility, or a party with which a clean coal facility, clean coal SNG facility, or clean coal SNG brownfield facility has contracted for such purposes.

"Service area" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Settlement period" means the period of time utilized by MISO and PJM and their successor organizations as the basis for settlement calculations in the real-time energy market.

"Sourcing agreement" means (i) in the case of an electric utility, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal facility and such electric utility, which agreement shall have terms and conditions meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of Section 1-75, (ii) in the case of an alternative retail electric supplier, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal facility and such alternative retail electric supplier, which agreement shall have terms and conditions meeting the requirements of Section 16-115(d)(5) of the Public Utilities Act, and (iii) in case of a gas utility, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal SNG brownfield facility and the gas utility, which agreement shall have the terms and conditions meeting the requirements of subsection (h-1) of Section 9-220 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Strike price" means a contract price for energy and renewable energy credits from a new utility-scale wind project or a new utility-scale photovoltaic project.

"Subscriber" means a person who (i) takes delivery service from an electric utility, and (ii) has a subscription of no less than 200 watts to a community renewable generation project that is located in the electric utility's service area. No subscriber's subscriptions may total more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an individual community renewable generation project. Entities that are affiliated by virtue of a common parent shall not represent multiple subscriptions that total more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an individual community renewable generation project.

"Subscription" means an interest in a community renewable generation project expressed in kilowatts, which is sized primarily to offset part or all of the subscriber's electricity usage.

"Substitute natural gas" or "SNG" means a gas manufactured by gasification of hydrocarbon feedstock, which is substantially interchangeable in use and distribution with conventional natural gas.

"Total resource cost test" or "TRC test" means a standard that is met if, for an investment in energy efficiency or demand-response measures, the benefit-cost ratio is greater than one. The benefit-cost ratio is the ratio of the net present value of the total benefits of the program to the net present value of the total costs as calculated over the lifetime of the measures. A total resource cost test compares the sum of avoided electric utility costs, representing the benefits that accrue to the system and the participant in the delivery of those efficiency measures and including avoided costs associated with reduced use of natural gas or other fuels, avoided costs associated with reduced water consumption, and avoided costs associated with reduced operation and maintenance costs, as well as other quantifiable societal benefits, to the sum of all incremental costs of end-use measures that are implemented due to the program (including both utility and participant contributions), plus costs to administer, deliver, and evaluate each demand-side program, to quantify the net savings obtained by substituting the demand-side program for supply resources. In calculating avoided costs of power and energy that an electric utility would otherwise have had to acquire, reasonable estimates shall be included of financial costs likely to be imposed by future regulations and legislation on emissions of greenhouse gases. In discounting future societal costs and benefits for the purpose of calculating net present values, a societal discount rate based on actual, long-term Treasury bond yields should be used. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the TRC test shall not include or take into account a calculation of market price suppression effects or demand reduction induced price effects.

"Utility-scale solar project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) generates electricity using photovoltaic cells; and

(2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than 5,000 kilowatts.

"Utility-scale wind project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) generates electricity using wind; and

(2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than 5,000 kilowatts.

"Waste Heat to Power Systems" means systems that capture and generate electricity from energy that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere without the use of additional fuel.

"Zero emission credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a zero emission facility.

"Zero emission facility" means a facility that: (1) is fueled by nuclear power; and (2) is interconnected with PJM Interconnection, LLC or the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., or their successors.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 103-154, eff. 6-28-23; 103-380, eff. 1-1-24.)

(20 ILCS 3855/1-20)

Sec. 1-20. General powers and duties of the Agency.

(a) The Agency is authorized to do each of the following:

(1) Develop electricity procurement plans to ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability, for electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois and for small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that (A) on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois and (B) request a procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. Except as provided in paragraph (1.5) of this subsection (a), the electricity procurement plans shall be updated on an annual basis and shall include electricity generated from renewable resources sufficient to achieve the standards specified in this Act. Beginning with the delivery year commencing June 1, 2017, develop procurement plans to include zero emission credits generated from zero emission facilities sufficient to achieve the standards specified in this Act. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2022, the Agency is authorized to develop carbon mitigation credit procurement plans to include carbon mitigation credits generated from carbon-free energy resources sufficient to achieve the standards specified in this Act.

(1.5) Develop a long-term renewable resources procurement plan in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of this Act for renewable energy credits in amounts sufficient to achieve the standards specified in this Act for delivery years commencing June 1, 2017 and for the programs and renewable energy credits specified in Section 1-56 of this Act. Electricity procurement plans for delivery years commencing after May 31, 2017, shall not include procurement of renewable energy resources.

(1.7) Develop a high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement in accordance with subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of this Act for high voltage direct current renewable energy credits for delivery starting on or about June 1, 2029 or as otherwise provided in this Act for at least 25 years, or as otherwise permitted under that subsection.

(2) Conduct competitive procurement processes to procure the supply resources identified in the electricity procurement plan, pursuant to Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, and, for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2017, conduct procurement processes to procure zero emission credits from zero emission facilities, under subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of this Act. For the delivery year commencing June 1, 2022, the Agency is authorized to conduct procurement processes to procure carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources, under subsection (d-10) of Section 1-75 of this Act.

(2.5) Beginning with the procurement for the 2017 delivery year, conduct competitive procurement processes and implement programs to procure renewable energy credits identified in the long-term renewable resources procurement plan developed and approved under subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of this Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

(2.10) Oversee the procurement by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities to be installed, along with energy storage facilities, at or adjacent to the sites of electric generating facilities that burned coal as their primary fuel source as of January 1, 2016 in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of this Act.

(2.15) Oversee the procurement by electric utilities of renewable energy credits from newly modernized or retooled hydropower dams or dams that have been converted to support hydropower generation.

(3) Develop electric generation and co-generation facilities that use indigenous coal or renewable resources, or both, financed with bonds issued by the Illinois Finance Authority.

(4) Supply electricity from the Agency's facilities at cost to one or more of the following: municipal electric systems, governmental aggregators, or rural electric cooperatives in Illinois.

(b) Except as otherwise limited by this Act, the Agency has all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act, including without limitation, each of the following:

(1) To have a corporate seal, and to alter that seal at pleasure, and to use it by causing it or a facsimile to be affixed or impressed or reproduced in any other manner.

(2) To use the services of the Illinois Finance Authority necessary to carry out the Agency's purposes.

(3) To negotiate and enter into loan agreements and other agreements with the Illinois Finance Authority.

(4) To obtain and employ personnel and hire consultants that are necessary to fulfill the Agency's purposes, and to make expenditures for that purpose within the appropriations for that purpose.

(5) To purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use, and otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property whether tangible or intangible, or any interest therein, within the State.

(6) To acquire real or personal property, whether tangible or intangible, including without limitation property rights, interests in property, franchises, obligations, contracts, and debt and equity securities, and to do so by the exercise of the power of eminent domain in accordance with Section 1-21; except that any real property acquired by the exercise of the power of eminent domain must be located within the State.

(7) To sell, convey, lease, exchange, transfer, abandon, or otherwise dispose of, or mortgage, pledge, or create a security interest in, any of its assets, properties, or any interest therein, wherever situated.

(8) To purchase, take, receive, subscribe for, or otherwise acquire, hold, make a tender offer for, vote, employ, sell, lend, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security interest in, use, and otherwise deal in and with, bonds and other obligations, shares, or other securities (or interests therein) issued by others, whether engaged in a similar or different business or activity.

(9) To make and execute agreements, contracts, and other instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers and functions of the Agency under this Act, including contracts with any person, including personal service contracts, or with any local government, State agency, or other entity; and all State agencies and all local governments are authorized to enter into and do all things necessary to perform any such agreement, contract, or other instrument with the Agency. No such agreement, contract, or other instrument shall exceed 40 years.

(10) To lend money, invest and reinvest its funds in accordance with the Public Funds Investment Act, and take and hold real and personal property as security for the payment of funds loaned or invested.

(11) To borrow money at such rate or rates of interest as the Agency may determine, issue its notes, bonds, or other obligations to evidence that indebtedness, and secure any of its obligations by mortgage or pledge of its real or personal property, machinery, equipment, structures, fixtures, inventories, revenues, grants, and other funds as provided or any interest therein, wherever situated.

(12) To enter into agreements with the Illinois Finance Authority to issue bonds whether or not the income therefrom is exempt from federal taxation.

(13) To procure insurance against any loss in connection with its properties or operations in such amount or amounts and from such insurers, including the federal government, as it may deem necessary or desirable, and to pay any premiums therefor.

(14) To negotiate and enter into agreements with trustees or receivers appointed by United States bankruptcy courts or federal district courts or in other proceedings involving adjustment of debts and authorize proceedings involving adjustment of debts and authorize legal counsel for the Agency to appear in any such proceedings.

(15) To file a petition under Chapter 9 of Title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code or take other similar action for the adjustment of its debts.

(16) To enter into management agreements for the operation of any of the property or facilities owned by the Agency.

(17) To enter into an agreement to transfer and to transfer any land, facilities, fixtures, or equipment of the Agency to one or more municipal electric systems, governmental aggregators, or rural electric agencies or cooperatives, for such consideration and upon such terms as the Agency may determine to be in the best interest of the residents of Illinois.

(18) To enter upon any lands and within any building whenever in its judgment it may be necessary for the purpose of making surveys and examinations to accomplish any purpose authorized by this Act.

(19) To maintain an office or offices at such place or places in the State as it may determine.

(20) To request information, and to make any inquiry, investigation, survey, or study that the Agency may deem necessary to enable it effectively to carry out the provisions of this Act.

(21) To accept and expend appropriations.

(22) To engage in any activity or operation that is incidental to and in furtherance of efficient operation to accomplish the Agency's purposes, including hiring employees that the Director deems essential for the operations of the Agency.

(23) To adopt, revise, amend, and repeal rules with respect to its operations, properties, and facilities as may be necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this Act, subject to the provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and Sections 1-22 and 1-35 of this Act.

(24) To establish and collect charges and fees as described in this Act.

(25) To conduct competitive gasification feedstock procurement processes to procure the feedstocks for the clean coal SNG brownfield facility in accordance with the requirements of Section 1-78 of this Act.

(26) To review, revise, and approve sourcing agreements and mediate and resolve disputes between gas utilities and the clean coal SNG brownfield facility pursuant to subsection (h-1) of Section 9-220 of the Public Utilities Act.

(27) To request, review and accept proposals, execute contracts, purchase renewable energy credits and otherwise dedicate funds from the Illinois Power Agency Renewable Energy Resources Fund to create and carry out the objectives of the Illinois Solar for All Program in accordance with Section 1-56 of this Act.

(28) To ensure Illinois residents and business benefit from programs administered by the Agency and are properly protected from any deceptive or misleading marketing practices by participants in the Agency's programs and procurements.

(c) In conducting the procurement of electricity or other products, beginning January 1, 2022, the Agency shall not procure any products or services from persons or organizations that are in violation of the Displaced Energy Workers Bill of Rights, as provided under the Energy Community Reinvestment Act at the time of the procurement event or fail to comply the labor standards established in subparagraph (Q) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 103-380, eff. 1-1-24.)

(20 ILCS 3855/1-75)

Sec. 1-75. Planning and Procurement Bureau. The Planning and Procurement Bureau has the following duties and responsibilities:

(a) The Planning and Procurement Bureau shall each year, beginning in 2008, develop procurement plans and conduct competitive procurement processes in accordance with the requirements of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act for the eligible retail customers of electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2017, the Planning and Procurement Bureau shall develop plans and processes for the procurement of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities in accordance with the requirements of subsection (d-5) of this Section. Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Planning and Procurement Bureau shall develop plans and processes for the procurement of carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources in accordance with the requirements of subsection (d-10) of this Section. The Planning and Procurement Bureau shall also develop procurement plans and conduct competitive procurement processes in accordance with the requirements of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act for the eligible retail customers of small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that (i) on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois and (ii) request a procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. This Section shall not apply to a small multi-jurisdictional utility until such time as a small multi-jurisdictional utility requests the Agency to prepare a procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. For the purposes of this Section, the term "eligible retail customers" has the same definition as found in Section 16-111.5(a) of the Public Utilities Act.

Beginning with the plan or plans to be implemented in the 2017 delivery year, the Agency shall no longer include the procurement of renewable energy resources in the annual procurement plans required by this subsection (a), except as provided in subsection (q) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, and shall instead develop a long-term renewable resources procurement plan in accordance with subsection (c) of this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

In accordance with subsection (c-5) of this Section, the Planning and Procurement Bureau shall oversee the procurement by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of renewable energy credits from new utility-scale solar projects to be installed, along with energy storage facilities, at or adjacent to the sites of electric generating facilities that, as of January 1, 2016, burned coal as their primary fuel source.

In accordance with subsection (c-7) of this Section, the Planning and Procurement Bureau shall oversee the procurement by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits.

(1) The Agency shall each year, beginning in 2008, as needed, issue a request for qualifications for experts or expert consulting firms to develop the procurement plans in accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. In order to qualify an expert or expert consulting firm must have:

(A) direct previous experience assembling large-scale power supply plans or portfolios for end-use customers;

(B) an advanced degree in economics, mathematics, engineering, risk management, or a related area of study;

(C) 10 years of experience in the electricity sector, including managing supply risk;

(D) expertise in wholesale electricity market rules, including those established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission organizations;

(E) expertise in credit protocols and familiarity with contract protocols;

(F) adequate resources to perform and fulfill the required functions and responsibilities; and

(G) the absence of a conflict of interest and inappropriate bias for or against potential bidders or the affected electric utilities.

(2) The Agency shall each year, as needed, issue a request for qualifications for a procurement administrator to conduct the competitive procurement processes in accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. In order to qualify an expert or expert consulting firm must have:

(A) direct previous experience administering a large-scale competitive procurement process;

(B) an advanced degree in economics, mathematics, engineering, or a related area of study;

(C) 10 years of experience in the electricity sector, including risk management experience;

(D) expertise in wholesale electricity market rules, including those established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission organizations;

(E) expertise in credit and contract protocols;

(F) adequate resources to perform and fulfill the required functions and responsibilities; and

(G) the absence of a conflict of interest and inappropriate bias for or against potential bidders or the affected electric utilities.

(3) The Agency shall provide affected utilities and other interested parties with the lists of qualified experts or expert consulting firms identified through the request for qualifications processes that are under consideration to develop the procurement plans and to serve as the procurement administrator. The Agency shall also provide each qualified expert's or expert consulting firm's response to the request for qualifications. All information provided under this subparagraph shall also be provided to the Commission. The Agency may provide by rule for fees associated with supplying the information to utilities and other interested parties. These parties shall, within 5 business days, notify the Agency in writing if they object to any experts or expert consulting firms on the lists. Objections shall be based on:

(A) failure to satisfy qualification criteria;

(B) identification of a conflict of interest; or

(C) evidence of inappropriate bias for or against potential bidders or the affected utilities.

The Agency shall remove experts or expert consulting firms from the lists within 10 days if there is a reasonable basis for an objection and provide the updated lists to the affected utilities and other interested parties. If the Agency fails to remove an expert or expert consulting firm from a list, an objecting party may seek review by the Commission within 5 days thereafter by filing a petition, and the Commission shall render a ruling on the petition within 10 days. There is no right of appeal of the Commission's ruling.

(4) The Agency shall issue requests for proposals to the qualified experts or expert consulting firms to develop a procurement plan for the affected utilities and to serve as procurement administrator.

(5) The Agency shall select an expert or expert consulting firm to develop procurement plans based on the proposals submitted and shall award contracts of up to 5 years to those selected.

(6) The Agency shall select an expert or expert consulting firm, with approval of the Commission, to serve as procurement administrator based on the proposals submitted. If the Commission rejects, within 5 days, the Agency's selection, the Agency shall submit another recommendation within 3 days based on the proposals submitted. The Agency shall award a 5-year contract to the expert or expert consulting firm so selected with Commission approval.

(b) The experts or expert consulting firms retained by the Agency shall, as appropriate, prepare procurement plans, and conduct a competitive procurement process as prescribed in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, to ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability, for eligible retail customers of electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in the State of Illinois, and for eligible Illinois retail customers of small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that (i) on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois and (ii) request a procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load.

(c) Renewable portfolio standard.

(1)(A) The Agency shall develop a long-term renewable resources procurement plan that shall include procurement programs and competitive procurement events necessary to meet the goals set forth in this subsection (c). The initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall be released for comment no later than 160 days after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906). The Agency shall review, and may revise on an expedited basis, the long-term renewable resources procurement plan at least every 2 years, which shall be conducted in conjunction with the procurement plan under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act to the extent practicable to minimize administrative expense. No later than 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, the Agency shall release for comment a revision to the long-term renewable resources procurement plan, updating elements of the most recently approved plan as needed to comply with this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, and any long-term renewable resources procurement plan update published by the Agency but not yet approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission shall be withdrawn. The long-term renewable resources procurement plans shall be subject to review and approval by the Commission under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

(B) Subject to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph (1), the long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall attempt to meet the goals for procurement of renewable energy credits at levels of at least the following overall percentages: 13% by the 2017 delivery year; increasing by at least 1.5% each delivery year thereafter to at least 25% by the 2025 delivery year; increasing by at least 3% each delivery year thereafter to at least 40% by the 2030 delivery year, and continuing at no less than 40% for each delivery year thereafter. The Agency shall attempt to procure 50% by delivery year 2040. The Agency shall determine the annual increase between delivery year 2030 and delivery year 2040, if any, taking into account energy demand, other energy resources, and other public policy goals. In the event of a conflict between these goals and the new wind, new photovoltaic, and hydropower procurement requirements described in items (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1), the long-term plan shall prioritize compliance with the new wind, new photovoltaic, and hydropower procurement requirements described in items (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1) over the annual percentage targets described in this subparagraph (B). The Agency shall not comply with the annual percentage targets described in this subparagraph (B) by procuring renewable energy credits that are unlikely to lead to the development of new renewable resources or new, modernized, or retooled hydropower facilities.

For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2017, the procurement plan shall attempt to include, subject to the prioritization outlined in this subparagraph (B), cost-effective renewable energy resources equal to at least 13% of each utility's load for eligible retail customers and 13% of the applicable portion of each utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible retail customers, which applicable portion shall equal 50% of the utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible retail customers on February 28, 2017.

For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, the procurement plan shall attempt to include, subject to the prioritization outlined in this subparagraph (B), cost-effective renewable energy resources equal to at least 14.5% of each utility's load for eligible retail customers and 14.5% of the applicable portion of each utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible retail customers, which applicable portion shall equal 75% of the utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible retail customers on February 28, 2017.

For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2019, and for each year thereafter, the procurement plans shall attempt to include, subject to the prioritization outlined in this subparagraph (B), cost-effective renewable energy resources equal to a minimum percentage of each utility's load for all retail customers as follows: 16% by June 1, 2019; increasing by 1.5% each year thereafter to 25% by June 1, 2025; and 25% by June 1, 2026; increasing by at least 3% each delivery year thereafter to at least 40% by the 2030 delivery year, and continuing at no less than 40% for each delivery year thereafter. The Agency shall attempt to procure 50% by delivery year 2040. The Agency shall determine the annual increase between delivery year 2030 and delivery year 2040, if any, taking into account energy demand, other energy resources, and other public policy goals.

For each delivery year, the Agency shall first recognize each utility's obligations for that delivery year under existing contracts. Any renewable energy credits under existing contracts, including renewable energy credits as part of renewable energy resources, shall be used to meet the goals set forth in this subsection (c) for the delivery year.

(C) The long-term renewable resources procurement plan described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (1) shall include the procurement of renewable energy credits from new projects pursuant to the following terms:

(i) At least 10,000,000 renewable energy credits delivered annually by the end of the 2021 delivery year, and increasing ratably to reach 45,000,000 renewable energy credits delivered annually from new wind and solar projects by the end of delivery year 2030 such that the goals in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (1) are met entirely by procurements of renewable energy credits from new wind and photovoltaic projects. Of that amount, to the extent possible, the Agency shall procure 45% from wind and hydropower projects and 55% from photovoltaic projects. Of the amount to be procured from photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall procure: at least 50% from solar photovoltaic projects using the program outlined in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) from distributed renewable energy generation devices or community renewable generation projects; at least 47% from utility-scale solar projects; at least 3% from brownfield site photovoltaic projects that are not community renewable generation projects. High voltage direct current renewable energy credits procured by the Agency pursuant to subsection (c-7) of this Section 1-75 shall not count toward the renewable energy credit purchase targets in this subparagraph (i); however, nothing prohibits the Agency from procuring high voltage direct current renewable energy credits under a procurement authorized by this subsection (c) from counting toward the renewable energy credit purchase targets in this subparagraph (i).

In developing the long-term renewable resources procurement plan, the Agency shall consider other approaches, in addition to competitive procurements, that can be used to procure renewable energy credits from brownfield site photovoltaic projects and thereby help return blighted or contaminated land to productive use while enhancing public health and the well-being of Illinois residents, including those in environmental justice communities, as defined using existing methodologies and findings used by the Agency and its Administrator in its Illinois Solar for All Program. The Agency shall also consider other approaches, in addition to competitive procurements, to procure renewable energy credits from new and existing hydropower facilities to support the development and maintenance of these facilities. The Agency shall explore options to convert existing dams but shall not consider approaches to develop new dams where they do not already exist.

(ii) In any given delivery year, if forecasted expenses are less than the maximum budget available under subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1), the Agency shall continue to procure new renewable energy credits until that budget is exhausted in the manner outlined in item (i) of this subparagraph (C).

(iii) For purposes of this Section:

"New wind projects" means wind renewable energy facilities that are energized after June 1, 2017 for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2017.

"New photovoltaic projects" means photovoltaic renewable energy facilities that are energized after June 1, 2017. Photovoltaic projects developed under Section 1-56 of this Act shall not apply towards the new photovoltaic project requirements in this subparagraph (C).

For purposes of calculating whether the Agency has procured enough new wind and solar renewable energy credits required by this subparagraph (C), renewable energy facilities that have a multi-year renewable energy credit delivery contract with the utility through at least delivery year 2030 shall be considered new, however no renewable energy credits from contracts entered into before June 1, 2021 shall be used to calculate whether the Agency has procured the correct proportion of new wind and new solar contracts described in this subparagraph (C) for delivery year 2021 and thereafter.

(c-7) Within 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, the Agency shall develop a one-time high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan limited to the procurement of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits.

(1) In addition to the procurement of renewable energy credits pursuant to long-term renewable resources procurement plans in accordance with subsection (c) of this Section, Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, and the procurement of coal-to-solar renewable energy credits in accordance with subsection (c-5) of this Section, the Agency shall conduct procurement events in accordance with this subsection (c-7) for the procurement by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits and meet the other criteria specified in this subsection (c-7). The procurement of renewable energy credits by electric utilities pursuant to this subsection (c-7) shall be funded solely by revenues collected from the dispatchable and reliable renewable energy charge provided for in this subsection (c-7) and subsection (i-7) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, shall not be funded by revenues collected through any of the other funding mechanisms provided for in subsection (c) of this Section, and shall not be subject to the limitation imposed by subsection (c) on charges to retail customers for costs to procure renewable energy resources pursuant to subsection (c), and shall not be subject to any other requirements or limitations of subsection (c).

(2) Within 5 days after the filing of the high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan at the Commission, any person objecting to the supplemental procurement plan shall file an objection with the Commission. Within 10 days after the filing, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. The Commission shall enter its order confirming or modifying the supplemental procurement plan within 90 days after the filing of the supplemental procurement plan by the Agency.

(3) The Commission shall approve the high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan if the Commission determines that it will ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service in the form of renewable energy credits at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(4) The high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall provide for procurement of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits using an indexed renewable energy credit structure as described in item (v) of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section 1-75. The high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall procure a target volume of not less than 12,500,000 high voltage direct current renewable energy credits delivered annually. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions, the contracts for high voltage direct current renewable energy credits shall contain the following terms:

(i) delivery begins on the later of June 1, 2029 and energization of the associated high voltage direct current transmission line, with additional reasonable extensions available for delays in energization of the generation facility;

(ii) the term shall be selected by the bidder to be not less than 25 years and not more than 40 years;

(iii) the fuel type for the high voltage direct current renewable energy credits shall be solar photovoltaics or wind, or if insufficient high voltage direct current renewable energy credits are available from solar photovoltaics or wind, other fuel types that qualify as a renewable resource under Section 1-10 of this Act;

(iv) monthly payment for renewable energy credits actually delivered, not to exceed on a three-year rolling average basis 120% of the annual delivery quantity bid;

(v) a reasonable minimum annual delivery quantity of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits, however no penalties shall be assessed in the event of force majeure, to the extent that the minimum annual delivery quantity was missed due to less than full dispatch of the high voltage direct current converter station or curtailment of associated generation during that same delivery year, or such other reasonable exceptions as may be identified;

(vi) reasonable performance assurance and credit requirements;

(vii) all high voltage direct current renewable energy credits delivered must be generated from a system that is energized or repowered on or after the effective date of this Act; and

(viii) At any time after selection, the winning bidder may change upon notice to the Agency the generation source or anticipated generation source of any high voltage direct current renewable energy credits.

The high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall allow the owner or operator, or the owner's or operator's designee, to enter multiple bids, provided that the same bid shall not include high-voltage direct current renewable energy credits pledged in another bid.

The high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall not, subject to the preference for solar photovoltaic and wind generation, prohibit or penalize any renewable energy credits that meet the definition of high voltage renewable energy credit in this Act.

The high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall include a contingency plan if the Agency procures less than 12,500,000 high voltage direct current renewable energy credits annually or if one or more winning bidders fails to deliver any high voltage direct current renewable energy credits. The number of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits to be procured as specified in this paragraph (4) shall not be reduced based on renewable energy credits procured in the self-direct renewable energy credit compliance program established pursuant to subparagraph (R) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75.

(5) The renewable energy credits procured pursuant to the high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall be procured in accordance with the Agency and Commission's process competitive procurement in subsections (e) through (p) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, as applicable. Notwithstanding anything in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act:

(A) To ensure the delivery of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits, the high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan shall provide that only the owner or operator of a high voltage direct current transmission line or its designee may bid in the procurements described in this subsection (c-7). For the purposes of this paragraph, the owner or operator, or the owner's or operator's designee, must demonstrate that it has site control of at least 90 miles route located within Illinois, and plans reflecting 525 kV or greater delivery voltage and construction of at least 100 miles of transmission line underground in Illinois. For the purpose of this subparagraph, "site control" may include easements, leases, options for leases, or any similar indicia of site control identified by the Agency.

(B) For the purpose of the competitive procurement, a bid shall be a price and quantity of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits. Each bid shall be for a quantity of not less than 5,000,000 high voltage direct current renewable energy credits annually.

(C) The Agency shall only procure cost-effective high voltage direct current renewable energy credits. For the purposes of this subsection (c-7), "cost-effective" shall mean the high voltage direct current renewable energy credits shall not exceed benchmarks based on market prices for high voltage direct current renewable energy credits.

(D) Each competitive bid shall specifically identify the price charged by the high voltage direct current transmission line. The benchmark established in accordance with subsection (e) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act shall be applied to the bid price minus the line item for the price charged by the high voltage direct current transmission line.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Act or the Public Utilities Act, in developing the benchmark the Procurement Administrator shall use values for the capital and costs for a high voltage direct current transmission line. The Capital Development Board shall calculate a range of capital costs that it believes would be reasonable for an HVDC transmission line of similar specifications to an applicant high voltage direct current transmission line. The Capital Development Board may consult as much as it deems necessary with applicant or potential applicant high voltage direct current transmission lines and conduct whatever research and investigation it deems necessary. The Capital Development Board shall retain an engineering expert in making such determination with at least ten years of experience in transmission and merchant transmission development and experience with high voltage direct current transmission. The expert shall: (i) not own or control any direct or indirect interest in the high voltage direct current transmission line, and (iii) have no contractual relationship with the high voltage direct current transmission line.

(E) The contract price shall the original bid price of each winning bidder, inclusive of the costs charged by the high voltage direct current transmission line.

(F) For the purposes of this paragraph (4), all information about high voltage direct current transmission line pricing shall be maintained as highly confidential and not disclosed by the Agency, Commission, or any third party otherwise privy to such information.

(6) The Agency and its procurement administrator shall administer the procurement authorized in the high voltage direct current renewable energy credit procurement plan not later than December 31, 2024.

(7) The Agency shall assess fees to each applicant to recover the Agency's costs incurred in receiving and evaluating applications, conducting the procurement event, developing contracts for sale, delivery and purchase of renewable energy credits, and monitoring the administration of such contracts, as provided for in this subsection (c-7), including fees paid to a procurement administrator retained by the Agency for one or more of these purposes.

(8) The obligation to purchase high voltage direct current renewable energy credits selected by the Agency shall be allocated to the electric utilities based on their respective percentages of kilowatthours delivered to delivery services customers to the aggregate kilowatthour deliveries by the electric utilities to delivery services customers for the year ended December 31, 2021. In order to achieve these allocation percentages between or among the electric utilities, the Agency shall require each applicant that is selected in the procurement event to enter into a contract with each electric utility for the sale and purchase of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits meeting the standards of this subsection (c-7), with the sale and purchase obligations under the contracts to aggregate to the total number of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits per year to be supplied by the applicant.

(D) Renewable energy credits shall be cost effective. For purposes of this subsection (c), "cost effective" means that the costs of procuring renewable energy resources do not cause the limit stated in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1) to be exceeded and, for renewable energy credits procured through a competitive procurement event, do not exceed benchmarks based on market prices for like products in the region. For purposes of this subsection (c), "like products" means contracts for renewable energy credits from the same or substantially similar technology, same or substantially similar vintage (new or existing), the same or substantially similar quantity, and the same or substantially similar contract length and structure. Benchmarks shall reflect development, financing, or related costs resulting from requirements imposed through other provisions of State law, including, but not limited to, requirements in subparagraphs (P) and (Q) of this paragraph (1) and the Renewable Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act. Confidential benchmarks shall be developed by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be subject to Commission review and approval. If price benchmarks for like products in the region are not available, the procurement administrator shall establish price benchmarks based on publicly available data on regional technology costs and expected current and future regional energy prices. The benchmarks in this Section shall not be used to curtail or otherwise reduce contractual obligations entered into by or through the Agency prior to June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906).

(E) For purposes of this subsection (c), the required procurement of cost-effective renewable energy resources for a particular year commencing prior to June 1, 2017 shall be measured as a percentage of the actual amount of electricity (megawatt-hours) supplied by the electric utility to eligible retail customers in the delivery year ending immediately prior to the procurement, and, for delivery years commencing on and after June 1, 2017, the required procurement of cost-effective renewable energy resources for a particular year shall be measured as a percentage of the actual amount of electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by the electric utility in the delivery year ending immediately prior to the procurement, to all retail customers in its service territory. For purposes of this subsection (c), the amount paid per kilowatthour means the total amount paid for electric service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. For purposes of this subsection (c), the total amount paid for electric service includes without limitation amounts paid for supply, transmission, capacity, distribution, surcharges, and add-on taxes.

Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection (c), the total of renewable energy resources procured under the procurement plan for any single year shall be subject to the limitations of this subparagraph (E). Such procurement shall be reduced for all retail customers based on the amount necessary to limit the annual estimated average net increase due to the costs of these resources included in the amounts paid by eligible retail customers in connection with electric service to no more than 4.25% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009. To arrive at a maximum dollar amount of renewable energy resources to be procured for the particular delivery year, the resulting per kilowatthour amount shall be applied to the actual amount of kilowatthours of electricity delivered, or applicable portion of such amount as specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection (c), as applicable, by the electric utility in the delivery year immediately prior to the procurement to all retail customers in its service territory. The calculations required by this subparagraph (E) shall be made only once for each delivery year at the time that the renewable energy resources are procured. Once the determination as to the amount of renewable energy resources to procure is made based on the calculations set forth in this subparagraph (E) and the contracts procuring those amounts are executed, no subsequent rate impact determinations shall be made and no adjustments to those contract amounts shall be allowed. All costs incurred under such contracts shall be fully recoverable by the electric utility as provided in this Section.

(F) If the limitation on the amount of renewable energy resources procured in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1) prevents the Agency from meeting all of the goals in this subsection (c), the Agency's long-term plan shall prioritize compliance with the requirements of this subsection (c) regarding renewable energy credits in the following order:

(i) renewable energy credits under existing contractual obligations as of June 1, 2021;

(i-5) funding for the Illinois Solar for All Program, as described in subparagraph (O) of this paragraph (1);

(ii) renewable energy credits necessary to comply with the new wind and new photovoltaic procurement requirements described in items (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1); and

(iii) renewable energy credits necessary to meet the remaining requirements of this subsection (c).

(G) The following provisions shall apply to the Agency's procurement of renewable energy credits under this subsection (c):

(i) Notwithstanding whether a long-term renewable resources procurement plan has been approved, the Agency shall conduct an initial forward procurement for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind projects within 160 days after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906). For the purposes of this initial forward procurement, the Agency shall solicit 15-year contracts for delivery of 1,000,000 renewable energy credits delivered annually from new utility-scale wind projects to begin delivery on June 1, 2019, if available, but not later than June 1, 2021, unless the project has delays in the establishment of an operating interconnection with the applicable transmission or distribution system as a result of the actions or inactions of the transmission or distribution provider, or other causes for force majeure as outlined in the procurement contract, in which case, not later than June 1, 2022. Payments to suppliers of renewable energy credits shall commence upon delivery. Renewable energy credits procured under this initial procurement shall be included in the Agency's long-term plan and shall apply to all renewable energy goals in this subsection (c).

(ii) Notwithstanding whether a long-term renewable resources procurement plan has been approved, the Agency shall conduct an initial forward procurement for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects within one year after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906). For the purposes of this initial forward procurement, the Agency shall solicit 15-year contracts for delivery of 1,000,000 renewable energy credits delivered annually from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects to begin delivery on June 1, 2019, if available, but not later than June 1, 2021, unless the project has delays in the establishment of an operating interconnection with the applicable transmission or distribution system as a result of the actions or inactions of the transmission or distribution provider, or other causes for force majeure as outlined in the procurement contract, in which case, not later than June 1, 2022. The Agency may structure this initial procurement in one or more discrete procurement events. Payments to suppliers of renewable energy credits shall commence upon delivery. Renewable energy credits procured under this initial procurement shall be included in the Agency's long-term plan and shall apply to all renewable energy goals in this subsection (c).

(iii) Notwithstanding whether the Commission has approved the periodic long-term renewable resources procurement plan revision described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall conduct at least one subsequent forward procurement for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, and new brownfield site photovoltaic projects within 240 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly in quantities necessary to meet the requirements of subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1) through the delivery year beginning June 1, 2021.

(iv) Notwithstanding whether the Commission has approved the periodic long-term renewable resources procurement plan revision described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall open capacity for each category in the Adjustable Block program within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly manner:

(1) The Agency shall open the first block of annual capacity for the category described in item (i) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The first block of annual capacity for item (i) shall be for at least 75 megawatts of total nameplate capacity. The price of the renewable energy credit for this block of capacity shall be 4% less than the price of the last open block in this category. Projects on a waitlist shall be awarded contracts first in the order in which they appear on the waitlist. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, for those renewable energy credits that qualify and are procured under this subitem (1) of this item (iv), the renewable energy credit delivery contract value shall be paid in full, based on the estimated generation during the first 15 years of operation, by the contracting utilities at the time that the facility producing the renewable energy credits is interconnected at the distribution system level of the utility and verified as energized and in compliance by the Program Administrator. The electric utility shall receive and retire all renewable energy credits generated by the project for the first 15 years of operation. Renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility.

(2) The Agency shall open the first block of annual capacity for the category described in item (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The first block of annual capacity for item (ii) shall be for at least 75 megawatts of total nameplate capacity.

(A) The price of the renewable energy credit for any project on a waitlist for this category before the opening of this block shall be 4% less than the price of the last open block in this category. Projects on the waitlist shall be awarded contracts first in the order in which they appear on the waitlist. Any projects that are less than or equal to 25 kilowatts in size on the waitlist for this capacity shall be moved to the waitlist for paragraph (1) of this item (iv). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, projects that were on the waitlist prior to opening of this block shall not be required to be in compliance with the requirements of subparagraph (Q) of this paragraph (1) of this subsection (c). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, for those renewable energy credits procured from projects that were on the waitlist for this category before the opening of this block 20% of the renewable energy credit delivery contract value, based on the estimated generation during the first 15 years of operation, shall be paid by the contracting utilities at the time that the facility producing the renewable energy credits is interconnected at the distribution system level of the utility and verified as energized by the Program Administrator. The remaining portion shall be paid ratably over the subsequent 4-year period. The electric utility shall receive and retire all renewable energy credits generated by the project during the first 15 years of operation. Renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility.

(B) The price of renewable energy credits for any project not on the waitlist for this category before the opening of the block shall be determined and published by the Agency. Projects not on a waitlist as of the opening of this block shall be subject to the requirements of subparagraph (Q) of this paragraph (1), as applicable. Projects not on a waitlist as of the opening of this block shall be subject to the contract provisions outlined in item (iii) of subparagraph (L) of this paragraph (1). The Agency shall strive to publish updated prices and an updated renewable energy credit delivery contract as quickly as possible.

(3) For opening the first 2 blocks of annual capacity for projects participating in item (iii) of subparagraph (K) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c), projects shall be selected exclusively from those projects on the ordinal waitlists of community renewable generation projects established by the Agency based on the status of those ordinal waitlists as of December 31, 2020, and only those projects previously determined to be eligible for the Agency's April 2019 community solar project selection process.

The first 2 blocks of annual capacity for item (iii) shall be for 250 megawatts of total nameplate capacity, with both blocks opening simultaneously under the schedule outlined in the paragraphs below. Projects shall be selected as follows:

(A) The geographic balance of selected projects shall follow the Group classification found in the Agency's Revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, with 70% of capacity allocated to projects on the Group B waitlist and 30% of capacity allocated to projects on the Group A waitlist.

(B) Contract awards for waitlisted projects shall be allocated proportionate to the total nameplate capacity amount across both ordinal waitlists associated with that applicant firm or its affiliates, subject to the following conditions.

(i) Each applicant firm having a waitlisted project eligible for selection shall receive no less than 500 kilowatts in awarded capacity across all groups, and no approved vendor may receive more than 20% of each Group's waitlist allocation.

(ii) Each applicant firm, upon receiving an award of program capacity proportionate to its waitlisted capacity, may then determine which waitlisted projects it chooses to be selected for a contract award up to that capacity amount.

(iii) Assuming all other program requirements are met, applicant firms may adjust the nameplate capacity of applicant projects without losing waitlist eligibility, so long as no project is greater than 2,000 kilowatts in size.

(iv) Assuming all other program requirements are met, applicant firms may adjust the expected production associated with applicant projects, subject to verification by the Program Administrator.

(C) After a review of affiliate information and the current ordinal waitlists, the Agency shall announce the nameplate capacity award amounts associated with applicant firms no later than 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.

(D) Applicant firms shall submit their portfolio of projects used to satisfy those contract awards no less than 90 days after the Agency's announcement. The total nameplate capacity of all projects used to satisfy that portfolio shall be no greater than the Agency's nameplate capacity award amount associated with that applicant firm. An applicant firm may decline, in whole or in part, its nameplate capacity award without penalty, with such unmet capacity rolled over to the next block opening for project selection under item (iii) of subparagraph (K) of this subsection (c). Any projects not included in an applicant firm's portfolio may reapply without prejudice upon the next block reopening for project selection under item (iii) of subparagraph (K) of this subsection (c).

(E) The renewable energy credit delivery contract shall be subject to the contract and payment terms outlined in item (iv) of subparagraph (L) of this subsection (c). Contract instruments used for this subparagraph shall contain the following terms:

(i) Renewable energy credit prices shall be fixed, without further adjustment under any other provision of this Act or for any other reason, at 10% lower than prices applicable to the last open block for this category, inclusive of any adders available for achieving a minimum of 50% of subscribers to the project's nameplate capacity being residential or small commercial customers with subscriptions of below 25 kilowatts in size;

(ii) A requirement that a minimum of 50% of subscribers to the project's nameplate capacity be residential or small commercial customers with subscriptions of below 25 kilowatts in size;

(iii) Permission for the ability of a contract holder to substitute projects with other waitlisted projects without penalty should a project receive a non-binding estimate of costs to construct the interconnection facilities and any required distribution upgrades associated with that project of greater than 30 cents per watt AC of that project's nameplate capacity. In developing the applicable contract instrument, the Agency may consider whether other circumstances outside of the control of the applicant firm should also warrant project substitution rights.

The Agency shall publish a finalized updated renewable energy credit delivery contract developed consistent with these terms and conditions no less than 30 days before applicant firms must submit their portfolio of projects pursuant to item (D).

(F) To be eligible for an award, the applicant firm shall certify that not less than prevailing wage, as determined pursuant to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, was or will be paid to employees who are engaged in construction activities associated with a selected project.

(4) The Agency shall open the first block of annual capacity for the category described in item (iv) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The first block of annual capacity for item (iv) shall be for at least 50 megawatts of total nameplate capacity. Renewable energy credit prices shall be fixed, without further adjustment under any other provision of this Act or for any other reason, at the price in the last open block in the category described in item (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). Pricing for future blocks of annual capacity for this category may be adjusted in the Agency's second revision to its Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. Projects in this category shall be subject to the contract terms outlined in item (iv) of subparagraph (L) of this paragraph (1).

(5) The Agency shall open the equivalent of 2 years of annual capacity for the category described in item (v) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The first block of annual capacity for item (v) shall be for at least 10 megawatts of total nameplate capacity. Notwithstanding the provisions of item (v) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), for the purpose of this initial block, the agency shall accept new project applications intended to increase the diversity of areas hosting community solar projects, the business models of projects, and the size of projects, as described by the Agency in its long-term renewable resources procurement plan that is approved as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly. Projects in this category shall be subject to the contract terms outlined in item (iii) of subsection (L) of this paragraph (1).

(6) The Agency shall open the first blocks of annual capacity for the category described in item (vi) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), with allocations of capacity within the block generally matching the historical share of block capacity allocated between the category described in items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The first two blocks of annual capacity for item (vi) shall be for at least 75 megawatts of total nameplate capacity. The price of renewable energy credits for the blocks of capacity shall be 4% less than the price of the last open blocks in the categories described in items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). Pricing for future blocks of annual capacity for this category may be adjusted in the Agency's second revision to its Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. Projects in this category shall be subject to the applicable contract terms outlined in items (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (L) of this paragraph (1).

(v) Upon the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, for all competitive procurements and any procurements of renewable energy credit from new utility-scale wind and new utility-scale photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall procure indexed renewable energy credits and direct respondents to offer a strike price.

(1) The purchase price of the indexed renewable energy credit payment shall be calculated for each settlement period. That payment, for any settlement period, shall be equal to the difference resulting from subtracting the strike price from the index price for that settlement period. If this difference results in a negative number, the indexed REC counterparty shall owe the seller the absolute value multiplied by the quantity of energy produced in the relevant settlement period. If this difference results in a positive number, the seller shall owe the indexed REC counterparty this amount multiplied by the quantity of energy produced in the relevant settlement period.

(2) Parties shall cash settle every month, summing up all settlements (both positive and negative, if applicable) for the prior month.

(3) To ensure funding in the annual budget established under subparagraph (E) for indexed renewable energy credit procurements for each year of the term of such contracts, which must have a minimum tenure of 20 calendar years, the procurement administrator, Agency, Commission staff, and procurement monitor shall quantify the annual cost of the contract by utilizing an industry-standard, third-party forward price curve for energy at the appropriate hub or load zone, including the estimated magnitude and timing of the price effects related to federal carbon controls. Each forward price curve shall contain a specific value of the forecasted market price of electricity for each annual delivery year of the contract. For procurement planning purposes, the impact on the annual budget for the cost of indexed renewable energy credits for each delivery year shall be determined as the expected annual contract expenditure for that year, equaling the difference between (i) the sum across all relevant contracts of the applicable strike price multiplied by contract quantity and (ii) the sum across all relevant contracts of the forward price curve for the applicable load zone for that year multiplied by contract quantity. The contracting utility shall not assume an obligation in excess of the estimated annual cost of the contracts for indexed renewable energy credits. Forward curves shall be revised on an annual basis as updated forward price curves are released and filed with the Commission in the proceeding approving the Agency's most recent long-term renewable resources procurement plan. If the expected contract spend is higher or lower than the total quantity of contracts multiplied by the forward price curve value for that year, the forward price curve shall be updated by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Agency, Commission staff, and procurement monitors, using then-currently available price forecast data and additional budget dollars shall be obligated or reobligated as appropriate.

(4) To ensure that indexed renewable energy credit prices remain predictable and affordable, the Agency may consider the institution of a price collar on REC prices paid under indexed renewable energy credit procurements establishing floor and ceiling REC prices applicable to indexed REC contract prices. Any price collars applicable to indexed REC procurements shall be proposed by the Agency through its long-term renewable resources procurement plan.

(vi) All procurements under this subparagraph (G), including the procurement of renewable energy credits from hydropower facilities, shall comply with the geographic requirements in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (1) and shall follow the procurement processes and procedures described in this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act to the extent practicable, and these processes and procedures may be expedited to accommodate the schedule established by this subparagraph (G).

(vii) On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, for all procurements of renewable energy credits from hydropower facilities, the Agency shall establish contract terms designed to optimize existing hydropower facilities through modernization or retooling and establish new hydropower facilities at existing dams. Procurements made under this item (vii) shall prioritize projects located in designated environmental justice communities, as defined in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of this Act, or in projects located in units of local government with median incomes that do not exceed 82% of the median income of the State.

(H) The procurement of renewable energy resources for a given delivery year shall be reduced as described in this subparagraph (H) if an alternative retail electric supplier meets the requirements described in this subparagraph (H).

(i) Within 45 days after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906), an alternative retail electric supplier or its successor shall submit an informational filing to the Illinois Commerce Commission certifying that, as of December 31, 2015, the alternative retail electric supplier owned one or more electric generating facilities that generates renewable energy resources as defined in Section 1-10 of this Act, provided that such facilities are not powered by wind or photovoltaics, and the facilities generate one renewable energy credit for each megawatthour of energy produced from the facility.

The informational filing shall identify each facility that was eligible to satisfy the alternative retail electric supplier's obligations under Section 16-115D of the Public Utilities Act as described in this item (i).

(ii) For a given delivery year, the alternative retail electric supplier may elect to supply its retail customers with renewable energy credits from the facility or facilities described in item (i) of this subparagraph (H) that continue to be owned by the alternative retail electric supplier.

(iii) The alternative retail electric supplier shall notify the Agency and the applicable utility, no later than February 28 of the year preceding the applicable delivery year or 15 days after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906), whichever is later, of its election under item (ii) of this subparagraph (H) to supply renewable energy credits to retail customers of the utility. Such election shall identify the amount of renewable energy credits to be supplied by the alternative retail electric supplier to the utility's retail customers and the source of the renewable energy credits identified in the informational filing as described in item (i) of this subparagraph (H), subject to the following limitations:

For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, the maximum amount of renewable energy credits to be supplied by an alternative retail electric supplier under this subparagraph (H) shall be 68% multiplied by 25% multiplied by 14.5% multiplied by the amount of metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by the alternative retail electric supplier to Illinois retail customers during the delivery year ending May 31, 2016.

For delivery years beginning June 1, 2019 and each year thereafter, the maximum amount of renewable energy credits to be supplied by an alternative retail electric supplier under this subparagraph (H) shall be 68% multiplied by 50% multiplied by 16% multiplied by the amount of metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by the alternative retail electric supplier to Illinois retail customers during the delivery year ending May 31, 2016, provided that the 16% value shall increase by 1.5% each delivery year thereafter to 25% by the delivery year beginning June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% value shall apply to each delivery year.

For each delivery year, the total amount of renewable energy credits supplied by all alternative retail electric suppliers under this subparagraph (H) shall not exceed 9% of the Illinois target renewable energy credit quantity. The Illinois target renewable energy credit quantity for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018 is 14.5% multiplied by the total amount of metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered in the delivery year immediately preceding that delivery year, provided that the 14.5% shall increase by 1.5% each delivery year thereafter to 25% by the delivery year beginning June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% value shall apply to each delivery year.

If the requirements set forth in items (i) through (iii) of this subparagraph (H) are met, the charges that would otherwise be applicable to the retail customers of the alternative retail electric supplier under paragraph (6) of this subsection (c) for the applicable delivery year shall be reduced by the ratio of the quantity of renewable energy credits supplied by the alternative retail electric supplier compared to that supplier's target renewable energy credit quantity. The supplier's target renewable energy credit quantity for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018 is 14.5% multiplied by the total amount of metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by the alternative retail supplier in that delivery year, provided that the 14.5% shall increase by 1.5% each delivery year thereafter to 25% by the delivery year beginning June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% value shall apply to each delivery year.

On or before April 1 of each year, the Agency shall annually publish a report on its website that identifies the aggregate amount of renewable energy credits supplied by alternative retail electric suppliers under this subparagraph (H).

(I) The Agency shall design its long-term renewable energy procurement plan to maximize the State's interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, including but not limited to minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and other pollution that adversely affects public health in this State, increasing fuel and resource diversity in this State, enhancing the reliability and resiliency of the electricity distribution system in this State, meeting goals to limit carbon dioxide emissions under federal or State law, and contributing to a cleaner and healthier environment for the citizens of this State. In order to further these legislative purposes, renewable energy credits shall be eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c) if they are generated from facilities located in this State. The Agency may qualify renewable energy credits from facilities located in states adjacent to Illinois or renewable energy credits associated with the electricity generated by a utility-scale wind energy facility or utility-scale photovoltaic facility and transmitted by a qualifying direct current project described in subsection (b-5) of Section 8-406 of the Public Utilities Act to a delivery point on the electric transmission grid located in this State or a state adjacent to Illinois, if the generator demonstrates and the Agency determines that the operation of such facility or facilities will help promote the State's interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its residents based on the public interest criteria described above. For the purposes of this Section, renewable resources that are delivered via a high voltage direct current converter station located in Illinois shall be deemed generated in Illinois at the time and location the energy is converted to alternating current by the high voltage direct current converter station if the high voltage direct current transmission line: (i) after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, was constructed with a project labor agreement; (ii) is capable of transmitting electricity at 525kv; (iii) has an Illinois converter station located and interconnected in the region of the PJM Interconnection, LLC; (iv) does not operate as a public utility; and (v) if the high voltage direct current transmission line was energized after June 1, 2023. To ensure that the public interest criteria are applied to the procurement and given full effect, the Agency's long-term procurement plan shall describe in detail how each public interest factor shall be considered and weighted for facilities located in states adjacent to Illinois.

(J) In order to promote the competitive development of renewable energy resources in furtherance of the State's interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, renewable energy credits shall not be eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c) if they are sourced from a generating unit whose costs were being recovered through rates regulated by this State or any other state or states on or after January 1, 2017. Each contract executed to purchase renewable energy credits under this subsection (c) shall provide for the contract's termination if the costs of the generating unit supplying the renewable energy credits subsequently begin to be recovered through rates regulated by this State or any other state or states; and each contract shall further provide that, in that event, the supplier of the credits must return 110% of all payments received under the contract. Amounts returned under the requirements of this subparagraph (J) shall be retained by the utility and all of these amounts shall be used for the procurement of additional renewable energy credits from new wind or new photovoltaic resources as defined in this subsection (c). The long-term plan shall provide that these renewable energy credits shall be procured in the next procurement event.

Notwithstanding the limitations of this subparagraph (J), renewable energy credits sourced from generating units that are constructed, purchased, owned, or leased by an electric utility as part of an approved project, program, or pilot under Section 1-56 of this Act shall be eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c), regardless of how the costs of these units are recovered. As long as a generating unit or an identifiable portion of a generating unit has not had and does not have its costs recovered through rates regulated by this State or any other state, HVDC renewable energy credits associated with that generating unit or identifiable portion thereof shall be eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c).

(K) The long-term renewable resources procurement plan developed by the Agency in accordance with subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (1) shall include an Adjustable Block program for the procurement of renewable energy credits from new photovoltaic projects that are distributed renewable energy generation devices or new photovoltaic community renewable generation projects. The Adjustable Block program shall be generally designed to provide for the steady, predictable, and sustainable growth of new solar photovoltaic development in Illinois. To this end, the Adjustable Block program shall provide a transparent annual schedule of prices and quantities to enable the photovoltaic market to scale up and for renewable energy credit prices to adjust at a predictable rate over time. The prices set by the Adjustable Block program can be reflected as a set value or as the product of a formula.

The Adjustable Block program shall include for each category of eligible projects for each delivery year: a single block of nameplate capacity, a price for renewable energy credits within that block, and the terms and conditions for securing a spot on a waitlist once the block is fully committed or reserved. Except as outlined below, the waitlist of projects in a given year will carry over to apply to the subsequent year when another block is opened. Only projects energized on or after June 1, 2017 shall be eligible for the Adjustable Block program. For each category for each delivery year the Agency shall determine the amount of generation capacity in each block, and the purchase price for each block, provided that the purchase price provided and the total amount of generation in all blocks for all categories shall be sufficient to meet the goals in this subsection (c). The Agency shall strive to issue a single block sized to provide for stability and market growth. The Agency shall establish program eligibility requirements that ensure that projects that enter the program are sufficiently mature to indicate a demonstrable path to completion. The Agency may periodically review its prior decisions establishing the amount of generation capacity in each block, and the purchase price for each block, and may propose, on an expedited basis, changes to these previously set values, including but not limited to redistributing these amounts and the available funds as necessary and appropriate, subject to Commission approval as part of the periodic plan revision process described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The Agency may define different block sizes, purchase prices, or other distinct terms and conditions for projects located in different utility service territories if the Agency deems it necessary to meet the goals in this subsection (c).

The Adjustable Block program shall include the following categories in at least the following amounts:

(i) At least 20% from distributed renewable energy generation devices with a nameplate capacity of no more than 25 kilowatts.

(ii) At least 20% from distributed renewable energy generation devices with a nameplate capacity of more than 25 kilowatts and no more than 5,000 kilowatts. The Agency may create sub-categories within this category to account for the differences between projects for small commercial customers, large commercial customers, and public or non-profit customers.

(iii) At least 30% from photovoltaic community renewable generation projects. Capacity for this category for the first 2 delivery years after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly shall be allocated to waitlist projects as provided in paragraph (3) of item (iv) of subparagraph (G). Starting in the third delivery year after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly or earlier if the Agency determines there is additional capacity needed for to meet previous delivery year requirements, the following shall apply:

(1) the Agency shall select projects on a first-come, first-serve basis, however the Agency may suggest additional methods to prioritize projects that are submitted at the same time;

(2) projects shall have subscriptions of 25 kW or less for at least 50% of the facility's nameplate capacity and the Agency shall price the renewable energy credits with that as a factor;

(3) projects shall not be colocated with one or more other community renewable generation projects, as defined in the Agency's first revised long-term renewable resources procurement plan approved by the Commission on February 18, 2020, such that the aggregate nameplate capacity exceeds 5,000 kilowatts; and

(4) projects greater than 2 MW may not apply until after the approval of the Agency's revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.

(iv) At least 15% from distributed renewable generation devices or photovoltaic community renewable generation projects installed on public school land. The Agency may create subcategories within this category to account for the differences between project size or location. Projects located within environmental justice communities or within Organizational Units that fall within Tier 1 or Tier 2 shall be given priority. Each of the Agency's periodic updates to its long-term renewable resources procurement plan to incorporate the procurement described in this subparagraph (iv) shall also include the proposed quantities or blocks, pricing, and contract terms applicable to the procurement as indicated herein. In each such update and procurement, the Agency shall set the renewable energy credit price and establish payment terms for the renewable energy credits procured pursuant to this subparagraph (iv) that make it feasible and affordable for public schools to install photovoltaic distributed renewable energy devices on their premises, including, but not limited to, those public schools subject to the prioritization provisions of this subparagraph. For the purposes of this item (iv):

"Environmental Justice Community" shall have the same meaning set forth in the Agency's long-term renewable resources procurement plan;

"Organization Unit", "Tier 1" and "Tier 2" shall have the meanings set for in Section 18-8.15 of the School Code;

"Public schools" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 1-3 of the School Code and includes public institutions of higher education, as defined in the Board of Higher Education Act.

(v) At least 5% from community-driven community solar projects intended to provide more direct and tangible connection and benefits to the communities which they serve or in which they operate and, additionally, to increase the variety of community solar locations, models, and options in Illinois. As part of its long-term renewable resources procurement plan, the Agency shall develop selection criteria for projects participating in this category. Nothing in this Section shall preclude the Agency from creating a selection process that maximizes community ownership and community benefits in selecting projects to receive renewable energy credits. Selection criteria shall include:

(1) community ownership or community wealth-building;

(2) additional direct and indirect community benefit, beyond project participation as a subscriber, including, but not limited to, economic, environmental, social, cultural, and physical benefits;

(3) meaningful involvement in project organization and development by community members or nonprofit organizations or public entities located in or serving the community;

(4) engagement in project operations and management by nonprofit organizations, public entities, or community members; and

(5) whether a project is developed in response to a site-specific RFP developed by community members or a nonprofit organization or public entity located in or serving the community.

Selection criteria may also prioritize projects that:

(1) are developed in collaboration with or to provide complementary opportunities for the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Illinois Climate Works Preapprenticeship Program, the Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program;

(2) increase the diversity of locations of community solar projects in Illinois, including by locating in urban areas and population centers;

(3) are located in Equity Investment Eligible Communities;

(4) are not greenfield projects;

(5) serve only local subscribers;

(6) have a nameplate capacity that does not exceed 500 kW;

(7) are developed by an equity eligible contractor; or

(8) otherwise meaningfully advance the goals of providing more direct and tangible connection and benefits to the communities which they serve or in which they operate and increasing the variety of community solar locations, models, and options in Illinois.

For the purposes of this item (v):

"Community" means a social unit in which people come together regularly to effect change; a social unit in which participants are marked by a cooperative spirit, a common purpose, or shared interests or characteristics; or a space understood by its residents to be delineated through geographic boundaries or landmarks.

"Community benefit" means a range of services and activities that provide affirmative, economic, environmental, social, cultural, or physical value to a community; or a mechanism that enables economic development, high-quality employment, and education opportunities for local workers and residents, or formal monitoring and oversight structures such that community members may ensure that those services and activities respond to local knowledge and needs.

"Community ownership" means an arrangement in which an electric generating facility is, or over time will be, in significant part, owned collectively by members of the community to which an electric generating facility provides benefits; members of that community participate in decisions regarding the governance, operation, maintenance, and upgrades of and to that facility; and members of that community benefit from regular use of that facility.

Terms and guidance within these criteria that are not defined in this item (v) shall be defined by the Agency, with stakeholder input, during the development of the Agency's long-term renewable resources procurement plan. The Agency shall develop regular opportunities for projects to submit applications for projects under this category, and develop selection criteria that gives preference to projects that better meet individual criteria as well as projects that address a higher number of criteria.

(vi) At least 10% from distributed renewable energy generation devices, which includes distributed renewable energy devices with a nameplate capacity under 5,000 kilowatts or photovoltaic community renewable generation projects, from applicants that are equity eligible contractors. The Agency may create subcategories within this category to account for the differences between project size and type. The Agency shall propose to increase the percentage in this item (vi) over time to 40% based on factors, including, but not limited to, the number of equity eligible contractors and capacity used in this item (vi) in previous delivery years.

The Agency shall propose a payment structure for contracts executed pursuant to this paragraph under which, upon a demonstration of qualification or need, applicant firms are advanced capital disbursed after contract execution but before the contracted project's energization. The amount or percentage of capital advanced prior to project energization shall be sufficient to both cover any increase in development costs resulting from prevailing wage requirements or project-labor agreements, and designed to overcome barriers in access to capital faced by equity eligible contractors. The amount or percentage of advanced capital may vary by subcategory within this category and by an applicant's demonstration of need, with such levels to be established through the Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan authorized under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section.

Contracts developed featuring capital advanced prior to a project's energization shall feature provisions to ensure both the successful development of applicant projects and the delivery of the renewable energy credits for the full term of the contract, including ongoing collateral requirements and other provisions deemed necessary by the Agency, and may include energization timelines longer than for comparable project types. The percentage or amount of capital advanced prior to project energization shall not operate to increase the overall contract value, however contracts executed under this subparagraph may feature renewable energy credit prices higher than those offered to similar projects participating in other categories. Capital advanced prior to energization shall serve to reduce the ratable payments made after energization under items (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (L) or payments made for each renewable energy credit delivery under item (iv) of subparagraph (L).

(vii) The remaining capacity shall be allocated by the Agency in order to respond to market demand. The Agency shall allocate any discretionary capacity prior to the beginning of each delivery year.

To the extent there is uncontracted capacity from any block in any of categories (i) through (vi) at the end of a delivery year, the Agency shall redistribute that capacity to one or more other categories giving priority to categories with projects on a waitlist. The redistributed capacity shall be added to the annual capacity in the subsequent delivery year, and the price for renewable energy credits shall be the price for the new delivery year. Redistributed capacity shall not be considered redistributed when determining whether the goals in this subsection (K) have been met.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, as the Agency increases the capacity in item (vi) to 40% over time, the Agency may reduce the capacity of items (i) through (v) proportionate to the capacity of the categories of projects in item (vi), to achieve a balance of project types.

The Adjustable Block program shall be designed to ensure that renewable energy credits are procured from projects in diverse locations and are not concentrated in a few regional areas.

(L) Notwithstanding provisions for advancing capital prior to project energization found in item (vi) of subparagraph (K), the procurement of photovoltaic renewable energy credits under items (i) through (vi) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) shall otherwise be subject to the following contract and payment terms:

(i) (Blank).

(ii) For those renewable energy credits that qualify and are procured under item (i) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), and any similar category projects that are procured under item (vi) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) that qualify and are procured under item (vi), the contract length shall be 15 years. The renewable energy credit delivery contract value shall be paid in full, based on the estimated generation during the first 15 years of operation, by the contracting utilities at the time that the facility producing the renewable energy credits is interconnected at the distribution system level of the utility and verified as energized and compliant by the Program Administrator. The electric utility shall receive and retire all renewable energy credits generated by the project for the first 15 years of operation. Renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility.

(iii) For those renewable energy credits that qualify and are procured under item (ii) and (v) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) and any like projects similar category that qualify and are procured under item (vi), the contract length shall be 15 years. 15% of the renewable energy credit delivery contract value, based on the estimated generation during the first 15 years of operation, shall be paid by the contracting utilities at the time that the facility producing the renewable energy credits is interconnected at the distribution system level of the utility and verified as energized and compliant by the Program Administrator. The remaining portion shall be paid ratably over the subsequent 6-year period. The electric utility shall receive and retire all renewable energy credits generated by the project for the first 15 years of operation. Renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility.

(iv) For those renewable energy credits that qualify and are procured under items (iii) and (iv) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), and any like projects that qualify and are procured under item (vi), the renewable energy credit delivery contract length shall be 20 years and shall be paid over the delivery term, not to exceed during each delivery year the contract price multiplied by the estimated annual renewable energy credit generation amount. If generation of renewable energy credits during a delivery year exceeds the estimated annual generation amount, the excess renewable energy credits shall be carried forward to future delivery years and shall not expire during the delivery term. If generation of renewable energy credits during a delivery year, including carried forward excess renewable energy credits, if any, is less than the estimated annual generation amount, payments during such delivery year will not exceed the quantity generated plus the quantity carried forward multiplied by the contract price. The electric utility shall receive all renewable energy credits generated by the project during the first 20 years of operation and retire all renewable energy credits paid for under this item (iv) and return at the end of the delivery term all renewable energy credits that were not paid for. Renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility. Notwithstanding the preceding, for those projects participating under item (iii) of subparagraph (K), the contract price for a delivery year shall be based on subscription levels as measured on the higher of the first business day of the delivery year or the first business day 6 months after the first business day of the delivery year. Subscription of 90% of nameplate capacity or greater shall be deemed to be fully subscribed for the purposes of this item (iv). For projects receiving a 20-year delivery contract, REC prices shall be adjusted downward for consistency with the incentive levels previously determined to be necessary to support projects under 15-year delivery contracts, taking into consideration any additional new requirements placed on the projects, including, but not limited to, labor standards.

(v) Each contract shall include provisions to ensure the delivery of the estimated quantity of renewable energy credits and ongoing collateral requirements and other provisions deemed appropriate by the Agency.

(vi) The utility shall be the counterparty to the contracts executed under this subparagraph (L) that are approved by the Commission under the process described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. No contract shall be executed for an amount that is less than one renewable energy credit per year.

(vii) If, at any time, approved applications for the Adjustable Block program exceed funds collected by the electric utility or would cause the Agency to exceed the limitation described in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1) on the amount of renewable energy resources that may be procured, then the Agency may consider future uncommitted funds to be reserved for these contracts on a first-come, first-served basis.

(viii) Nothing in this Section shall require the utility to advance any payment or pay any amounts that exceed the actual amount of revenues anticipated to be collected by the utility under paragraph (6) of this subsection (c) and subsection (k) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act inclusive of eligible funds collected in prior years and alternative compliance payments for use by the utility, and contracts executed under this Section shall expressly incorporate this limitation.

(ix) Notwithstanding other requirements of this subparagraph (L), no modification shall be required to Adjustable Block program contracts if they were already executed prior to the establishment, approval, and implementation of new contract forms as a result of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.

(x) Contracts may be assignable, but only to entities first deemed by the Agency to have met program terms and requirements applicable to direct program participation. In developing contracts for the delivery of renewable energy credits, the Agency shall be permitted to establish fees applicable to each contract assignment.

(M) The Agency shall be authorized to retain one or more experts or expert consulting firms to develop, administer, implement, operate, and evaluate the Adjustable Block program described in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), and the Agency shall retain the consultant or consultants in the same manner, to the extent practicable, as the Agency retains others to administer provisions of this Act, including, but not limited to, the procurement administrator. The selection of experts and expert consulting firms and the procurement process described in this subparagraph (M) are exempt from the requirements of Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code, under Section 20-10 of that Code. The Agency shall strive to minimize administrative expenses in the implementation of the Adjustable Block program.

The Program Administrator may charge application fees to participating firms to cover the cost of program administration. Any application fee amounts shall initially be determined through the long-term renewable resources procurement plan, and modifications to any application fee that deviate more than 25% from the Commission's approved value must be approved by the Commission as a long-term plan revision under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The Agency shall consider stakeholder feedback when making adjustments to application fees and shall notify stakeholders in advance of any planned changes.

In addition to covering the costs of program administration, the Agency, in conjunction with its Program Administrator, may also use the proceeds of such fees charged to participating firms to support public education and ongoing regional and national coordination with nonprofit organizations, public bodies, and others engaged in the implementation of renewable energy incentive programs or similar initiatives. This work may include developing papers and reports, hosting regional and national conferences, and other work deemed necessary by the Agency to position the State of Illinois as a national leader in renewable energy incentive program development and administration.

The Agency and its consultant or consultants shall monitor block activity, share program activity with stakeholders and conduct quarterly meetings to discuss program activity and market conditions. If necessary, the Agency may make prospective administrative adjustments to the Adjustable Block program design, such as making adjustments to purchase prices as necessary to achieve the goals of this subsection (c). Program modifications to any block price that do not deviate from the Commission's approved value by more than 10% shall take effect immediately and are not subject to Commission review and approval. Program modifications to any block price that deviate more than 10% from the Commission's approved value must be approved by the Commission as a long-term plan amendment under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The Agency shall consider stakeholder feedback when making adjustments to the Adjustable Block design and shall notify stakeholders in advance of any planned changes.

The Agency and its program administrators for both the Adjustable Block program and the Illinois Solar for All Program, consistent with the requirements of this subsection (c) and subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of this Act, shall propose the Adjustable Block program terms, conditions, and requirements, including the prices to be paid for renewable energy credits, where applicable, and requirements applicable to participating entities and project applications, through the development, review, and approval of the Agency's long-term renewable resources procurement plan described in this subsection (c) and paragraph (5) of subsection (b) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. Terms, conditions, and requirements for program participation shall include the following:

(i) The Agency shall establish a registration process for entities seeking to qualify for program-administered incentive funding and establish baseline qualifications for vendor approval. The Agency must maintain a list of approved entities on each program's website, and may revoke a vendor's ability to receive program-administered incentive funding status upon a determination that the vendor failed to comply with contract terms, the law, or other program requirements.

(ii) The Agency shall establish program requirements and minimum contract terms to ensure projects are properly installed and produce their expected amounts of energy. Program requirements may include on-site inspections and photo documentation of projects under construction. The Agency may require repairs, alterations, or additions to remedy any material deficiencies discovered. Vendors who have a disproportionately high number of deficient systems may lose their eligibility to continue to receive State-administered incentive funding through Agency programs and procurements.

(iii) To discourage deceptive marketing or other bad faith business practices, the Agency may require direct program participants, including agents operating on their behalf, to provide standardized disclosures to a customer prior to that customer's execution of a contract for the development of a distributed generation system or a subscription to a community solar project.

(iv) The Agency shall establish one or multiple Consumer Complaints Centers to accept complaints regarding businesses that participate in, or otherwise benefit from, State-administered incentive funding through Agency-administered programs. The Agency shall maintain a public database of complaints with any confidential or particularly sensitive information redacted from public entries.

(v) Through a filing in the proceeding for the approval of its long-term renewable energy resources procurement plan, the Agency shall provide an annual written report to the Illinois Commerce Commission documenting the frequency and nature of complaints and any enforcement actions taken in response to those complaints.

(vi) The Agency shall schedule regular meetings with representatives of the Office of the Attorney General, the Illinois Commerce Commission, consumer protection groups, and other interested stakeholders to share relevant information about consumer protection, project compliance, and complaints received.

(vii) To the extent that complaints received implicate the jurisdiction of the Office of the Attorney General, the Illinois Commerce Commission, or local, State, or federal law enforcement, the Agency shall also refer complaints to those entities as appropriate.

(N) The Agency shall establish the terms, conditions, and program requirements for photovoltaic community renewable generation projects with a goal to expand access to a broader group of energy consumers, to ensure robust participation opportunities for residential and small commercial customers and those who cannot install renewable energy on their own properties. Subject to reasonable limitations, any plan approved by the Commission shall allow subscriptions to community renewable generation projects to be portable and transferable. For purposes of this subparagraph (N), "portable" means that subscriptions may be retained by the subscriber even if the subscriber relocates or changes its address within the same utility service territory; and "transferable" means that a subscriber may assign or sell subscriptions to another person within the same utility service territory.

Through the development of its long-term renewable resources procurement plan, the Agency may consider whether community renewable generation projects utilizing technologies other than photovoltaics should be supported through State-administered incentive funding, and may issue requests for information to gauge market demand.

Electric utilities shall provide a monetary credit to a subscriber's subsequent bill for service for the proportional output of a community renewable generation project attributable to that subscriber as specified in Section 16-107.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

The Agency shall purchase renewable energy credits from subscribed shares of photovoltaic community renewable generation projects through the Adjustable Block program described in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) or through the Illinois Solar for All Program described in Section 1-56 of this Act. The electric utility shall purchase any unsubscribed energy from community renewable generation projects that are Qualifying Facilities ("QF") under the electric utility's tariff for purchasing the output from QFs under Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.

The owners of and any subscribers to a community renewable generation project shall not be considered public utilities or alternative retail electricity suppliers under the Public Utilities Act solely as a result of their interest in or subscription to a community renewable generation project and shall not be required to become an alternative retail electric supplier by participating in a community renewable generation project with a public utility.

(O) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, the long-term renewable resources procurement plan required by this subsection (c) shall provide for the Agency to procure contracts to continue offering the Illinois Solar for All Program described in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of this Act, and the contracts approved by the Commission shall be executed by the utilities that are subject to this subsection (c). The long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall allocate up to $50,000,000 per delivery year to fund the programs, and the plan shall determine the amount of funding to be apportioned to the programs identified in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of this Act; provided that for the delivery years beginning June 1, 2021, June 1, 2022, and June 1, 2023, the long-term renewable resources procurement plan may average the annual budgets over a 3-year period to account for program ramp-up. For the delivery years beginning June 1, 2021, June 1, 2024, June 1, 2027, and June 1, 2030 and additional $10,000,000 shall be provided to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to implement the workforce development programs and reporting as outlined in Section 16-108.12 of the Public Utilities Act. In making the determinations required under this subparagraph (O), the Commission shall consider the experience and performance under the programs and any evaluation reports. The Commission shall also provide for an independent evaluation of those programs on a periodic basis that are funded under this subparagraph (O).

(P) All programs and procurements under this subsection (c) shall be designed to encourage participating projects to use a diverse and equitable workforce and a diverse set of contractors, including minority-owned businesses, disadvantaged businesses, trade unions, graduates of any workforce training programs administered under this Act, and small businesses.

The Agency shall develop a method to optimize procurement of renewable energy credits from proposed utility-scale projects that are located in communities eligible to receive Energy Transition Community Grants pursuant to Section 10-20 of the Energy Community Reinvestment Act. If this requirement conflicts with other provisions of law or the Agency determines that full compliance with the requirements of this subparagraph (P) would be unreasonably costly or administratively impractical, the Agency is to propose alternative approaches to achieve development of renewable energy resources in communities eligible to receive Energy Transition Community Grants pursuant to Section 10-20 of the Energy Community Reinvestment Act or seek an exemption from this requirement from the Commission.

(Q) Each facility listed in subitems (i) through (ix) of item (1) of this subparagraph (Q) for which a renewable energy credit delivery contract is signed after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly is subject to the following requirements through the Agency's long-term renewable resources procurement plan:

(1) Each facility shall be subject to the prevailing wage requirements included in the Prevailing Wage Act. The Agency shall require verification that all construction performed on the facility by the renewable energy credit delivery contract holder, its contractors, or its subcontractors relating to construction of the facility is performed by construction employees receiving an amount for that work equal to or greater than the general prevailing rate, as that term is defined in Section 3 of the Prevailing Wage Act. For purposes of this item (1), "house of worship" means property that is both (1) used exclusively by a religious society or body of persons as a place for religious exercise or religious worship and (2) recognized as exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 15-40 of the Property Tax Code. This item (1) shall apply to any the following:

(i) all new utility-scale wind projects;

(ii) all new utility-scale photovoltaic projects;

(iii) all new brownfield photovoltaic projects;

(iv) all new photovoltaic community renewable energy facilities that qualify for item (iii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1);

(v) all new community driven community photovoltaic projects that qualify for item (v) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1);

(vi) all new photovoltaic projects on public school land that qualify for item (iv) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1);

(vii) all new photovoltaic distributed renewable energy generation devices that (1) qualify for item (i) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1); (2) are not projects that serve single-family or multi-family residential buildings; and (3) are not houses of worship where the aggregate capacity including collocated projects would not exceed 100 kilowatts;

(viii) all new photovoltaic distributed renewable energy generation devices that (1) qualify for item (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1); (2) are not projects that serve single-family or multi-family residential buildings; and (3) are not houses of worship where the aggregate capacity including collocated projects would not exceed 100 kilowatts;

(ix) all new, modernized, or retooled hydropower facilities.

(2) Renewable energy credits procured from new utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, and new brownfield solar projects pursuant to Agency procurement events occurring after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly must be from facilities built by general contractors that must enter into a project labor agreement, as defined by this Act, prior to construction. The project labor agreement shall be filed with the Director in accordance with procedures established by the Agency through its long-term renewable resources procurement plan. Any information submitted to the Agency in this item (2) shall be considered commercially sensitive information. At a minimum, the project labor agreement must provide the names, addresses, and occupations of the owner of the plant and the individuals representing the labor organization employees participating in the project labor agreement consistent with the Project Labor Agreements Act. The agreement must also specify the terms and conditions as defined by this Act.

(3) It is the intent of this Section to ensure that economic development occurs across Illinois communities, that emerging businesses may grow, and that there is improved access to the clean energy economy by persons who have greater economic burdens to success. The Agency shall take into consideration the unique cost of compliance of this subparagraph (Q) that might be borne by equity eligible contractors, shall include such costs when determining the price of renewable energy credits in the Adjustable Block program, and shall take such costs into consideration in a nondiscriminatory manner when comparing bids for competitive procurements. The Agency shall consider costs associated with compliance whether in the development, financing, or construction of projects. The Agency shall periodically review the assumptions in these costs and may adjust prices, in compliance with subparagraph (M) of this paragraph (1).

(R) In its long-term renewable resources procurement plan, the Agency shall establish a self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program for eligible self-direct customers that purchase renewable energy credits from utility-scale wind and solar projects through long-term agreements for purchase of renewable energy credits as described in this Section. Such long-term agreements may include the purchase of energy or other products on a physical or financial basis and may involve an alternative retail electric supplier as defined in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act. This program shall take effect in the delivery year commencing June 1, 2023.

(1) For the purposes of this subparagraph:

"Eligible self-direct customer" means any retail customers of an electric utility that serves 3,000,000 or more retail customers in the State and whose total highest 30-minute demand was more than 10,000 kilowatts, or any retail customers of an electric utility that serves less than 3,000,000 retail customers but more than 500,000 retail customers in the State and whose total highest 15-minute demand was more than 10,000 kilowatts.

"Retail customer" has the meaning set forth in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act and multiple retail customer accounts under the same corporate parent may aggregate their account demands to meet the 10,000 kilowatt threshold. The criteria for determining whether this subparagraph is applicable to a retail customer shall be based on the 12 consecutive billing periods prior to the start of the year in which the application is filed.

(2) For renewable energy credits to count toward the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program, they must:

(i) qualify as renewable energy credits as defined in Section 1-10 of this Act;

(ii) be sourced from one or more renewable energy generating facilities that comply with the geographic requirements as set forth in subparagraph (I) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) as interpreted through the Agency's long-term renewable resources procurement plan, or, where applicable, the geographic requirements that governed utility-scale renewable energy credits at the time the eligible self-direct customer entered into the applicable renewable energy credit purchase agreement;

(iii) be procured through long-term contracts with term lengths of at least 10 years either directly with the renewable energy generating facility or through a bundled power purchase agreement, a virtual power purchase agreement, an agreement between the renewable generating facility, an alternative retail electric supplier, and the customer, or such other structure as is permissible under this subparagraph (R);

(iv) be equivalent in volume to at least 40% of the eligible self-direct customer's usage, determined annually by the eligible self-direct customer's usage during the previous delivery year, measured to the nearest megawatt-hour;

(v) be retired by or on behalf of the large energy customer;

(vi) be sourced from new utility-scale wind projects or new utility-scale solar projects; and

(vii) if the contracts for renewable energy credits are entered into after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the new utility-scale wind projects or new utility-scale solar projects must comply with the requirements established in subparagraphs (P) and (Q) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) and subsection (c-10).

(3) The self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program shall be designed to allow eligible self-direct customers to procure new renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind projects or new utility-scale photovoltaic projects. The Agency shall annually determine the amount of utility-scale renewable energy credits it will include each year from the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program, subject to receiving qualifying applications. In making this determination, the Agency shall evaluate publicly available analyses and studies of the potential market size for utility-scale renewable energy long-term purchase agreements by commercial and industrial energy customers and make that report publicly available. If demand for participation in the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program exceeds availability, the Agency shall ensure participation is evenly split between commercial and industrial users to the extent there is sufficient demand from both customer classes. Each renewable energy credit procured pursuant to this subparagraph (R) by a self-direct customer shall reduce the total volume of renewable energy credits the Agency is otherwise required to procure from new utility-scale projects pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) on behalf of contracting utilities where the eligible self-direct customer is located. The self-direct customer shall file an annual compliance report with the Agency pursuant to terms established by the Agency through its long-term renewable resources procurement plan to be eligible for participation in this program. Customers must provide the Agency with their most recent electricity billing statements or other information deemed necessary by the Agency to demonstrate they are an eligible self-direct customer.

(4) The Commission shall approve a reduction in the volumetric charges collected pursuant to Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act for approved eligible self-direct customers equivalent to the anticipated cost of renewable energy credit deliveries under contracts for new utility-scale wind and new utility-scale solar entered for each delivery year after the large energy customer begins retiring eligible new utility scale renewable energy credits for self-compliance. The self-direct credit amount shall be determined annually and is equal to the estimated portion of the cost authorized by subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) that supported the annual procurement of utility-scale renewable energy credits in the prior delivery year using a methodology described in the long-term renewable resources procurement plan, expressed on a per kilowatthour basis, and does not include (i) costs associated with any contracts entered into before the delivery year in which the customer files the initial compliance report to be eligible for participation in the self-direct program, and (ii) costs associated with procuring renewable energy credits through existing and future contracts through the Adjustable Block Program, subsection (c-5) of this Section 1-75, and the Solar for All Program. The Agency shall assist the Commission in determining the current and future costs. The Agency must determine the self-direct credit amount for new and existing eligible self-direct customers and submit this to the Commission in an annual compliance filing. The Commission must approve the self-direct credit amount by June 1, 2023 and June 1 of each delivery year thereafter.

(5) Customers described in this subparagraph (R) shall apply, on a form developed by the Agency, to the Agency to be designated as a self-direct eligible customer. Once the Agency determines that a self-direct customer is eligible for participation in the program, the self-direct customer will remain eligible until the end of the term of the contract. Thereafter, application may be made not less than 12 months before the filing date of the long-term renewable resources procurement plan described in this Act. At a minimum, such application shall contain the following:

(i) the customer's certification that, at the time of the customer's application, the customer qualifies to be a self-direct eligible customer, including documents demonstrating that qualification;

(ii) the customer's certification that the customer has entered into or will enter into by the beginning of the applicable procurement year, one or more bilateral contracts for new wind projects or new photovoltaic projects, including supporting documentation;

(iii) certification that the contract or contracts for new renewable energy resources are long-term contracts with term lengths of at least 10 years, including supporting documentation;

(iv) certification of the quantities of renewable energy credits that the customer will purchase each year under such contract or contracts, including supporting documentation;

(v) proof that the contract is sufficient to produce renewable energy credits to be equivalent in volume to at least 40% of the large energy customer's usage from the previous delivery year, measured to the nearest megawatt-hour; and

(vi) certification that the customer intends to maintain the contract for the duration of the length of the contract.

(6) If a customer receives the self-direct credit but fails to properly procure and retire renewable energy credits as required under this subparagraph (R), the Commission, on petition from the Agency and after notice and hearing, may direct such customer's utility to recover the cost of the wrongfully received self-direct credits plus interest through an adder to charges assessed pursuant to Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act. Self-direct customers who knowingly fail to properly procure and retire renewable energy credits and do not notify the Agency are ineligible for continued participation in the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program.

(2) (Blank).

(3) (Blank).

(4) The electric utility shall retire all renewable energy credits used to comply with the standard.

(5) Beginning with the 2010 delivery year and ending June 1, 2017, an electric utility subject to this subsection (c) shall apply the lesser of the maximum alternative compliance payment rate or the most recent estimated alternative compliance payment rate for its service territory for the corresponding compliance period, established pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 16-115D of the Public Utilities Act to its retail customers that take service pursuant to the electric utility's hourly pricing tariff or tariffs. The electric utility shall retain all amounts collected as a result of the application of the alternative compliance payment rate or rates to such customers, and, beginning in 2011, the utility shall include in the information provided under item (1) of subsection (d) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act the amounts collected under the alternative compliance payment rate or rates for the prior year ending May 31. Notwithstanding any limitation on the procurement of renewable energy resources imposed by item (2) of this subsection (c), the Agency shall increase its spending on the purchase of renewable energy resources to be procured by the electric utility for the next plan year by an amount equal to the amounts collected by the utility under the alternative compliance payment rate or rates in the prior year ending May 31.

(6) The electric utility shall be entitled to recover all of its costs associated with the procurement of renewable energy credits under plans approved under this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. These costs shall include associated reasonable expenses for implementing the procurement programs, including, but not limited to, the costs of administering and evaluating the Adjustable Block program, through an automatic adjustment clause tariff in accordance with subsection (k) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act.

(7) Renewable energy credits procured from new photovoltaic projects or new distributed renewable energy generation devices under this Section after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906) must be procured from devices installed by a qualified person in compliance with the requirements of Section 16-128A of the Public Utilities Act and any rules or regulations adopted thereunder.

In meeting the renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c), to the extent feasible and consistent with State and federal law, the renewable energy credit procurements, Adjustable Block solar program, and community renewable generation program shall provide employment opportunities for all segments of the population and workforce, including minority-owned and female-owned business enterprises, and shall not, consistent with State and federal law, discriminate based on race or socioeconomic status.

(c-5) Procurement of renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities installed at or adjacent to the sites of electric generating facilities that burn or burned coal as their primary fuel source.

(1) In addition to the procurement of renewable energy credits pursuant to long-term renewable resources procurement plans in accordance with subsection (c) of this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall conduct procurement events in accordance with this subsection (c-5) for the procurement by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities to be installed at or adjacent to the sites of electric generating facilities that, as of January 1, 2016, burned coal as their primary fuel source and meet the other criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). For purposes of this subsection (c-5), "new renewable energy facility" means a new utility-scale solar project as defined in this Section 1-75. The renewable energy credits procured pursuant to this subsection (c-5) may be included or counted for purposes of compliance with the amounts of renewable energy credits required to be procured pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section to the extent that there are otherwise shortfalls in compliance with such requirements. The procurement of renewable energy credits by electric utilities pursuant to this subsection (c-5) shall be funded solely by revenues collected from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge provided for in this subsection (c-5) and subsection (i-5) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, shall not be funded by revenues collected through any of the other funding mechanisms provided for in subsection (c) of this Section, and shall not be subject to the limitation imposed by subsection (c) on charges to retail customers for costs to procure renewable energy resources pursuant to subsection (c), and shall not be subject to any other requirements or limitations of subsection (c).

(2) The Agency shall conduct 2 procurement events to select owners of electric generating facilities meeting the eligibility criteria specified in this subsection (c-5) to enter into long-term contracts to sell renewable energy credits to electric utilities serving more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019. The first procurement event shall be conducted no later than March 31, 2022, unless the Agency elects to delay it, until no later than May 1, 2022, due to its overall volume of work, and shall be to select owners of electric generating facilities located in this State and south of federal Interstate Highway 80 that meet the eligibility criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). The second procurement event shall be conducted no sooner than September 30, 2022 and no later than October 31, 2022 and shall be to select owners of electric generating facilities located anywhere in this State that meet the eligibility criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). The Agency shall establish and announce a time period, which shall begin no later than 30 days prior to the scheduled date for the procurement event, during which applicants may submit applications to be selected as suppliers of renewable energy credits pursuant to this subsection (c-5). The eligibility criteria for selection as a supplier of renewable energy credits pursuant to this subsection (c-5) shall be as follows:

(A) The applicant owns an electric generating facility located in this State that: (i) as of January 1, 2016, burned coal as its primary fuel to generate electricity; and (ii) has, or had prior to retirement, an electric generating capacity of at least 150 megawatts. The electric generating facility can be either: (i) retired as of the date of the procurement event; or (ii) still operating as of the date of the procurement event.

(B) The applicant is not (i) an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) an entity described in subsection (b)(1) of Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an association or consortium of or an entity owned by entities described in (i) or (ii); and the coal-fueled electric generating facility was at one time owned, in whole or in part, by a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

(C) If participating in the first procurement event, the applicant proposes and commits to construct and operate, at the site, and if necessary for sufficient space on property adjacent to the existing property, at which the electric generating facility identified in paragraph (A) is located: (i) a new renewable energy facility of at least 20 megawatts but no more than 100 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and (ii) an energy storage facility having a storage capacity equal to at least 2 megawatts and at most 10 megawatts. If participating in the second procurement event, the applicant proposes and commits to construct and operate, at the site, and if necessary for sufficient space on property adjacent to the existing property, at which the electric generating facility identified in paragraph (A) is located: (i) a new renewable energy facility of at least 5 megawatts but no more than 20 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and (ii) an energy storage facility having a storage capacity equal to at least 0.5 megawatts and at most one megawatt.

(D) The applicant agrees that the new renewable energy facility and the energy storage facility will be constructed or installed by a qualified entity or entities in compliance with the requirements of subsection (g) of Section 16-128A of the Public Utilities Act and any rules adopted thereunder.

(E) The applicant agrees that personnel operating the new renewable energy facility and the energy storage facility will have the requisite skills, knowledge, training, experience, and competence, which may be demonstrated by completion or current participation and ultimate completion by employees of an accredited or otherwise recognized apprenticeship program for the employee's particular craft, trade, or skill, including through training and education courses and opportunities offered by the owner to employees of the coal-fueled electric generating facility or by previous employment experience performing the employee's particular work skill or function.

(F) The applicant commits that not less than the prevailing wage, as determined pursuant to the Prevailing Wage Act, will be paid to the applicant's employees engaged in construction activities associated with the new renewable energy facility and the new energy storage facility and to the employees of applicant's contractors engaged in construction activities associated with the new renewable energy facility and the new energy storage facility, and that, on or before the commercial operation date of the new renewable energy facility, the applicant shall file a report with the Agency certifying that the requirements of this subparagraph (F) have been met.

(G) The applicant commits that if selected, it will negotiate a project labor agreement for the construction of the new renewable energy facility and associated energy storage facility that includes provisions requiring the parties to the agreement to work together to establish diversity threshold requirements and to ensure best efforts to meet diversity targets, improve diversity at the applicable job site, create diverse apprenticeship opportunities, and create opportunities to employ former coal-fired power plant workers.

(H) The applicant commits to enter into a contract or contracts for the applicable duration to provide specified numbers of renewable energy credits each year from the new renewable energy facility to electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019, at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit. The price per renewable energy credit shall be fixed at $30 for the applicable duration and the renewable energy credits shall not be indexed renewable energy credits as provided for in item (v) of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of this Act. The applicable duration of each contract shall be 20 years, unless the applicant is physically interconnected to the PJM Interconnection, LLC transmission grid and had a generating capacity of at least 1,200 megawatts as of January 1, 2021, in which case the applicable duration of the contract shall be 15 years.

(I) The applicant's application is certified by an officer of the applicant and by an officer of the applicant's ultimate parent company, if any.

(3) An applicant may submit applications to contract to supply renewable energy credits from more than one new renewable energy facility to be constructed at or adjacent to one or more qualifying electric generating facilities owned by the applicant. The Agency may select new renewable energy facilities to be located at or adjacent to the sites of more than one qualifying electric generation facility owned by an applicant to contract with electric utilities to supply renewable energy credits from such facilities.

(4) The Agency shall assess fees to each applicant to recover the Agency's costs incurred in receiving and evaluating applications, conducting the procurement event, developing contracts for sale, delivery and purchase of renewable energy credits, and monitoring the administration of such contracts, as provided for in this subsection (c-5), including fees paid to a procurement administrator retained by the Agency for one or more of these purposes.

(5) The Agency shall select the applicants and the new renewable energy facilities to contract with electric utilities to supply renewable energy credits in accordance with this subsection (c-5). In the first procurement event, the Agency shall select applicants and new renewable energy facilities to supply renewable energy credits, at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit, aggregating to no less than 400,000 renewable energy credits per year for the applicable duration, assuming sufficient qualifying applications to supply, in the aggregate, at least that amount of renewable energy credits per year; and not more than 580,000 renewable energy credits per year for the applicable duration. In the second procurement event, the Agency shall select applicants and new renewable energy facilities to supply renewable energy credits, at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit, aggregating to no more than 625,000 renewable energy credits per year less the amount of renewable energy credits each year contracted for as a result of the first procurement event, for the applicable durations. The number of renewable energy credits to be procured as specified in this paragraph (5) shall not be reduced based on renewable energy credits procured in the self-direct renewable energy credit compliance program established pursuant to subparagraph (R) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75.

(6) The obligation to purchase renewable energy credits from the applicants and their new renewable energy facilities selected by the Agency shall be allocated to the electric utilities based on their respective percentages of kilowatthours delivered to delivery services customers to the aggregate kilowatthour deliveries by the electric utilities to delivery services customers for the year ended December 31, 2021. In order to achieve these allocation percentages between or among the electric utilities, the Agency shall require each applicant that is selected in the procurement event to enter into a contract with each electric utility for the sale and purchase of renewable energy credits from each new renewable energy facility to be constructed and operated by the applicant, with the sale and purchase obligations under the contracts to aggregate to the total number of renewable energy credits per year to be supplied by the applicant from the new renewable energy facility.

(7) The Agency shall submit its proposed selection of applicants, new renewable energy facilities to be constructed, and renewable energy credit amounts for each procurement event to the Commission for approval. The Commission shall, within 2 business days after receipt of the Agency's proposed selections, approve the proposed selections if it determines that the applicants and the new renewable energy facilities to be constructed meet the selection criteria set forth in this subsection (c-5) and that the Agency seeks approval for contracts of applicable durations aggregating to no more than the maximum amount of renewable energy credits per year authorized by this subsection (c-5) for the procurement event, at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit.

(8) The Agency, in conjunction with its procurement administrator if one is retained, the electric utilities, and potential applicants for contracts to produce and supply renewable energy credits pursuant to this subsection (c-5), shall develop a standard form contract for the sale, delivery and purchase of renewable energy credits pursuant to this subsection (c-5). Each contract resulting from the first procurement event shall allow for a commercial operation date for the new renewable energy facility of either June 1, 2023 or June 1, 2024, with such dates subject to adjustment as provided in this paragraph. Each contract resulting from the second procurement event shall provide for a commercial operation date on June 1 next occurring up to 48 months after execution of the contract. Each contract shall provide that the owner shall receive payments for renewable energy credits for the applicable durations beginning with the commercial operation date of the new renewable energy facility. The form contract shall provide for adjustments to the commercial operation and payment start dates as needed due to any delays in completing the procurement and contracting processes, in finalizing interconnection agreements and installing interconnection facilities, and in obtaining other necessary governmental permits and approvals. The form contract shall be, to the maximum extent possible, consistent with standard electric industry contracts for sale, delivery, and purchase of renewable energy credits while taking into account the specific requirements of this subsection (c-5). The form contract shall provide for over-delivery and under-delivery of renewable energy credits within reasonable ranges during each 12-month period and penalty, default, and enforcement provisions for failure of the selling party to deliver renewable energy credits as specified in the contract and to comply with the requirements of this subsection (c-5). The standard form contract shall specify that all renewable energy credits delivered to the electric utility pursuant to the contract shall be retired. The Agency shall make the proposed contracts available for a reasonable period for comment by potential applicants, and shall publish the final form contract at least 30 days before the date of the first procurement event.

(9) Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge.

(A) By no later than July 1, 2022, each electric utility that served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 shall file a tariff with the Commission for the billing and collection of a Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge in accordance with subsection (i-5) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, with such tariff to be effective, following review and approval or modification by the Commission, beginning January 1, 2023. The tariff shall provide for the calculation and setting of the electric utility's Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge to collect revenues estimated to be sufficient, in the aggregate, (i) to enable the electric utility to pay for the renewable energy credits it has contracted to purchase in the delivery year beginning June 1, 2023 and each delivery year thereafter from new renewable energy facilities located at the sites of qualifying electric generating facilities, and (ii) to fund the grant payments to be made in each delivery year by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or any successor department or agency, which shall be referred to in this subsection (c-5) as the Department, pursuant to paragraph (10) of this subsection (c-5). The electric utility's tariff shall provide for the billing and collection of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge on each kilowatthour of electricity delivered to its delivery services customers within its service territory and shall provide for an annual reconciliation of revenues collected with actual costs, in accordance with subsection (i-5) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act.

(B) Each electric utility shall remit on a monthly basis to the State Treasurer, for deposit in the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund provided for in this subsection (c-5), the electric utility's collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge in the amount estimated to be needed by the Department for grant payments pursuant to grant contracts entered into by the Department pursuant to paragraph (10) of this subsection (c-5).

(10) Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund.

(A) The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund is established as a special fund in the State treasury. The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund is authorized to receive, by statutory deposit, that portion specified in item (B) of paragraph (9) of this subsection (c-5) of moneys collected by electric utilities through imposition of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge required by this subsection (c-5). The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund shall be administered by the Department to provide grants to support the installation and operation of energy storage facilities at the sites of qualifying electric generating facilities meeting the criteria specified in this paragraph (10).

(B) The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund shall not be subject to sweeps, administrative charges, or chargebacks, including, but not limited to, those authorized under Section 8h of the State Finance Act, that would in any way result in the transfer of those funds from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund to any other fund of this State or in having any such funds utilized for any purpose other than the express purposes set forth in this paragraph (10).

(C) The Department shall utilize up to $280,500,000 in the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund for grants, assuming sufficient qualifying applicants, to support installation of energy storage facilities at the sites of up to 3 qualifying electric generating facilities located in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., region in Illinois and the sites of up to 2 qualifying electric generating facilities located in the PJM Interconnection, LLC region in Illinois that meet the criteria set forth in this subparagraph (C). The criteria for receipt of a grant pursuant to this subparagraph (C) are as follows:

(1) the electric generating facility at the site has, or had prior to retirement, an electric generating capacity of at least 150 megawatts;

(2) the electric generating facility burns (or burned prior to retirement) coal as its primary source of fuel;

(3) if the electric generating facility is retired, it was retired subsequent to January 1, 2016;

(4) the owner of the electric generating facility has not been selected by the Agency pursuant to this subsection (c-5) of this Section to enter into a contract to sell renewable energy credits to one or more electric utilities from a new renewable energy facility located or to be located at or adjacent to the site at which the electric generating facility is located;

(5) the electric generating facility located at the site was at one time owned, in whole or in part, by a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act;

(6) the electric generating facility at the site is not owned by (i) an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act, or (ii) an entity described in subsection (b)(1) of Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an association or consortium of or an entity owned by entities described in items (i) or (ii);

(7) the proposed energy storage facility at the site will have energy storage capacity of at least 37 megawatts;

(8) the owner commits to place the energy storage facility into commercial operation on either June 1, 2023, June 1, 2024, or June 1, 2025, with such date subject to adjustment as needed due to any delays in completing the grant contracting process, in finalizing interconnection agreements and in installing interconnection facilities, and in obtaining necessary governmental permits and approvals;

(9) the owner agrees that the new energy storage facility will be constructed or installed by a qualified entity or entities consistent with the requirements of subsection (g) of Section 16-128A of the Public Utilities Act and any rules adopted under that Section;

(10) the owner agrees that personnel operating the energy storage facility will have the requisite skills, knowledge, training, experience, and competence, which may be demonstrated by completion or current participation and ultimate completion by employees of an accredited or otherwise recognized apprenticeship program for the employee's particular craft, trade, or skill, including through training and education courses and opportunities offered by the owner to employees of the coal-fueled electric generating facility or by previous employment experience performing the employee's particular work skill or function;

(11) the owner commits that not less than the prevailing wage, as determined pursuant to the Prevailing Wage Act, will be paid to the owner's employees engaged in construction activities associated with the new energy storage facility and to the employees of the owner's contractors engaged in construction activities associated with the new energy storage facility, and that, on or before the commercial operation date of the new energy storage facility, the owner shall file a report with the Department certifying that the requirements of this subparagraph (11) have been met; and

(12) the owner commits that if selected to receive a grant, it will negotiate a project labor agreement for the construction of the new energy storage facility that includes provisions requiring the parties to the agreement to work together to establish diversity threshold requirements and to ensure best efforts to meet diversity targets, improve diversity at the applicable job site, create diverse apprenticeship opportunities, and create opportunities to employ former coal-fired power plant workers.

The Department shall accept applications for this grant program until March 31, 2022 and shall announce the award of grants no later than June 1, 2022. The Department shall make the grant payments to a recipient in equal annual amounts for 10 years following the date the energy storage facility is placed into commercial operation. The annual grant payments to a qualifying energy storage facility shall be $110,000 per megawatt of energy storage capacity, with total annual grant payments pursuant to this subparagraph (C) for qualifying energy storage facilities not to exceed $28,050,000 in any year.

(D) Grants of funding for energy storage facilities pursuant to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (10), from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund, shall be memorialized in grant contracts between the Department and the recipient. The grant contracts shall specify the date or dates in each year on which the annual grant payments shall be paid.

(E) All disbursements from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund shall be made only upon warrants of the Comptroller drawn upon the Treasurer as custodian of the Fund upon vouchers signed by the Director of the Department or by the person or persons designated by the Director of the Department for that purpose. The Comptroller is authorized to draw the warrants upon vouchers so signed. The Treasurer shall accept all written warrants so signed and shall be released from liability for all payments made on those warrants.

(11) Diversity, equity, and inclusion plans.

(A) Each applicant selected in a procurement event to contract to supply renewable energy credits in accordance with this subsection (c-5) and each owner selected by the Department to receive a grant or grants to support the construction and operation of a new energy storage facility or facilities in accordance with this subsection (c-5) shall, within 60 days following the Commission's approval of the applicant to contract to supply renewable energy credits or within 60 days following execution of a grant contract with the Department, as applicable, submit to the Commission a diversity, equity, and inclusion plan setting forth the applicant's or owner's numeric goals for the diversity composition of its supplier entities for the new renewable energy facility or new energy storage facility, as applicable, which shall be referred to for purposes of this paragraph (11) as the project, and the applicant's or owner's action plan and schedule for achieving those goals.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph (11), diversity composition shall be based on the percentage, which shall be a minimum of 25%, of eligible expenditures for contract awards for materials and services (which shall be defined in the plan) to business enterprises owned by minority persons, women, or persons with disabilities as defined in Section 2 of the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, to LGBTQ business enterprises, to veteran-owned business enterprises, and to business enterprises located in environmental justice communities. The diversity composition goals of the plan may include eligible expenditures in areas for vendor or supplier opportunities in addition to development and construction of the project, and may exclude from eligible expenditures materials and services with limited market availability, limited production and availability from suppliers in the United States, such as solar panels and storage batteries, and material and services that are subject to critical energy infrastructure or cybersecurity requirements or restrictions. The plan may provide that the diversity composition goals may be met through Tier 1 Direct or Tier 2 subcontracting expenditures or a combination thereof for the project.

(C) The plan shall provide for, but not be limited to: (i) internal initiatives, including multi-tier initiatives, by the applicant or owner, or by its engineering, procurement and construction contractor if one is used for the project, which for purposes of this paragraph (11) shall be referred to as the EPC contractor, to enable diverse businesses to be considered fairly for selection to provide materials and services; (ii) requirements for the applicant or owner or its EPC contractor to proactively solicit and utilize diverse businesses to provide materials and services; and (iii) requirements for the applicant or owner or its EPC contractor to hire a diverse workforce for the project. The plan shall include a description of the applicant's or owner's diversity recruiting efforts both for the project and for other areas of the applicant's or owner's business operations. The plan shall provide for the imposition of financial penalties on the applicant's or owner's EPC contractor for failure to exercise best efforts to comply with and execute the EPC contractor's diversity obligations under the plan. The plan may provide for the applicant or owner to set aside a portion of the work on the project to serve as an incubation program for qualified businesses, as specified in the plan, owned by minority persons, women, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and veterans, and businesses located in environmental justice communities, seeking to enter the renewable energy industry.

(D) The applicant or owner may submit a revised or updated plan to the Commission from time to time as circumstances warrant. The applicant or owner shall file annual reports with the Commission detailing the applicant's or owner's progress in implementing its plan and achieving its goals and any modifications the applicant or owner has made to its plan to better achieve its diversity, equity and inclusion goals. The applicant or owner shall file a final report on the fifth June 1 following the commercial operation date of the new renewable energy resource or new energy storage facility, but the applicant or owner shall thereafter continue to be subject to applicable reporting requirements of Section 5-117 of the Public Utilities Act.

(c-10) Equity accountability system. It is the purpose of this subsection (c-10) to create an equity accountability system, which includes the minimum equity standards for all renewable energy procurements, the equity category of the Adjustable Block Program, and the equity prioritization for noncompetitive procurements, that is successful in advancing priority access to the clean energy economy for businesses and workers from communities that have been excluded from economic opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to disproportionate levels of pollution, and have disproportionately experienced negative public health outcomes. Further, it is the purpose of this subsection to ensure that this equity accountability system is successful in advancing equity across Illinois by providing access to the clean energy economy for businesses and workers from communities that have been historically excluded from economic opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to disproportionate levels of pollution, and have disproportionately experienced negative public health outcomes.

(1) Minimum equity standards. The Agency shall create programs with the purpose of increasing access to and development of equity eligible contractors, who are prime contractors and subcontractors, across all of the programs it manages. All applications for renewable energy credit procurements shall comply with specific minimum equity commitments. Starting in the delivery year immediately following the next long-term renewable resources procurement plan, at least 10% of the project workforce for each entity participating in a procurement program outlined in this subsection (c-10) must be done by equity eligible persons or equity eligible contractors. The Agency shall increase the minimum percentage each delivery year thereafter by increments that ensure a statewide average of 30% of the project workforce for each entity participating in a procurement program is done by equity eligible persons or equity eligible contractors by 2030. The Agency shall propose a schedule of percentage increases to the minimum equity standards in its draft revised renewable energy resources procurement plan submitted to the Commission for approval pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection (b) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. In determining these annual increases, the Agency shall have the discretion to establish different minimum equity standards for different types of procurements and different regions of the State if the Agency finds that doing so will further the purposes of this subsection (c-10). The proposed schedule of annual increases shall be revisited and updated on an annual basis. Revisions shall be developed with stakeholder input, including from equity eligible persons, equity eligible contractors, clean energy industry representatives, and community-based organizations that work with such persons and contractors.

(A) At the start of each delivery year, the Agency shall require a compliance plan from each entity participating in a procurement program of subsection (c) of this Section that demonstrates how they will achieve compliance with the minimum equity standard percentage for work completed in that delivery year. If an entity applies for its approved vendor or designee status between delivery years, the Agency shall require a compliance plan at the time of application.

(B) Halfway through each delivery year, the Agency shall require each entity participating in a procurement program to confirm that it will achieve compliance in that delivery year, when applicable. The Agency may offer corrective action plans to entities that are not on track to achieve compliance.

(C) At the end of each delivery year, each entity participating and completing work in that delivery year in a procurement program of subsection (c) shall submit a report to the Agency that demonstrates how it achieved compliance with the minimum equity standards percentage for that delivery year.

(D) The Agency shall prohibit participation in procurement programs by an approved vendor or designee, as applicable, or entities with which an approved vendor or designee, as applicable, shares a common parent company if an approved vendor or designee, as applicable, failed to meet the minimum equity standards for the prior delivery year. Waivers approved for lack of equity eligible persons or equity eligible contractors in a geographic area of a project shall not count against the approved vendor or designee. The Agency shall offer a corrective action plan for any such entities to assist them in obtaining compliance and shall allow continued access to procurement programs upon an approved vendor or designee demonstrating compliance.

(E) The Agency shall pursue efficiencies achieved by combining with other approved vendor or designee reporting.

(2) Equity accountability system within the Adjustable Block program. The equity category described in item (vi) of subparagraph (K) of subsection (c) is only available to applicants that are equity eligible contractors.

(3) Equity accountability system within competitive procurements. Through its long-term renewable resources procurement plan, the Agency shall develop requirements for ensuring that competitive procurement processes, including utility-scale solar, utility-scale wind, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects, advance the equity goals of this subsection (c-10). Subject to Commission approval, the Agency shall develop bid application requirements and a bid evaluation methodology for ensuring that utilization of equity eligible contractors, whether as bidders or as participants on project development, is optimized, including requiring that winning or successful applicants for utility-scale projects are or will partner with equity eligible contractors and giving preference to bids through which a higher portion of contract value flows to equity eligible contractors. To the extent practicable, entities participating in competitive procurements shall also be required to meet all the equity accountability requirements for approved vendors and their designees under this subsection (c-10). In developing these requirements, the Agency shall also consider whether equity goals can be further advanced through additional measures.

(4) In the first revision to the long-term renewable energy resources procurement plan and each revision thereafter, the Agency shall include the following:

(A) The current status and number of equity eligible contractors listed in the Energy Workforce Equity Database designed in subsection (c-25), including the number of equity eligible contractors with current certifications as issued by the Agency.

(B) A mechanism for measuring, tracking, and reporting project workforce at the approved vendor or designee level, as applicable, which shall include a measurement methodology and records to be made available for audit by the Agency or the Program Administrator.

(C) A program for approved vendors, designees, eligible persons, and equity eligible contractors to receive trainings, guidance, and other support from the Agency or its designee regarding the equity category outlined in item (vi) of subparagraph (K) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) and in meeting the minimum equity standards of this subsection (c-10).

(D) A process for certifying equity eligible contractors and equity eligible persons. The certification process shall coordinate with the Energy Workforce Equity Database set forth in subsection (c-25).

(E) An application for waiver of the minimum equity standards of this subsection, which the Agency shall have the discretion to grant in rare circumstances. The Agency may grant such a waiver where the applicant provides evidence of significant efforts toward meeting the minimum equity commitment, including: use of the Energy Workforce Equity Database; efforts to hire or contract with entities that hire eligible persons; and efforts to establish contracting relationships with eligible contractors. The Agency shall support applicants in understanding the Energy Workforce Equity Database and other resources for pursuing compliance of the minimum equity standards. Waivers shall be project-specific, unless the Agency deems it necessary to grant a waiver across a portfolio of projects, and in effect for no longer than one year. Any waiver extension or subsequent waiver request from an applicant shall be subject to the requirements of this Section and shall specify efforts made to reach compliance. When considering whether to grant a waiver, and to what extent, the Agency shall consider the degree to which similarly situated applicants have been able to meet these minimum equity commitments. For repeated waiver requests for specific lack of eligible persons or eligible contractors available, the Agency shall make recommendations to target recruitment to add such eligible persons or eligible contractors to the database.

(5) The Agency shall collect information about work on projects or portfolios of projects subject to these minimum equity standards to ensure compliance with this subsection (c-10). Reporting in furtherance of this requirement may be combined with other annual reporting requirements. Such reporting shall include proof of certification of each equity eligible contractor or equity eligible person during the applicable time period.

(6) The Agency shall keep confidential all information and communication that provides private or personal information.

(7) Modifications to the equity accountability system. As part of the update of the long-term renewable resources procurement plan to be initiated in 2023, or sooner if the Agency deems necessary, the Agency shall determine the extent to which the equity accountability system described in this subsection (c-10) has advanced the goals of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, including through the inclusion of equity eligible persons and equity eligible contractors in renewable energy credit projects. If the Agency finds that the equity accountability system has failed to meet those goals to its fullest potential, the Agency may revise the following criteria for future Agency procurements: (A) the percentage of project workforce, or other appropriate workforce measure, certified as equity eligible persons or equity eligible contractors; (B) definitions for equity investment eligible persons and equity investment eligible community; and (C) such other modifications necessary to advance the goals of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly effectively. Such revised criteria may also establish distinct equity accountability systems for different types of procurements or different regions of the State if the Agency finds that doing so will further the purposes of such programs. Revisions shall be developed with stakeholder input, including from equity eligible persons, equity eligible contractors, and community-based organizations that work with such persons and contractors.

(c-15) Racial discrimination elimination powers and process.

(1) Purpose. It is the purpose of this subsection to empower the Agency and other State actors to remedy racial discrimination in Illinois' clean energy economy as effectively and expediently as possible, including through the use of race-conscious remedies, such as race-conscious contracting and hiring goals, as consistent with State and federal law.

(2) Racial disparity and discrimination review process.

(A) Within one year after awarding contracts using the equity actions processes established in this Section, the Agency shall publish a report evaluating the effectiveness of the equity actions point criteria of this Section in increasing participation of equity eligible persons and equity eligible contractors. The report shall disaggregate participating workers and contractors by race and ethnicity. The report shall be forwarded to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Illinois Commerce Commission and be made available to the public.

(B) As soon as is practicable thereafter, the Agency, in consultation with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Department of Labor, and other agencies that may be relevant, shall commission and publish a disparity and availability study that measures the presence and impact of discrimination on minority businesses and workers in Illinois' clean energy economy. The Agency may hire consultants and experts to conduct the disparity and availability study, with the retention of those consultants and experts exempt from the requirements of Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code. The Illinois Power Agency shall forward a copy of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Illinois Commerce Commission. If the disparity and availability study establishes a strong basis in evidence that there is discrimination in Illinois' clean energy economy, the Agency, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Department of Labor, Department of Corrections, and other appropriate agencies shall take appropriate remedial actions, including race-conscious remedial actions as consistent with State and federal law, to effectively remedy this discrimination. Such remedies may include modification of the equity accountability system as described in subsection (c-10).

(c-20) Program data collection.

(1) Purpose. Data collection, data analysis, and reporting are critical to ensure that the benefits of the clean energy economy provided to Illinois residents and businesses are equitably distributed across the State. The Agency shall collect data from program applicants in order to track and improve equitable distribution of benefits across Illinois communities for all procurements the Agency conducts. The Agency shall use this data to, among other things, measure any potential impact of racial discrimination on the distribution of benefits and provide information necessary to correct any discrimination through methods consistent with State and federal law.

(2) Agency collection of program data. The Agency shall collect demographic and geographic data for each entity awarded contracts under any Agency-administered program.

(3) Required information to be collected. The Agency shall collect the following information from applicants and program participants where applicable:

(A) demographic information, including racial or ethnic identity for real persons employed, contracted, or subcontracted through the program and owners of businesses or entities that apply to receive renewable energy credits from the Agency;

(B) geographic location of the residency of real persons employed, contracted, or subcontracted through the program and geographic location of the headquarters of the business or entity that applies to receive renewable energy credits from the Agency; and

(C) any other information the Agency determines is necessary for the purpose of achieving the purpose of this subsection.

(4) Publication of collected information. The Agency shall publish, at least annually, information on the demographics of program participants on an aggregate basis.

(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to limit the authority of the Agency, or other agency or department of the State, to require or collect demographic information from applicants of other State programs.

(c-25) Energy Workforce Equity Database.

(1) The Agency, in consultation with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, shall create an Energy Workforce Equity Database, and may contract with a third party to do so ("database program administrator"). If the Department decides to contract with a third party, that third party shall be exempt from the requirements of Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code. The Energy Workforce Equity Database shall be a searchable database of suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors for clean energy industries that is:

(A) publicly accessible;

(B) easy for people to find and use;

(C) organized by company specialty or field;

(D) region-specific; and

(E) populated with information including, but not limited to, contacts for suppliers, vendors, or subcontractors who are minority and women-owned business enterprise certified or who participate or have participated in any of the programs described in this Act.

(2) The Agency shall create an easily accessible, public facing online tool using the database information that includes, at a minimum, the following:

(A) a map of environmental justice and equity investment eligible communities;

(B) job postings and recruiting opportunities;

(C) a means by which recruiting clean energy companies can find and interact with current or former participants of clean energy workforce training programs;

(D) information on workforce training service providers and training opportunities available to prospective workers;

(E) renewable energy company diversity reporting;

(F) a list of equity eligible contractors with their contact information, types of work performed, and locations worked in;

(G) reporting on outcomes of the programs described in the workforce programs of the Energy Transition Act, including information such as, but not limited to, retention rate, graduation rate, and placement rates of trainees; and

(H) information about the Jobs and Environmental Justice Grant Program, the Clean Energy Jobs and Justice Fund, and other sources of capital.

(3) The Agency shall ensure the database is regularly updated to ensure information is current and shall coordinate with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to ensure that it includes information on individuals and entities that are or have participated in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program.

(c-30) Enforcement of minimum equity standards. All entities seeking renewable energy credits must submit an annual report to demonstrate compliance with each of the equity commitments required under subsection (c-10). If the Agency concludes the entity has not met or maintained its minimum equity standards required under the applicable subparagraphs under subsection (c-10), the Agency shall deny the entity's ability to participate in procurement programs in subsection (c), including by withholding approved vendor or designee status. The Agency may require the entity to enter into a corrective action plan. An entity that is not recertified for failing to meet required equity actions in subparagraph (c-10) may reapply once they have a corrective action plan and achieve compliance with the minimum equity standards.

(d) Clean coal portfolio standard.

(1) The procurement plans shall include electricity generated using clean coal. Each utility shall enter into one or more sourcing agreements with the initial clean coal facility, as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection (d), covering electricity generated by the initial clean coal facility representing at least 5% of each utility's total supply to serve the load of eligible retail customers in 2015 and each year thereafter, as described in paragraph (3) of this subsection (d), subject to the limits specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection (d). It is the goal of the State that by January 1, 2025, 25% of the electricity used in the State shall be generated by cost-effective clean coal facilities. For purposes of this subsection (d), "cost-effective" means that the expenditures pursuant to such sourcing agreements do not cause the limit stated in paragraph (2) of this subsection (d) to be exceeded and do not exceed cost-based benchmarks, which shall be developed to assess all expenditures pursuant to such sourcing agreements covering electricity generated by clean coal facilities, other than the initial clean coal facility, by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be subject to Commission review and approval.

A utility party to a sourcing agreement shall immediately retire any emission credits that it receives in connection with the electricity covered by such agreement.

Utilities shall maintain adequate records documenting the purchases under the sourcing agreement to comply with this subsection (d) and shall file an accounting with the load forecast that must be filed with the Agency by July 15 of each year, in accordance with subsection (d) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

A utility shall be deemed to have complied with the clean coal portfolio standard specified in this subsection (d) if the utility enters into a sourcing agreement as required by this subsection (d).

(2) For purposes of this subsection (d), the required execution of sourcing agreements with the initial clean coal facility for a particular year shall be measured as a percentage of the actual amount of electricity (megawatt-hours) supplied by the electric utility to eligible retail customers in the planning year ending immediately prior to the agreement's execution. For purposes of this subsection (d), the amount paid per kilowatthour means the total amount paid for electric service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. For purposes of this subsection (d), the total amount paid for electric service includes without limitation amounts paid for supply, transmission, distribution, surcharges and add-on taxes.

Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection (d), the total amount paid under sourcing agreements with clean coal facilities pursuant to the procurement plan for any given year shall be reduced by an amount necessary to limit the annual estimated average net increase due to the costs of these resources included in the amounts paid by eligible retail customers in connection with electric service to:

(A) in 2010, no more than 0.5% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009;

(B) in 2011, the greater of an additional 0.5% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2010 or 1% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009;

(C) in 2012, the greater of an additional 0.5% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2011 or 1.5% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009;

(D) in 2013, the greater of an additional 0.5% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2012 or 2% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009; and

(E) thereafter, the total amount paid under sourcing agreements with clean coal facilities pursuant to the procurement plan for any single year shall be reduced by an amount necessary to limit the estimated average net increase due to the cost of these resources included in the amounts paid by eligible retail customers in connection with electric service to no more than the greater of (i) 2.015% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the year ending May 31, 2009 or (ii) the incremental amount per kilowatthour paid for these resources in 2013. These requirements may be altered only as provided by statute.

No later than June 30, 2015, the Commission shall review the limitation on the total amount paid under sourcing agreements, if any, with clean coal facilities pursuant to this subsection (d) and report to the General Assembly its findings as to whether that limitation unduly constrains the amount of electricity generated by cost-effective clean coal facilities that is covered by sourcing agreements.

(3) Initial clean coal facility. In order to promote development of clean coal facilities in Illinois, each electric utility subject to this Section shall execute a sourcing agreement to source electricity from a proposed clean coal facility in Illinois (the "initial clean coal facility") that will have a nameplate capacity of at least 500 MW when commercial operation commences, that has a final Clean Air Act permit on June 1, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 95-1027), and that will meet the definition of clean coal facility in Section 1-10 of this Act when commercial operation commences. The sourcing agreements with this initial clean coal facility shall be subject to both approval of the initial clean coal facility by the General Assembly and satisfaction of the requirements of paragraph (4) of this subsection (d) and shall be executed within 90 days after any such approval by the General Assembly. The Agency and the Commission shall have authority to inspect all books and records associated with the initial clean coal facility during the term of such a sourcing agreement. A utility's sourcing agreement for electricity produced by the initial clean coal facility shall include:

(A) a formula contractual price (the "contract price") approved pursuant to paragraph (4) of this subsection (d), which shall:

(i) be determined using a cost of service methodology employing either a level or deferred capital recovery component, based on a capital structure consisting of 45% equity and 55% debt, and a return on equity as may be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which in any case may not exceed the lower of 11.5% or the rate of return approved by the General Assembly pursuant to paragraph (4) of this subsection (d); and

(ii) provide that all miscellaneous net revenue, including but not limited to net revenue from the sale of emission allowances, if any, substitute natural gas, if any, grants or other support provided by the State of Illinois or the United States Government, firm transmission rights, if any, by-products produced by the facility, energy or capacity derived from the facility and not covered by a sourcing agreement pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) or item (5) of subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, whether generated from the synthesis gas derived from coal, from SNG, or from natural gas, shall be credited against the revenue requirement for this initial clean coal facility;

(B) power purchase provisions, which shall:

(i) provide that the utility party to such sourcing agreement shall pay the contract price for electricity delivered under such sourcing agreement;

(ii) require delivery of electricity to the regional transmission organization market of the utility that is party to such sourcing agreement;

(iii) require the utility party to such sourcing agreement to buy from the initial clean coal facility in each hour an amount of energy equal to all clean coal energy made available from the initial clean coal facility during such hour times a fraction, the numerator of which is such utility's retail market sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State during the prior calendar month and the denominator of which is the total retail market sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State by utilities during such prior month and the sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State by alternative retail electric suppliers during such prior month that are subject to the requirements of this subsection (d) and paragraph (5) of subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, provided that the amount purchased by the utility in any year will be limited by paragraph (2) of this subsection (d); and

(iv) be considered pre-existing contracts in such utility's procurement plans for eligible retail customers;

(C) contract for differences provisions, which shall:

(i) require the utility party to such sourcing agreement to contract with the initial clean coal facility in each hour with respect to an amount of energy equal to all clean coal energy made available from the initial clean coal facility during such hour times a fraction, the numerator of which is such utility's retail market sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the utility's service territory in the State during the prior calendar month and the denominator of which is the total retail market sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State by utilities during such prior month and the sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State by alternative retail electric suppliers during such prior month that are subject to the requirements of this subsection (d) and paragraph (5) of subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, provided that the amount paid by the utility in any year will be limited by paragraph (2) of this subsection (d);

(ii) provide that the utility's payment obligation in respect of the quantity of electricity determined pursuant to the preceding clause (i) shall be limited to an amount equal to (1) the difference between the contract price determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) and the day-ahead price for electricity delivered to the regional transmission organization market of the utility that is party to such sourcing agreement (or any successor delivery point at which such utility's supply obligations are financially settled on an hourly basis) (the "reference price") on the day preceding the day on which the electricity is delivered to the initial clean coal facility busbar, multiplied by (2) the quantity of electricity determined pursuant to the preceding clause (i); and

(iii) not require the utility to take physical delivery of the electricity produced by the facility;

(D) general provisions, which shall:

(i) specify a term of no more than 30 years, commencing on the commercial operation date of the facility;

(ii) provide that utilities shall maintain adequate records documenting purchases under the sourcing agreements entered into to comply with this subsection (d) and shall file an accounting with the load forecast that must be filed with the Agency by July 15 of each year, in accordance with subsection (d) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act;

(iii) provide that all costs associated with the initial clean coal facility will be periodically reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and to purchasers in accordance with applicable laws governing cost-based wholesale power contracts;

(iv) permit the Illinois Power Agency to assume ownership of the initial clean coal facility, without monetary consideration and otherwise on reasonable terms acceptable to the Agency, if the Agency so requests no less than 3 years prior to the end of the stated contract term;

(v) require the owner of the initial clean coal facility to provide documentation to the Commission each year, starting in the facility's first year of commercial operation, accurately reporting the quantity of carbon emissions from the facility that have been captured and sequestered and report any quantities of carbon released from the site or sites at which carbon emissions were sequestered in prior years, based on continuous monitoring of such sites. If, in any year after the first year of commercial operation, the owner of the facility fails to demonstrate that the initial clean coal facility captured and sequestered at least 50% of the total carbon emissions that the facility would otherwise emit or that sequestration of emissions from prior years has failed, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the owner of the facility must offset excess emissions. Any such carbon offsets must be permanent, additional, verifiable, real, located within the State of Illinois, and legally and practicably enforceable. The cost of such offsets for the facility that are not recoverable shall not exceed $15 million in any given year. No costs of any such purchases of carbon offsets may be recovered from a utility or its customers. All carbon offsets purchased for this purpose and any carbon emission credits associated with sequestration of carbon from the facility must be permanently retired. The initial clean coal facility shall not forfeit its designation as a clean coal facility if the facility fails to fully comply with the applicable carbon sequestration requirements in any given year, provided the requisite offsets are purchased. However, the Attorney General, on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois, may specifically enforce the facility's sequestration requirement and the other terms of this contract provision. Compliance with the sequestration requirements and offset purchase requirements specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) shall be reviewed annually by an independent expert retained by the owner of the initial clean coal facility, with the advance written approval of the Attorney General. The Commission may, in the course of the review specified in item (vii), reduce the allowable return on equity for the facility if the facility willfully fails to comply with the carbon capture and sequestration requirements set forth in this item (v);

(vi) include limits on, and accordingly provide for modification of, the amount the utility is required to source under the sourcing agreement consistent with paragraph (2) of this subsection (d);

(vii) require Commission review: (1) to determine the justness, reasonableness, and prudence of the inputs to the formula referenced in subparagraphs (A)(i) through (A)(iii) of paragraph (3) of this subsection (d), prior to an adjustment in those inputs including, without limitation, the capital structure and return on equity, fuel costs, and other operations and maintenance costs and (2) to approve the costs to be passed through to customers under the sourcing agreement by which the utility satisfies its statutory obligations. Commission review shall occur no less than every 3 years, regardless of whether any adjustments have been proposed, and shall be completed within 9 months;

(viii) limit the utility's obligation to such amount as the utility is allowed to recover through tariffs filed with the Commission, provided that neither the clean coal facility nor the utility waives any right to assert federal pre-emption or any other argument in response to a purported disallowance of recovery costs;

(ix) limit the utility's or alternative retail electric supplier's obligation to incur any liability until such time as the facility is in commercial operation and generating power and energy and such power and energy is being delivered to the facility busbar;

(x) provide that the owner or owners of the initial clean coal facility, which is the counterparty to such sourcing agreement, shall have the right from time to time to elect whether the obligations of the utility party thereto shall be governed by the power purchase provisions or the contract for differences provisions;

(xi) append documentation showing that the formula rate and contract, insofar as they relate to the power purchase provisions, have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act;

(xii) provide that any changes to the terms of the contract, insofar as such changes relate to the power purchase provisions, are subject to review under the public interest standard applied by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pursuant to Sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Power Act; and

(xiii) conform with customary lender requirements in power purchase agreements used as the basis for financing non-utility generators.

(4) Effective date of sourcing agreements with the initial clean coal facility. Any proposed sourcing agreement with the initial clean coal facility shall not become effective unless the following reports are prepared and submitted and authorizations and approvals obtained:

(i) Facility cost report. The owner of the initial clean coal facility shall submit to the Commission, the Agency, and the General Assembly a front-end engineering and design study, a facility cost report, method of financing (including but not limited to structure and associated costs), and an operating and maintenance cost quote for the facility (collectively "facility cost report"), which shall be prepared in accordance with the requirements of this paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of this Section, and shall provide the Commission and the Agency access to the work papers, relied upon documents, and any other backup documentation related to the facility cost report.

(ii) Commission report. Within 6 months following receipt of the facility cost report, the Commission, in consultation with the Agency, shall submit a report to the General Assembly setting forth its analysis of the facility cost report. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, a comparison of the costs associated with electricity generated by the initial clean coal facility to the costs associated with electricity generated by other types of generation facilities, an analysis of the rate impacts on residential and small business customers over the life of the sourcing agreements, and an analysis of the likelihood that the initial clean coal facility will commence commercial operation by and be delivering power to the facility's busbar by 2016. To assist in the preparation of its report, the Commission, in consultation with the Agency, may hire one or more experts or consultants, the costs of which shall be paid for by the owner of the initial clean coal facility. The Commission and Agency may begin the process of selecting such experts or consultants prior to receipt of the facility cost report.

(iii) General Assembly approval. The proposed sourcing agreements shall not take effect unless, based on the facility cost report and the Commission's report, the General Assembly enacts authorizing legislation approving (A) the projected price, stated in cents per kilowatthour, to be charged for electricity generated by the initial clean coal facility, (B) the projected impact on residential and small business customers' bills over the life of the sourcing agreements, and (C) the maximum allowable return on equity for the project; and

(iv) Commission review. If the General Assembly enacts authorizing legislation pursuant to subparagraph (iii) approving a sourcing agreement, the Commission shall, within 90 days of such enactment, complete a review of such sourcing agreement. During such time period, the Commission shall implement any directive of the General Assembly, resolve any disputes between the parties to the sourcing agreement concerning the terms of such agreement, approve the form of such agreement, and issue an order finding that the sourcing agreement is prudent and reasonable.

The facility cost report shall be prepared as follows:

(A) The facility cost report shall be prepared by duly licensed engineering and construction firms detailing the estimated capital costs payable to one or more contractors or suppliers for the engineering, procurement and construction of the components comprising the initial clean coal facility and the estimated costs of operation and maintenance of the facility. The facility cost report shall include:

(i) an estimate of the capital cost of the core plant based on one or more front end engineering and design studies for the gasification island and related facilities. The core plant shall include all civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, control, and safety systems.

(ii) an estimate of the capital cost of the balance of the plant, including any capital costs associated with sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions and all interconnects and interfaces required to operate the facility, such as transmission of electricity, construction or backfeed power supply, pipelines to transport substitute natural gas or carbon dioxide, potable water supply, natural gas supply, water supply, water discharge, landfill, access roads, and coal delivery.

The quoted construction costs shall be expressed in nominal dollars as of the date that the quote is prepared and shall include capitalized financing costs during construction, taxes, insurance, and other owner's costs, and an assumed escalation in materials and labor beyond the date as of which the construction cost quote is expressed.

(B) The front end engineering and design study for the gasification island and the cost study for the balance of plant shall include sufficient design work to permit quantification of major categories of materials, commodities and labor hours, and receipt of quotes from vendors of major equipment required to construct and operate the clean coal facility.

(C) The facility cost report shall also include an operating and maintenance cost quote that will provide the estimated cost of delivered fuel, personnel, maintenance contracts, chemicals, catalysts, consumables, spares, and other fixed and variable operations and maintenance costs. The delivered fuel cost estimate will be provided by a recognized third party expert or experts in the fuel and transportation industries. The balance of the operating and maintenance cost quote, excluding delivered fuel costs, will be developed based on the inputs provided by duly licensed engineering and construction firms performing the construction cost quote, potential vendors under long-term service agreements and plant operating agreements, or recognized third party plant operator or operators.

The operating and maintenance cost quote (including the cost of the front end engineering and design study) shall be expressed in nominal dollars as of the date that the quote is prepared and shall include taxes, insurance, and other owner's costs, and an assumed escalation in materials and labor beyond the date as of which the operating and maintenance cost quote is expressed.

(D) The facility cost report shall also include an analysis of the initial clean coal facility's ability to deliver power and energy into the applicable regional transmission organization markets and an analysis of the expected capacity factor for the initial clean coal facility.

(E) Amounts paid to third parties unrelated to the owner or owners of the initial clean coal facility to prepare the core plant construction cost quote, including the front end engineering and design study, and the operating and maintenance cost quote will be reimbursed through Coal Development Bonds.

(5) Re-powering and retrofitting coal-fired power plants previously owned by Illinois utilities to qualify as clean coal facilities. During the 2009 procurement planning process and thereafter, the Agency and the Commission shall consider sourcing agreements covering electricity generated by power plants that were previously owned by Illinois utilities and that have been or will be converted into clean coal facilities, as defined by Section 1-10 of this Act. Pursuant to such procurement planning process, the owners of such facilities may propose to the Agency sourcing agreements with utilities and alternative retail electric suppliers required to comply with subsection (d) of this Section and item (5) of subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, covering electricity generated by such facilities. In the case of sourcing agreements that are power purchase agreements, the contract price for electricity sales shall be established on a cost of service basis. In the case of sourcing agreements that are contracts for differences, the contract price from which the reference price is subtracted shall be established on a cost of service basis. The Agency and the Commission may approve any such utility sourcing agreements that do not exceed cost-based benchmarks developed by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff and the procurement monitor, subject to Commission review and approval. The Commission shall have authority to inspect all books and records associated with these clean coal facilities during the term of any such contract.

(6) Costs incurred under this subsection (d) or pursuant to a contract entered into under this subsection (d) shall be deemed prudently incurred and reasonable in amount and the electric utility shall be entitled to full cost recovery pursuant to the tariffs filed with the Commission.

(d-5) Zero emission standard.

(1) Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2017, the Agency shall, for electric utilities that serve at least 100,000 retail customers in this State, procure contracts with zero emission facilities that are reasonably capable of generating cost-effective zero emission credits in an amount approximately equal to 16% of the actual amount of electricity delivered by each electric utility to retail customers in the State during calendar year 2014. For an electric utility serving fewer than 100,000 retail customers in this State that requested, under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, that the Agency procure power and energy for all or a portion of the utility's Illinois load for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2016, the Agency shall procure contracts with zero emission facilities that are reasonably capable of generating cost-effective zero emission credits in an amount approximately equal to 16% of the portion of power and energy to be procured by the Agency for the utility. The duration of the contracts procured under this subsection (d-5) shall be for a term of 10 years ending May 31, 2027. The quantity of zero emission credits to be procured under the contracts shall be all of the zero emission credits generated by the zero emission facility in each delivery year; however, if the zero emission facility is owned by more than one entity, then the quantity of zero emission credits to be procured under the contracts shall be the amount of zero emission credits that are generated from the portion of the zero emission facility that is owned by the winning supplier.

The 16% value identified in this paragraph (1) is the average of the percentage targets in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section for the 5 delivery years beginning June 1, 2017.

The procurement process shall be subject to the following provisions:

(A) Those zero emission facilities that intend to participate in the procurement shall submit to the Agency the following eligibility information for each zero emission facility on or before the date established by the Agency:

(i) the in-service date and remaining useful life of the zero emission facility;

(ii) the amount of power generated annually for each of the years 2005 through 2015, and the projected zero emission credits to be generated over the remaining useful life of the zero emission facility, which shall be used to determine the capability of each facility;

(iii) the annual zero emission facility cost projections, expressed on a per megawatthour basis, over the next 6 delivery years, which shall include the following: operation and maintenance expenses; fully allocated overhead costs, which shall be allocated using the methodology developed by the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations; fuel expenditures; non-fuel capital expenditures; spent fuel expenditures; a return on working capital; the cost of operational and market risks that could be avoided by ceasing operation; and any other costs necessary for continued operations, provided that "necessary" means, for purposes of this item (iii), that the costs could reasonably be avoided only by ceasing operations of the zero emission facility; and

(iv) a commitment to continue operating, for the duration of the contract or contracts executed under the procurement held under this subsection (d-5), the zero emission facility that produces the zero emission credits to be procured in the procurement.

The information described in item (iii) of this subparagraph (A) may be submitted on a confidential basis and shall be treated and maintained by the Agency, the procurement administrator, and the Commission as confidential and proprietary and exempt from disclosure under subparagraphs (a) and (g) of paragraph (1) of Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act. The Office of Attorney General shall have access to, and maintain the confidentiality of, such information pursuant to Section 6.5 of the Attorney General Act.

(B) The price for each zero emission credit procured under this subsection (d-5) for each delivery year shall be in an amount that equals the Social Cost of Carbon, expressed on a price per megawatthour basis. However, to ensure that the procurement remains affordable to retail customers in this State if electricity prices increase, the price in an applicable delivery year shall be reduced below the Social Cost of Carbon by the amount ("Price Adjustment") by which the market price index for the applicable delivery year exceeds the baseline market price index for the consecutive 12-month period ending May 31, 2016. If the Price Adjustment is greater than or equal to the Social Cost of Carbon in an applicable delivery year, then no payments shall be due in that delivery year. The components of this calculation are defined as follows:

(i) Social Cost of Carbon: The Social Cost of Carbon is $16.50 per megawatthour, which is based on the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon's price in the August 2016 Technical Update using a 3% discount rate, adjusted for inflation for each year of the program. Beginning with the delivery year commencing June 1, 2023, the price per megawatthour shall increase by $1 per megawatthour, and continue to increase by an additional $1 per megawatthour each delivery year thereafter.

(ii) Baseline market price index: The baseline market price index for the consecutive 12-month period ending May 31, 2016 is $31.40 per megawatthour, which is based on the sum of (aa) the average day-ahead energy price across all hours of such 12-month period at the PJM Interconnection LLC Northern Illinois Hub, (bb) 50% multiplied by the Base Residual Auction, or its successor, capacity price for the rest of the RTO zone group determined by PJM Interconnection LLC, divided by 24 hours per day, and (cc) 50% multiplied by the Planning Resource Auction, or its successor, capacity price for Zone 4 determined by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., divided by 24 hours per day.

(iii) Market price index: The market price index for a delivery year shall be the sum of projected energy prices and projected capacity prices determined as follows:

(aa) Projected energy prices: the projected energy prices for the applicable delivery year shall be calculated once for the year using the forward market price for the PJM Interconnection, LLC Northern Illinois Hub. The forward market price shall be calculated as follows: the energy forward prices for each month of the applicable delivery year averaged for each trade date during the calendar year immediately preceding that delivery year to produce a single energy forward price for the delivery year. The forward market price calculation shall use data published by the Intercontinental Exchange, or its successor.

(bb) Projected capacity prices:

(I) For the delivery years commencing June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019, the projected capacity price shall be equal to the sum of (1) 50% multiplied by the Base Residual Auction, or its successor, price for the rest of the RTO zone group as determined by PJM Interconnection LLC, divided by 24 hours per day and, (2) 50% multiplied by the resource auction price determined in the resource auction administered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., in which the largest percentage of load cleared for Local Resource Zone 4, divided by 24 hours per day, and where such price is determined by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.

(II) For the delivery year commencing June 1, 2020, and each year thereafter, the projected capacity price shall be equal to the sum of (1) 50% multiplied by the Base Residual Auction, or its successor, price for the ComEd zone as determined by PJM Interconnection LLC, divided by 24 hours per day, and (2) 50% multiplied by the resource auction price determined in the resource auction administered by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., in which the largest percentage of load cleared for Local Resource Zone 4, divided by 24 hours per day, and where such price is determined by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.

For purposes of this subsection (d-5):

"Rest of the RTO" and "ComEd Zone" shall have the meaning ascribed to them by PJM Interconnection, LLC.

"RTO" means regional transmission organization.

(C) No later than 45 days after June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906), the Agency shall publish its proposed zero emission standard procurement plan. The plan shall be consistent with the provisions of this paragraph (1) and shall provide that winning bids shall be selected based on public interest criteria that include, but are not limited to, minimizing carbon dioxide emissions that result from electricity consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions that adversely affect the citizens of this State. In particular, the selection of winning bids shall take into account the incremental environmental benefits resulting from the procurement, such as any existing environmental benefits that are preserved by the procurements held under Public Act 99-906 and would cease to exist if the procurements were not held, including the preservation of zero emission facilities. The plan shall also describe in detail how each public interest factor shall be considered and weighted in the bid selection process to ensure that the public interest criteria are applied to the procurement and given full effect.

For purposes of developing the plan, the Agency shall consider any reports issued by a State agency, board, or commission under House Resolution 1146 of the 98th General Assembly and paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of this Section, as well as publicly available analyses and studies performed by or for regional transmission organizations that serve the State and their independent market monitors.

Upon publishing of the zero emission standard procurement plan, copies of the plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's website. All interested parties shall have 10 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the plan. All comments shall be posted to the Agency's website. Following the end of the comment period, but no more than 60 days later than June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906), the Agency shall revise the plan as necessary based on the comments received and file its zero emission standard procurement plan with the Commission.

If the Commission determines that the plan will result in the procurement of cost-effective zero emission credits, then the Commission shall, after notice and hearing, but no later than 45 days after the Agency filed the plan, approve the plan or approve with modification. For purposes of this subsection (d-5), "cost effective" means the projected costs of procuring zero emission credits from zero emission facilities do not cause the limit stated in paragraph (2) of this subsection to be exceeded.

(C-5) As part of the Commission's review and acceptance or rejection of the procurement results, the Commission shall, in its public notice of successful bidders:

(i) identify how the winning bids satisfy the public interest criteria described in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1) of minimizing carbon dioxide emissions that result from electricity consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions that adversely affect the citizens of this State;

(ii) specifically address how the selection of winning bids takes into account the incremental environmental benefits resulting from the procurement, including any existing environmental benefits that are preserved by the procurements held under Public Act 99-906 and would have ceased to exist if the procurements had not been held, such as the preservation of zero emission facilities;

(iii) quantify the environmental benefit of preserving the resources identified in item (ii) of this subparagraph (C-5), including the following:

(aa) the value of avoided greenhouse gas emissions measured as the product of the zero emission facilities' output over the contract term multiplied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eGrid subregion carbon dioxide emission rate and the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon's price in the August 2016 Technical Update using a 3% discount rate, adjusted for inflation for each delivery year; and

(bb) the costs of replacement with other zero carbon dioxide resources, including wind and photovoltaic, based upon the simple average of the following:

(I) the price, or if there is more than one price, the average of the prices, paid for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale wind projects in the procurement events specified in item (i) of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section; and

(II) the price, or if there is more than one price, the average of the prices, paid for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects in the procurement events specified in item (ii) of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section and, after January 1, 2015, renewable energy credits from photovoltaic distributed generation projects in procurement events held under subsection (c) of this Section.

Each utility shall enter into binding contractual arrangements with the winning suppliers.

The procurement described in this subsection (d-5), including, but not limited to, the execution of all contracts procured, shall be completed no later than May 10, 2017. Based on the effective date of Public Act 99-906, the Agency and Commission may, as appropriate, modify the various dates and timelines under this subparagraph and subparagraphs (C) and (D) of this paragraph (1). The procurement and plan approval processes required by this subsection (d-5) shall be conducted in conjunction with the procurement and plan approval processes required by subsection (c) of this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, to the extent practicable. Notwithstanding whether a procurement event is conducted under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall immediately initiate a procurement process on June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906).

(D) Following the procurement event described in this paragraph (1) and consistent with subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (1), the Agency shall calculate the payments to be made under each contract for the next delivery year based on the market price index for that delivery year. The Agency shall publish the payment calculations no later than May 25, 2017 and every May 25 thereafter.

(E) Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection (d-5), the contracts executed under this subsection (d-5) shall provide that the zero emission facility may, as applicable, suspend or terminate performance under the contracts in the following instances:

(i) A zero emission facility shall be excused from its performance under the contract for any cause beyond the control of the resource, including, but not restricted to, acts of God, flood, drought, earthquake, storm, fire, lightning, epidemic, war, riot, civil disturbance or disobedience, labor dispute, labor or material shortage, sabotage, acts of public enemy, explosions, orders, regulations or restrictions imposed by governmental, military, or lawfully established civilian authorities, which, in any of the foregoing cases, by exercise of commercially reasonable efforts the zero emission facility could not reasonably have been expected to avoid, and which, by the exercise of commercially reasonable efforts, it has been unable to overcome. In such event, the zero emission facility shall be excused from performance for the duration of the event, including, but not limited to, delivery of zero emission credits, and no payment shall be due to the zero emission facility during the duration of the event.

(ii) A zero emission facility shall be permitted to terminate the contract if legislation is enacted into law by the General Assembly that imposes or authorizes a new tax, special assessment, or fee on the generation of electricity, the ownership or leasehold of a generating unit, or the privilege or occupation of such generation, ownership, or leasehold of generation units by a zero emission facility. However, the provisions of this item (ii) do not apply to any generally applicable tax, special assessment or fee, or requirements imposed by federal law.

(iii) A zero emission facility shall be permitted to terminate the contract in the event that the resource requires capital expenditures in excess of $40,000,000 that were neither known nor reasonably foreseeable at the time it executed the contract and that a prudent owner or operator of such resource would not undertake.

(iv) A zero emission facility shall be permitted to terminate the contract in the event the Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminates the resource's license.

(F) If the zero emission facility elects to terminate a contract under subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1), then the Commission shall reopen the docket in which the Commission approved the zero emission standard procurement plan under subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1) and, after notice and hearing, enter an order acknowledging the contract termination election if such termination is consistent with the provisions of this subsection (d-5).

(2) For purposes of this subsection (d-5), the amount paid per kilowatthour means the total amount paid for electric service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. For purposes of this subsection (d-5), the total amount paid for electric service includes, without limitation, amounts paid for supply, transmission, distribution, surcharges, and add-on taxes.

Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection (d-5), the contracts executed under this subsection (d-5) shall provide that the total of zero emission credits procured under a procurement plan shall be subject to the limitations of this paragraph (2). For each delivery year, the contractual volume receiving payments in such year shall be reduced for all retail customers based on the amount necessary to limit the net increase that delivery year to the costs of those credits included in the amounts paid by eligible retail customers in connection with electric service to no more than 1.65% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by eligible retail customers during the year ending May 31, 2009. The result of this computation shall apply to and reduce the procurement for all retail customers, and all those customers shall pay the same single, uniform cents per kilowatthour charge under subsection (k) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act. To arrive at a maximum dollar amount of zero emission credits to be paid for the particular delivery year, the resulting per kilowatthour amount shall be applied to the actual amount of kilowatthours of electricity delivered by the electric utility in the delivery year immediately prior to the procurement, to all retail customers in its service territory. Unpaid contractual volume for any delivery year shall be paid in any subsequent delivery year in which such payments can be made without exceeding the amount specified in this paragraph (2). The calculations required by this paragraph (2) shall be made only once for each procurement plan year. Once the determination as to the amount of zero emission credits to be paid is made based on the calculations set forth in this paragraph (2), no subsequent rate impact determinations shall be made and no adjustments to those contract amounts shall be allowed. All costs incurred under those contracts and in implementing this subsection (d-5) shall be recovered by the electric utility as provided in this Section.

No later than June 30, 2019, the Commission shall review the limitation on the amount of zero emission credits procured under this subsection (d-5) and report to the General Assembly its findings as to whether that limitation unduly constrains the procurement of cost-effective zero emission credits.

(3) Six years after the execution of a contract under this subsection (d-5), the Agency shall determine whether the actual zero emission credit payments received by the supplier over the 6-year period exceed the Average ZEC Payment. In addition, at the end of the term of a contract executed under this subsection (d-5), or at the time, if any, a zero emission facility's contract is terminated under subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (d-5), then the Agency shall determine whether the actual zero emission credit payments received by the supplier over the term of the contract exceed the Average ZEC Payment, after taking into account any amounts previously credited back to the utility under this paragraph (3). If the Agency determines that the actual zero emission credit payments received by the supplier over the relevant period exceed the Average ZEC Payment, then the supplier shall credit the difference back to the utility. The amount of the credit shall be remitted to the applicable electric utility no later than 120 days after the Agency's determination, which the utility shall reflect as a credit on its retail customer bills as soon as practicable; however, the credit remitted to the utility shall not exceed the total amount of payments received by the facility under its contract.

For purposes of this Section, the Average ZEC Payment shall be calculated by multiplying the quantity of zero emission credits delivered under the contract times the average contract price. The average contract price shall be determined by subtracting the amount calculated under subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (3) from the amount calculated under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (3), as follows:

(A) The average of the Social Cost of Carbon, as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (d-5), during the term of the contract.

(B) The average of the market price indices, as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (d-5), during the term of the contract, minus the baseline market price index, as defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (d-5).

If the subtraction yields a negative number, then the Average ZEC Payment shall be zero.

(4) Cost-effective zero emission credits procured from zero emission facilities shall satisfy the applicable definitions set forth in Section 1-10 of this Act.

(5) The electric utility shall retire all zero emission credits used to comply with the requirements of this subsection (d-5).

(6) Electric utilities shall be entitled to recover all of the costs associated with the procurement of zero emission credits through an automatic adjustment clause tariff in accordance with subsection (k) and (m) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, and the contracts executed under this subsection (d-5) shall provide that the utilities' payment obligations under such contracts shall be reduced if an adjustment is required under subsection (m) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act.

(7) This subsection (d-5) shall become inoperative on January 1, 2028.

(d-10) Nuclear Plant Assistance; carbon mitigation credits.

(1) The General Assembly finds:

(A) The health, welfare, and prosperity of all Illinois citizens require that the State of Illinois act to avoid and not increase carbon emissions from electric generation sources while continuing to ensure affordable, stable, and reliable electricity to all citizens.

(B) Absent immediate action by the State to preserve existing carbon-free energy resources, those resources may retire, and the electric generation needs of Illinois' retail customers may be met instead by facilities that emit significant amounts of carbon pollution and other harmful air pollutants at a high social and economic cost until Illinois is able to develop other forms of clean energy.

(C) The General Assembly finds that nuclear power generation is necessary for the State's transition to 100% clean energy, and ensuring continued operation of nuclear plants advances environmental and public health interests through providing carbon-free electricity while reducing the air pollution profile of the Illinois energy generation fleet.

(D) The clean energy attributes of nuclear generation facilities support the State in its efforts to achieve 100% clean energy.

(E) The State currently invests in various forms of clean energy, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and low-emission vehicles, among others.

(F) The Environmental Protection Agency commissioned an independent audit which provided a detailed assessment of the financial condition of the Illinois nuclear fleet to evaluate its financial viability and whether the environmental benefits of such resources were at risk. The report identified the risk of losing the environmental benefits of several specific nuclear units. The report also identified that the LaSalle County Generating Station will continue to operate through 2026 and therefore is not eligible to participate in the carbon mitigation credit program.

(G) Nuclear plants provide carbon-free energy, which helps to avoid many health-related negative impacts for Illinois residents.

(H) The procurement of carbon mitigation credits representing the environmental benefits of carbon-free generation will further the State's efforts at achieving 100% clean energy and decarbonizing the electricity sector in a safe, reliable, and affordable manner. Further, the procurement of carbon emission credits will enhance the health and welfare of Illinois residents through decreased reliance on more highly polluting generation.

(I) The General Assembly therefore finds it necessary to establish carbon mitigation credits to ensure decreased reliance on more carbon-intensive energy resources, for transitioning to a fully decarbonized electricity sector, and to help ensure health and welfare of the State's residents.

(2) As used in this subsection:

"Baseline costs" means costs used to establish a customer protection cap that have been evaluated through an independent audit of a carbon-free energy resource conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency that evaluated projected annual costs for operation and maintenance expenses; fully allocated overhead costs, which shall be allocated using the methodology developed by the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations; fuel expenditures; nonfuel capital expenditures; spent fuel expenditures; a return on working capital; the cost of operational and market risks that could be avoided by ceasing operation; and any other costs necessary for continued operations, provided that "necessary" means, for purposes of this definition, that the costs could reasonably be avoided only by ceasing operations of the carbon-free energy resource.

"Carbon mitigation credit" means a tradable credit that represents the carbon emission reduction attributes of one megawatt-hour of energy produced from a carbon-free energy resource.

"Carbon-free energy resource" means a generation facility that: (1) is fueled by nuclear power; and (2) is interconnected to PJM Interconnection, LLC.

(3) Procurement.

(A) Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2022, the Agency shall, for electric utilities serving at least 3,000,000 retail customers in the State, seek to procure contracts for no more than approximately 54,500,000 cost-effective carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources because such credits are necessary to support current levels of carbon-free energy generation and ensure the State meets its carbon dioxide emissions reduction goals. The Agency shall not make a partial award of a contract for carbon mitigation credits covering a fractional amount of a carbon-free energy resource's projected output.

(B) Each carbon-free energy resource that intends to participate in a procurement shall be required to submit to the Agency the following information for the resource on or before the date established by the Agency:

(i) the in-service date and remaining useful life of the carbon-free energy resource;

(ii) the amount of power generated annually for each of the past 10 years, which shall be used to determine the capability of each facility;

(iii) a commitment to be reflected in any contract entered into pursuant to this subsection (d-10) to continue operating the carbon-free energy resource at a capacity factor of at least 88% annually on average for the duration of the contract or contracts executed under the procurement held under this subsection (d-10), except in an instance described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subsection (d-5) of this Section or made impracticable as a result of compliance with law or regulation;

(iv) financial need and the risk of loss of the environmental benefits of such resource, which shall include the following information:

(I) the carbon-free energy resource's cost projections, expressed on a per megawatt-hour basis, over the next 5 delivery years, which shall include the following: operation and maintenance expenses; fully allocated overhead costs, which shall be allocated using the methodology developed by the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations; fuel expenditures; nonfuel capital expenditures; spent fuel expenditures; a return on working capital; the cost of operational and market risks that could be avoided by ceasing operation; and any other costs necessary for continued operations, provided that "necessary" means, for purposes of this subitem (I), that the costs could reasonably be avoided only by ceasing operations of the carbon-free energy resource; and

(II) the carbon-free energy resource's revenue projections, including energy, capacity, ancillary services, any other direct State support, known or anticipated federal attribute credits, known or anticipated tax credits, and any other direct federal support.

The information described in this subparagraph (B) may be submitted on a confidential basis and shall be treated and maintained by the Agency, the procurement administrator, and the Commission as confidential and proprietary and exempt from disclosure under subparagraphs (a) and (g) of paragraph (1) of Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act. The Office of the Attorney General shall have access to, and maintain the confidentiality of, such information pursuant to Section 6.5 of the Attorney General Act.

(C) The Agency shall solicit bids for the contracts described in this subsection (d-10) from carbon-free energy resources that have satisfied the requirements of subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (3). The contracts procured pursuant to a procurement event shall reflect, and be subject to, the following terms, requirements, and limitations:

(i) Contracts are for delivery of carbon mitigation credits, and are not energy or capacity sales contracts requiring physical delivery. Pursuant to item (iii), contract payments shall fully deduct the value of any monetized federal production tax credits, credits issued pursuant to a federal clean energy standard, and other federal credits if applicable.

(ii) Contracts for carbon mitigation credits shall commence with the delivery year beginning on June 1, 2022 and shall be for a term of 5 delivery years concluding on May 31, 2027.

(iii) The price per carbon mitigation credit to be paid under a contract for a given delivery year shall be equal to an accepted bid price less the sum of:

(I) one of the following energy price indices, selected by the bidder at the time of the bid for the term of the contract:

(aa) the weighted-average hourly day-ahead price for the applicable delivery year at the busbar of all resources procured pursuant to this subsection (d-10), weighted by actual production from the resources; or

(bb) the projected energy price for the PJM Interconnection, LLC Northern Illinois Hub for the applicable delivery year determined according to subitem (aa) of item (iii) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (d-5).

(II) the Base Residual Auction Capacity Price for the ComEd zone as determined by PJM Interconnection, LLC, divided by 24 hours per day, for the applicable delivery year for the first 3 delivery years, and then any subsequent delivery years unless the PJM Interconnection, LLC applies the Minimum Offer Price Rule to participating carbon-free energy resources because they supply carbon mitigation credits pursuant to this Section at which time, upon notice by the carbon-free energy resource to the Commission and subject to the Commission's confirmation, the value under this subitem shall be zero, as further described in the carbon mitigation credit procurement plan; and

(III) any value of monetized federal tax credits, direct payments, or similar subsidy provided to the carbon-free energy resource from any unit of government that is not already reflected in energy prices.

If the price-per-megawatt-hour calculation performed under item (iii) of this subparagraph (C) for a given delivery year results in a net positive value, then the electric utility counterparty to the contract shall multiply such net value by the applicable contract quantity and remit the amount to the supplier.

To protect retail customers from retail rate impacts that may arise upon the initiation of carbon policy changes, if the price-per-megawatt-hour calculation performed under item (iii) of this subparagraph (C) for a given delivery year results in a net negative value, then the supplier counterparty to the contract shall multiply such net value by the applicable contract quantity and remit such amount to the electric utility counterparty. The electric utility shall reflect such amounts remitted by suppliers as a credit on its retail customer bills as soon as practicable.

(iv) To ensure that retail customers in Northern Illinois do not pay more for carbon mitigation credits than the value such credits provide, and notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d-10), the Agency shall not accept bids for contracts that exceed a customer protection cap equal to the baseline costs of carbon-free energy resources.

The baseline costs for the applicable year shall be the following:

(I) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2022, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal to $30.30 per megawatt-hour.

(II) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2023, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal to $32.50 per megawatt-hour.

(III) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2024, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal to $33.43 per megawatt-hour.

(IV) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2025, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal to $33.50 per megawatt-hour.

(V) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2026, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal to $34.50 per megawatt-hour.

An Environmental Protection Agency consultant forecast, included in a report issued April 14, 2021, projects that a carbon-free energy resource has the opportunity to earn on average approximately $30.28 per megawatt-hour, for the sale of energy and capacity during the time period between 2022 and 2027. Therefore, the sale of carbon mitigation credits provides the opportunity to receive an additional amount per megawatt-hour in addition to the projected prices for energy and capacity.

Although actual energy and capacity prices may vary from year-to-year, the General Assembly finds that this customer protection cap will help ensure that the cost of carbon mitigation credits will be less than its value, based upon the social cost of carbon identified in the Technical Support Document issued in February 2021 by the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases and the PJM Interconnection, LLC carbon dioxide marginal emission rate for 2020, and that a carbon-free energy resource receiving payment for carbon mitigation credits receives no more than necessary to keep those units in operation.

(D) No later than 7 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Agency shall publish its proposed carbon mitigation credit procurement plan. The Plan shall provide that winning bids shall be selected by taking into consideration which resources best match public interest criteria that include, but are not limited to, minimizing carbon dioxide emissions that result from electricity consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions that adversely affect the citizens of this State. The selection of winning bids shall also take into account the incremental environmental benefits resulting from the procurement or procurements, such as any existing environmental benefits that are preserved by a procurement held under this subsection (d-10) and would cease to exist if the procurement were not held, including the preservation of carbon-free energy resources. For those bidders having the same public interest criteria score, the relative ranking of such bidders shall be determined by price. The Plan shall describe in detail how each public interest factor shall be considered and weighted in the bid selection process to ensure that the public interest criteria are applied to the procurement. The Plan shall, to the extent practical and permissible by federal law, ensure that successful bidders make commercially reasonable efforts to apply for federal tax credits, direct payments, or similar subsidy programs that support carbon-free generation and for which the successful bidder is eligible. Upon publishing of the carbon mitigation credit procurement plan, copies of the plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's website. All interested parties shall have 7 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the plan. All comments shall be posted to the Agency's website. Following the end of the comment period, but no more than 19 days later than the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Agency shall revise the plan as necessary based on the comments received and file its carbon mitigation credit procurement plan with the Commission.

(E) If the Commission determines that the plan is likely to result in the procurement of cost-effective carbon mitigation credits, then the Commission shall, after notice and hearing and opportunity for comment, but no later than 42 days after the Agency filed the plan, approve the plan or approve it with modification. For purposes of this subsection (d-10), "cost-effective" means carbon mitigation credits that are procured from carbon-free energy resources at prices that are within the limits specified in this paragraph (3). As part of the Commission's review and acceptance or rejection of the procurement results, the Commission shall, in its public notice of successful bidders:

(i) identify how the selected carbon-free energy resources satisfy the public interest criteria described in this paragraph (3) of minimizing carbon dioxide emissions that result from electricity consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions that adversely affect the citizens of this State;

(ii) specifically address how the selection of carbon-free energy resources takes into account the incremental environmental benefits resulting from the procurement, including any existing environmental benefits that are preserved by the procurements held under this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly and would have ceased to exist if the procurements had not been held, such as the preservation of carbon-free energy resources;

(iii) quantify the environmental benefit of preserving the carbon-free energy resources procured pursuant to this subsection (d-10), including the following:

(I) an assessment value of avoided greenhouse gas emissions measured as the product of the carbon-free energy resources' output over the contract term, using generally accepted methodologies for the valuation of avoided emissions; and

(II) an assessment of costs of replacement with other carbon-free energy resources and renewable energy resources, including wind and photovoltaic generation, based upon an assessment of the prices paid for renewable energy credits through programs and procurements conducted pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of this Act, and the additional storage necessary to produce the same or similar capability of matching customer usage patterns.

(F) The procurements described in this paragraph (3), including, but not limited to, the execution of all contracts procured, shall be completed no later than December 3, 2021. The procurement and plan approval processes required by this paragraph (3) shall be conducted in conjunction with the procurement and plan approval processes required by Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, to the extent practicable. However, the Agency and Commission may, as appropriate, modify the various dates and timelines under this subparagraph and subparagraphs (D) and (E) of this paragraph (3) to meet the December 3, 2021 contract execution deadline. Following the completion of such procurements, and consistent with this paragraph (3), the Agency shall calculate the payments to be made under each contract in a timely fashion.

(F-1) Costs incurred by the electric utility pursuant to a contract authorized by this subsection (d-10) shall be deemed prudently incurred and reasonable in amount, and the electric utility shall be entitled to full cost recovery pursuant to a tariff or tariffs filed with the Commission.

(G) The counterparty electric utility shall retire all carbon mitigation credits used to comply with the requirements of this subsection (d-10).

(H) If a carbon-free energy resource is sold to another owner, the rights, obligations, and commitments under this subsection (d-10) shall continue to the subsequent owner.

(I) This subsection (d-10) shall become inoperative on January 1, 2028.

(e) The draft procurement plans are subject to public comment, as required by Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

(f) The Agency shall submit the final procurement plan to the Commission. The Agency shall revise a procurement plan if the Commission determines that it does not meet the standards set forth in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

(g) The Agency shall assess fees to each affected utility to recover the costs incurred in preparation of the annual procurement plan for the utility.

(h) The Agency shall assess fees to each bidder to recover the costs incurred in connection with a competitive procurement process.

(i) A renewable energy credit, carbon emission credit, zero emission credit, or carbon mitigation credit can only be used once to comply with a single portfolio or other standard as set forth in subsection (c), subsection (d), or subsection (d-5) of this Section, respectively. A renewable energy credit, carbon emission credit, zero emission credit, or carbon mitigation credit cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of more than one standard. If more than one type of credit is issued for the same megawatt hour of energy, only one credit can be used to satisfy the requirements of a single standard. After such use, the credit must be retired together with any other credits issued for the same megawatt hour of energy.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 103-380, eff. 1-1-24; 103-580, eff. 12-8-23.)

Section 10. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Sections 16-108 and 16-111.5 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/16-108)

Sec. 16-108. Recovery of costs associated with the provision of delivery and other services.

(a) An electric utility shall file a delivery services tariff with the Commission at least 210 days prior to the date that it is required to begin offering such services pursuant to this Act. An electric utility shall provide the components of delivery services that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at the same prices, terms and conditions set forth in its applicable tariff as approved or allowed into effect by that Commission. The Commission shall otherwise have the authority pursuant to Article IX to review, approve, and modify the prices, terms and conditions of those components of delivery services not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including the authority to determine the extent to which such delivery services should be offered on an unbundled basis. In making any such determination the Commission shall consider, at a minimum, the effect of additional unbundling on (i) the objective of just and reasonable rates, (ii) electric utility employees, and (iii) the development of competitive markets for electric energy services in Illinois.

(b) The Commission shall enter an order approving, or approving as modified, the delivery services tariff no later than 30 days prior to the date on which the electric utility must commence offering such services. The Commission may subsequently modify such tariff pursuant to this Act.

(c) The electric utility's tariffs shall define the classes of its customers for purposes of delivery services charges. Delivery services shall be priced and made available to all retail customers electing delivery services in each such class on a nondiscriminatory basis regardless of whether the retail customer chooses the electric utility, an affiliate of the electric utility, or another entity as its supplier of electric power and energy. Charges for delivery services shall be cost based, and shall allow the electric utility to recover the costs of providing delivery services through its charges to its delivery service customers that use the facilities and services associated with such costs. Such costs shall include the costs of owning, operating and maintaining transmission and distribution facilities. The Commission shall also be authorized to consider whether, and if so to what extent, the following costs are appropriately included in the electric utility's delivery services rates: (i) the costs of that portion of generation facilities used for the production and absorption of reactive power in order that retail customers located in the electric utility's service area can receive electric power and energy from suppliers other than the electric utility, and (ii) the costs associated with the use and redispatch of generation facilities to mitigate constraints on the transmission or distribution system in order that retail customers located in the electric utility's service area can receive electric power and energy from suppliers other than the electric utility. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as directing the Commission to allocate any of the costs described in (i) or (ii) that are found to be appropriately included in the electric utility's delivery services rates to any particular customer group or geographic area in setting delivery services rates.

(d) The Commission shall establish charges, terms and conditions for delivery services that are just and reasonable and shall take into account customer impacts when establishing such charges. In establishing charges, terms and conditions for delivery services, the Commission shall take into account voltage level differences. A retail customer shall have the option to request to purchase electric service at any delivery service voltage reasonably and technically feasible from the electric facilities serving that customer's premises provided that there are no significant adverse impacts upon system reliability or system efficiency. A retail customer shall also have the option to request to purchase electric service at any point of delivery that is reasonably and technically feasible provided that there are no significant adverse impacts on system reliability or efficiency. Such requests shall not be unreasonably denied.

(e) Electric utilities shall recover the costs of installing, operating or maintaining facilities for the particular benefit of one or more delivery services customers, including without limitation any costs incurred in complying with a customer's request to be served at a different voltage level, directly from the retail customer or customers for whose benefit the costs were incurred, to the extent such costs are not recovered through the charges referred to in subsections (c) and (d) of this Section.

(f) An electric utility shall be entitled but not required to implement transition charges in conjunction with the offering of delivery services pursuant to Section 16-104. If an electric utility implements transition charges, it shall implement such charges for all delivery services customers and for all customers described in subsection (h), but shall not implement transition charges for power and energy that a retail customer takes from cogeneration or self-generation facilities located on that retail customer's premises, if such facilities meet the following criteria:

(i) the cogeneration or self-generation facilities serve a single retail customer and are located on that retail customer's premises (for purposes of this subparagraph and subparagraph (ii), an industrial or manufacturing retail customer and a third party contractor that is served by such industrial or manufacturing customer through such retail customer's own electrical distribution facilities under the circumstances described in subsection (vi) of the definition of "alternative retail electric supplier" set forth in Section 16-102, shall be considered a single retail customer);

(ii) the cogeneration or self-generation facilities either (A) are sized pursuant to generally accepted engineering standards for the retail customer's electrical load at that premises (taking into account standby or other reliability considerations related to that retail customer's operations at that site) or (B) if the facility is a cogeneration facility located on the retail customer's premises, the retail customer is the thermal host for that facility and the facility has been designed to meet that retail customer's thermal energy requirements resulting in electrical output beyond that retail customer's electrical demand at that premises, comply with the operating and efficiency standards applicable to "qualifying facilities" specified in title 18 Code of Federal Regulations Section 292.205 as in effect on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1999;

(iii) the retail customer on whose premises the facilities are located either has an exclusive right to receive, and corresponding obligation to pay for, all of the electrical capacity of the facility, or in the case of a cogeneration facility that has been designed to meet the retail customer's thermal energy requirements at that premises, an identified amount of the electrical capacity of the facility, over a minimum 5-year period; and

(iv) if the cogeneration facility is sized for the retail customer's thermal load at that premises but exceeds the electrical load, any sales of excess power or energy are made only at wholesale, are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and are not for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this subsection (f). If a generation facility located at a retail customer's premises does not meet the above criteria, an electric utility implementing transition charges shall implement a transition charge until December 31, 2006 for any power and energy taken by such retail customer from such facility as if such power and energy had been delivered by the electric utility. Provided, however, that an industrial retail customer that is taking power from a generation facility that does not meet the above criteria but that is located on such customer's premises will not be subject to a transition charge for the power and energy taken by such retail customer from such generation facility if the facility does not serve any other retail customer and either was installed on behalf of the customer and for its own use prior to January 1, 1997, or is both predominantly fueled by byproducts of such customer's manufacturing process at such premises and sells or offers an average of 300 megawatts or more of electricity produced from such generation facility into the wholesale market. Such charges shall be calculated as provided in Section 16-102, and shall be collected on each kilowatt-hour delivered under a delivery services tariff to a retail customer from the date the customer first takes delivery services until December 31, 2006 except as provided in subsection (h) of this Section. Provided, however, that an electric utility, other than an electric utility providing service to at least 1,000,000 customers in this State on January 1, 1999, shall be entitled to petition for entry of an order by the Commission authorizing the electric utility to implement transition charges for an additional period ending no later than December 31, 2008. The electric utility shall file its petition with supporting evidence no earlier than 16 months, and no later than 12 months, prior to December 31, 2006. The Commission shall hold a hearing on the electric utility's petition and shall enter its order no later than 8 months after the petition is filed. The Commission shall determine whether and to what extent the electric utility shall be authorized to implement transition charges for an additional period. The Commission may authorize the electric utility to implement transition charges for some or all of the additional period, and shall determine the mitigation factors to be used in implementing such transition charges; provided, that the Commission shall not authorize mitigation factors less than 110% of those in effect during the 12 months ended December 31, 2006. In making its determination, the Commission shall consider the following factors: the necessity to implement transition charges for an additional period in order to maintain the financial integrity of the electric utility; the prudence of the electric utility's actions in reducing its costs since the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997; the ability of the electric utility to provide safe, adequate and reliable service to retail customers in its service area; and the impact on competition of allowing the electric utility to implement transition charges for the additional period.

(g) The electric utility shall file tariffs that establish the transition charges to be paid by each class of customers to the electric utility in conjunction with the provision of delivery services. The electric utility's tariffs shall define the classes of its customers for purposes of calculating transition charges. The electric utility's tariffs shall provide for the calculation of transition charges on a customer-specific basis for any retail customer whose average monthly maximum electrical demand on the electric utility's system during the 6 months with the customer's highest monthly maximum electrical demands equals or exceeds 3.0 megawatts for electric utilities having more than 1,000,000 customers, and for other electric utilities for any customer that has an average monthly maximum electrical demand on the electric utility's system of one megawatt or more, and (A) for which there exists data on the customer's usage during the 3 years preceding the date that the customer became eligible to take delivery services, or (B) for which there does not exist data on the customer's usage during the 3 years preceding the date that the customer became eligible to take delivery services, if in the electric utility's reasonable judgment there exists comparable usage information or a sufficient basis to develop such information, and further provided that the electric utility can require customers for which an individual calculation is made to sign contracts that set forth the transition charges to be paid by the customer to the electric utility pursuant to the tariff.

(h) An electric utility shall also be entitled to file tariffs that allow it to collect transition charges from retail customers in the electric utility's service area that do not take delivery services but that take electric power or energy from an alternative retail electric supplier or from an electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located. Such charges shall be calculated, in accordance with the definition of transition charges in Section 16-102, for the period of time that the customer would be obligated to pay transition charges if it were taking delivery services, except that no deduction for delivery services revenues shall be made in such calculation, and usage data from the customer's class shall be used where historical usage data is not available for the individual customer. The customer shall be obligated to pay such charges on a lump sum basis on or before the date on which the customer commences to take service from the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility, provided, that the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located shall offer the customer the option of signing a contract pursuant to which the customer pays such charges ratably over the period in which the charges would otherwise have applied.

(i) An electric utility shall be entitled to add to the bills of delivery services customers charges pursuant to Sections 9-221, 9-222 (except as provided in Section 9-222.1), and Section 16-114 of this Act, Section 5-5 of the Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law, Section 6-5 of the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Coal Resources Development Law of 1997, and Section 13 of the Energy Assistance Act.

(i-5) An electric utility required to impose the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge provided for in subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall add such charge to the bills of its delivery services customers pursuant to the terms of a tariff conforming to the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-5) and filed with and approved by the Commission. The electric utility shall file its proposed tariff with the Commission on or before July 1, 2022 to be effective, after review and approval or modification by the Commission, beginning January 1, 2023. On or before December 1, 2022, the Commission shall review the electric utility's proposed tariff, including by conducting a docketed proceeding if deemed necessary by the Commission, and shall approve the proposed tariff or direct the electric utility to make modifications the Commission finds necessary for the tariff to conform to the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-5). The electric utility's tariff shall provide for imposition of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge on a per-kilowatthour basis to all kilowatthours delivered by the electric utility to its delivery services customers. The tariff shall provide for the calculation of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge to be in effect for the year beginning January 1, 2023 and each year beginning January 1 thereafter, sufficient to collect the electric utility's estimated payment obligations for the delivery year beginning the following June 1 under contracts for purchase of renewable energy credits entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and the obligations of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or any successor department or agency, which for purposes of this subsection (i-5) shall be referred to as the Department, to make grant payments during such delivery year from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and using the electric utility's kilowatthour deliveries to its delivery services customers during the delivery year ended May 31 of the preceding calendar year. On or before November 1 of each year beginning November 1, 2022, the Department shall notify the electric utilities of the amount of the Department's estimated obligations for grant payments during the delivery year beginning the following June 1 pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act; and each electric utility shall incorporate in the calculation of its Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge the fractional portion of the Department's estimated obligations equal to the electric utility's kilowatthour deliveries to its delivery services customers in the delivery year ended the preceding May 31 divided by the aggregate deliveries of both electric utilities to delivery services customers in such delivery year. The electric utility shall remit on a monthly basis to the State Treasurer, for deposit in the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund provided for in subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, the electric utility's collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge estimated to be needed by the Department for grant payments pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The initial charge under the electric utility's tariff shall be effective for kilowatthours delivered beginning January 1, 2023, and thereafter shall be revised to be effective January 1, 2024 and each January 1 thereafter, based on the payment obligations for the delivery year beginning the following June 1. The tariff shall provide for the electric utility to make an annual filing with the Commission on or before November 15 of each year, beginning in 2023, setting forth the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge to be in effect for the year beginning the following January 1. The electric utility's tariff shall also provide that the electric utility shall make a filing with the Commission on or before August 1 of each year beginning in 2024 setting forth a reconciliation, for the delivery year ended the preceding May 31, of the electric utility's collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge against actual payments for renewable energy credits pursuant to contracts entered into, and the actual grant payments by the Department pursuant to grant contracts entered into, pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The tariff shall provide that any excess or shortfall of collections to payments shall be deducted from or added to, on a per-kilowatthour basis, the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge, over the 6-month period beginning October 1 of that calendar year.

(i-7) The electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all of the costs associated with payment under contracts for purchase of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits entered into pursuant to subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. An electric utility required to impose the dispatchable and reliable renewable energy charge provided for in subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall add such charge to the bills of its delivery services customers pursuant to the terms of a tariff conforming to the requirements of subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-7) and filed with and approved by the Commission. The electric utility shall file its proposed tariff with the Commission on or before February 1, 2025 to be effective, after review and approval or modification by the Commission, beginning January 1, 2026. On or before January 1, 2026, the Commission shall review the electric utility's proposed tariff, including by conducting a docketed proceeding if deemed necessary by the Commission, and shall approve the proposed tariff or direct the electric utility to make modifications the Commission finds necessary for the tariff to conform to the requirements of subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-7). The electric utility's tariff shall provide for imposition of the Dispatchable and Reliable Renewable Energy Charge on a per-kilowatthour basis to all kilowatthours delivered by the electric utility to its delivery services customers. The tariff shall provide for the calculation of the dispatchable and reliable renewable energy charge to be in effect for the year beginning January 1, 2025 and each year beginning January 1 thereafter, sufficient to collect the electric utility's estimated payment obligations for the delivery year beginning the following June 1 under contracts for purchase of high voltage direct current renewable energy credits entered into pursuant to subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The tariff shall provide that any excess or shortfall of collections to payments shall be deducted from or added to, on a per-kilowatthour basis, the dispatchable and reliable renewable energy charge, over the 6-month period beginning October 1 of that calendar year.

(j) If a retail customer that obtains electric power and energy from cogeneration or self-generation facilities installed for its own use on or before January 1, 1997, subsequently takes service from an alternative retail electric supplier or an electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located for any portion of the customer's electric power and energy requirements formerly obtained from those facilities (including that amount purchased from the utility in lieu of such generation and not as standby power purchases, under a cogeneration displacement tariff in effect as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997), the transition charges otherwise applicable pursuant to subsections (f), (g), or (h) of this Section shall not be applicable in any year to that portion of the customer's electric power and energy requirements formerly obtained from those facilities, provided, that for purposes of this subsection (j), such portion shall not exceed the average number of kilowatt-hours per year obtained from the cogeneration or self-generation facilities during the 3 years prior to the date on which the customer became eligible for delivery services, except as provided in subsection (f) of Section 16-110.

(k) The electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all of the costs associated with the purchase of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities to meet the requirements of subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and all of the costs associated with the purchase of carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources to meet the requirements of subsection (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Such costs shall include the costs of procuring the zero emission credits and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources, as well as the reasonable costs that the utility incurs as part of the procurement processes and to implement and comply with plans and processes approved by the Commission under subsections (d-5) and (d-10). The costs shall be allocated across all retail customers through a single, uniform cents per kilowatt-hour charge applicable to all retail customers, which shall appear as a separate line item on each customer's bill. Beginning June 1, 2017, the electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all of the costs associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources to meet the renewable energy resource standards of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, under procurement plans as approved in accordance with that Section and Section 16-111.5 of this Act. Such costs shall include the costs of procuring the renewable energy resources, as well as the reasonable costs that the utility incurs as part of the procurement processes and to implement and comply with plans and processes approved by the Commission under such Sections. The costs associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources shall be allocated across all retail customers in proportion to the amount of renewable energy resources the utility procures for such customers through a single, uniform cents per kilowatt-hour charge applicable to such retail customers, which shall appear as a separate line item on each such customer's bill. The credits, costs, and penalties associated with the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program described in subparagraph (R) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall be allocated to approved eligible self-direct customers by the utility in a cents per kilowatt-hour credit, cost, or penalty, which shall appear as a separate line item on each such customer's bill.

Notwithstanding whether the Commission has approved the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan as of June 1, 2017, an electric utility shall place new tariffed charges into effect beginning with the June 2017 monthly billing period, to the extent practicable, to begin recovering the costs of procuring renewable energy resources, as those charges are calculated under the limitations described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Notwithstanding the date on which the utility places such new tariffed charges into effect, the utility shall be permitted to collect the charges under such tariff as if the tariff had been in effect beginning with the first day of the June 2017 monthly billing period. For the delivery years commencing June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018, June 1, 2019, and each delivery year thereafter, the electric utility shall deposit into a separate interest bearing account of a financial institution the monies collected under the tariffed charges. Money collected from customers for the procurement of renewable energy resources in a given delivery year may be spent by the utility for the procurement of renewable resources over any of the following 5 delivery years, after which unspent money shall be credited back to retail customers. The electric utility shall spend all money collected in earlier delivery years that has not yet been returned to customers, first, before spending money collected in later delivery years. Any interest earned shall be credited back to retail customers under the reconciliation proceeding provided for in this subsection (k), provided that the electric utility shall first be reimbursed from the interest for the administrative costs that it incurs to administer and manage the account. Any taxes due on the funds in the account, or interest earned on it, will be paid from the account or, if insufficient monies are available in the account, from the monies collected under the tariffed charges to recover the costs of procuring renewable energy resources. Monies deposited in the account shall be subject to the review, reconciliation, and true-up process described in this subsection (k) that is applicable to the funds collected and costs incurred for the procurement of renewable energy resources.

The electric utility shall be entitled to recover all of the costs identified in this subsection (k) through automatic adjustment clause tariffs applicable to all of the utility's retail customers that allow the electric utility to adjust its tariffed charges consistent with this subsection (k). The determination as to whether any excess funds were collected during a given delivery year for the purchase of renewable energy resources, and the crediting of any excess funds back to retail customers, shall not be made until after the close of the delivery year, which will ensure that the maximum amount of funds is available to implement the approved long-term renewable resources procurement plan during a given delivery year. The amount of excess funds eligible to be credited back to retail customers shall be reduced by an amount equal to the payment obligations required by any contracts entered into by an electric utility under contracts described in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, even if such payments have not yet been made and regardless of the delivery year in which those payment obligations were incurred. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, including in tariffs authorized by this subsection (k) in effect before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, all unspent funds as of May 31, 2021, excluding any funds credited to customers during any utility billing cycle that commences prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, shall remain in the utility account and shall on a first in, first out basis be used toward utility payment obligations under contracts described in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The electric utility's collections under such automatic adjustment clause tariffs to recover the costs of renewable energy resources, zero emission credits from zero emission facilities, and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources shall be subject to separate annual review, reconciliation, and true-up against actual costs by the Commission under a procedure that shall be specified in the electric utility's automatic adjustment clause tariffs and that shall be approved by the Commission in connection with its approval of such tariffs. The procedure shall provide that any difference between the electric utility's collections for zero emission credits and carbon mitigation credits under the automatic adjustment charges for an annual period and the electric utility's actual costs of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources for that same annual period shall be refunded to or collected from, as applicable, the electric utility's retail customers in subsequent periods.

Nothing in this subsection (k) is intended to affect, limit, or change the right of the electric utility to recover the costs associated with the procurement of renewable energy resources for periods commencing before, on, or after June 1, 2017, as otherwise provided in the Illinois Power Agency Act.

The funding available under this subsection (k), if any, for the programs described under subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall not reduce the amount of funding for the programs described in subparagraph (O) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. If funding is available under this subsection (k) for programs described under subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, then the long-term renewable resources plan shall provide for the Agency to procure contracts in an amount that does not exceed the funding, and the contracts approved by the Commission shall be executed by the applicable utility or utilities.

(l) A utility that has terminated any contract executed under subsection (d-5) or (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall be entitled to recover any remaining balance associated with the purchase of zero emission credits prior to such termination, and such utility shall also apply a credit to its retail customer bills in the event of any over-collection.

(m)(1) An electric utility that recovers its costs of procuring zero emission credits from zero emission facilities through a cents-per-kilowatthour charge under subsection (k) of this Section shall be subject to the requirements of this subsection (m). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, such electric utility shall, beginning on April 30, 2018, and each April 30 thereafter until April 30, 2026, calculate whether any reduction must be applied to such cents-per-kilowatthour charge that is paid by retail customers of the electric utility that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B. Such charge shall be reduced for such customers for the next delivery year commencing on June 1 based on the amount necessary, if any, to limit the annual estimated average net increase for the prior calendar year due to the future energy investment costs to no more than 1.3% of 5.98 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is the average amount paid per kilowatthour for electric service during the year ending December 31, 2015 by Illinois industrial retail customers, as reported to the Edison Electric Institute.

The calculations required by this subsection (m) shall be made only once for each year, and no subsequent rate impact determinations shall be made.

(2) For purposes of this Section, "future energy investment costs" shall be calculated by subtracting the cents-per-kilowatthour charge identified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (2) from the sum of the cents-per-kilowatthour charges identified in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (2):

(A) The cents-per-kilowatthour charge identified in the electric utility's tariff placed into effect under Section 8-103 of the Public Utilities Act that, on December 1, 2016, was applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B.

(B) The sum of the following cents-per-kilowatthour charges applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B, provided that if one or more of the following charges has been in effect and applied to such customers for more than one calendar year, then each charge shall be equal to the average of the charges applied over a period that commences with the calendar year ending December 31, 2017 and ends with the most recently completed calendar year prior to the calculation required by this subsection (m):

(i) the cents-per-kilowatthour charge to recover the costs incurred by the utility under subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, adjusted for any reductions required under this subsection (m); and

(ii) the cents-per-kilowatthour charge to recover the costs incurred by the utility under Section 16-107.6 of the Public Utilities Act.

If no charge was applied for a given calendar year under item (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph (B), then the value of the charge for that year shall be zero.

(3) If a reduction is required by the calculation performed under this subsection (m), then the amount of the reduction shall be multiplied by the number of years reflected in the averages calculated under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of this subsection (m). Such reduction shall be applied to the cents-per-kilowatthour charge that is applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B beginning with the next delivery year commencing after the date of the calculation required by this subsection (m).

(4) The electric utility shall file a notice with the Commission on May 1 of 2018 and each May 1 thereafter until May 1, 2026 containing the reduction, if any, which must be applied for the delivery year which begins in the year of the filing. The notice shall contain the calculations made pursuant to this Section. By October 1 of each year beginning in 2018, each electric utility shall notify the Commission if it appears, based on an estimate of the calculation required in this subsection (m), that a reduction will be required in the next year.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)

(220 ILCS 5/16-111.5)

Sec. 16-111.5. Provisions relating to procurement.

(a) An electric utility that on December 31, 2005 served at least 100,000 customers in Illinois shall procure power and energy for its eligible retail customers in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2017, such electric utility shall also procure zero emission credits from zero emission facilities in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and, for years beginning on or after June 1, 2017, the utility shall procure renewable energy resources in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2022, an electric utility serving over 3,000,000 customers shall also procure carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. A small multi-jurisdictional electric utility that on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois may elect to procure power and energy for all or a portion of its eligible Illinois retail customers in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in this Section and Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. This Section shall not apply to a small multi-jurisdictional utility until such time as a small multi-jurisdictional utility requests the Illinois Power Agency to prepare a procurement plan for its eligible retail customers. "Eligible retail customers" for the purposes of this Section means those retail customers that purchase power and energy from the electric utility under fixed-price bundled service tariffs, other than those retail customers whose service is declared or deemed competitive under Section 16-113 and those other customer groups specified in this Section, including self-generating customers, customers electing hourly pricing, or those customers who are otherwise ineligible for fixed-price bundled tariff service. For those customers that are excluded from the procurement plan's electric supply service requirements, and the utility shall procure any supply requirements, including capacity, ancillary services, and hourly priced energy, in the applicable markets as needed to serve those customers, provided that the utility may include in its procurement plan load requirements for the load that is associated with those retail customers whose service has been declared or deemed competitive pursuant to Section 16-113 of this Act to the extent that those customers are purchasing power and energy during one of the transition periods identified in subsection (b) of Section 16-113 of this Act.

(b) A procurement plan shall be prepared for each electric utility consistent with the applicable requirements of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. For purposes of this Section, Illinois electric utilities that are affiliated by virtue of a common parent company are considered to be a single electric utility. Small multi-jurisdictional utilities may request a procurement plan for a portion of or all of its Illinois load. Each procurement plan shall analyze the projected balance of supply and demand for those retail customers to be included in the plan's electric supply service requirements over a 5-year period, with the first planning year beginning on June 1 of the year following the year in which the plan is filed. The plan shall specifically identify the wholesale products to be procured following plan approval, and shall follow all the requirements set forth in the Public Utilities Act and all applicable State and federal laws, statutes, rules, or regulations, as well as Commission orders. Nothing in this Section precludes consideration of contracts longer than 5 years and related forecast data. Unless specified otherwise in this Section, in the procurement plan or in the implementing tariff, any procurement occurring in accordance with this plan shall be competitively bid through a request for proposals process. Approval and implementation of the procurement plan shall be subject to review and approval by the Commission according to the provisions set forth in this Section. A procurement plan shall include each of the following components:

(1) Hourly load analysis. This analysis shall include:

(i) multi-year historical analysis of hourly loads;

(ii) switching trends and competitive retail market analysis;

(iii) known or projected changes to future loads; and

(iv) growth forecasts by customer class.

(2) Analysis of the impact of any demand side and renewable energy initiatives. This analysis shall include:

(i) the impact of demand response programs and energy efficiency programs, both current and projected; for small multi-jurisdictional utilities, the impact of demand response and energy efficiency programs approved pursuant to Section 8-408 of this Act, both current and projected; and

(ii) supply side needs that are projected to be offset by purchases of renewable energy resources, if any.

(3) A plan for meeting the expected load requirements that will not be met through preexisting contracts. This plan shall include:

(i) definitions of the different Illinois retail customer classes for which supply is being purchased;

(ii) the proposed mix of demand-response products for which contracts will be executed during the next year. For small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 served fewer than 100,000 customers in Illinois, these shall be defined as demand-response products offered in an energy efficiency plan approved pursuant to Section 8-408 of this Act. The cost-effective demand-response measures shall be procured whenever the cost is lower than procuring comparable capacity products, provided that such products shall:

(A) be procured by a demand-response provider from those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements;

(B) at least satisfy the demand-response requirements of the regional transmission organization market in which the utility's service territory is located, including, but not limited to, any applicable capacity or dispatch requirements;

(C) provide for customers' participation in the stream of benefits produced by the demand-response products;

(D) provide for reimbursement by the demand-response provider of the utility for any costs incurred as a result of the failure of the supplier of such products to perform its obligations thereunder; and

(E) meet the same credit requirements as apply to suppliers of capacity, in the applicable regional transmission organization market;

(iii) monthly forecasted system supply requirements, including expected minimum, maximum, and average values for the planning period;

(iv) the proposed mix and selection of standard wholesale products for which contracts will be executed during the next year, separately or in combination, to meet that portion of its load requirements not met through pre-existing contracts, including but not limited to monthly 5 x 16 peak period block energy, monthly off-peak wrap energy, monthly 7 x 24 energy, annual 5 x 16 energy, other standardized energy or capacity products designed to provide eligible retail customer benefits from commercially deployed advanced technologies including but not limited to high voltage direct current converter stations, as such term is defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, whether or not such product is currently available in wholesale markets, annual off-peak wrap energy, annual 7 x 24 energy, monthly capacity, annual capacity, peak load capacity obligations, capacity purchase plan, and ancillary services;

(v) proposed term structures for each wholesale product type included in the proposed procurement plan portfolio of products; and

(vi) an assessment of the price risk, load uncertainty, and other factors that are associated with the proposed procurement plan; this assessment, to the extent possible, shall include an analysis of the following factors: contract terms, time frames for securing products or services, fuel costs, weather patterns, transmission costs, market conditions, and the governmental regulatory environment; the proposed procurement plan shall also identify alternatives for those portfolio measures that are identified as having significant price risk and mitigation in the form of additional retail customer and ratepayer price, reliability, and environmental benefits from standardized energy products delivered from commercially deployed advanced technologies, including, but not limited to, high voltage direct current converter stations, as such term is defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, whether or not such product is currently available in wholesale markets.

(4) Proposed procedures for balancing loads. The procurement plan shall include, for load requirements included in the procurement plan, the process for (i) hourly balancing of supply and demand and (ii) the criteria for portfolio re-balancing in the event of significant shifts in load.

(5) Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. The Agency shall prepare a long-term renewable resources procurement plan for the procurement of renewable energy credits under Sections 1-56 and 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act for delivery beginning in the 2017 delivery year.

(i) The initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions shall be subject to review and approval by the Commission. For the purposes of this Section, "delivery year" has the same meaning as in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. For purposes of this Section, "Agency" shall mean the Illinois Power Agency.

(ii) The long-term renewable resources planning process shall be conducted as follows:

(A) Electric utilities shall provide a range of load forecasts to the Illinois Power Agency within 45 days of the Agency's request for forecasts, which request shall specify the length and conditions for the forecasts including, but not limited to, the quantity of distributed generation expected to be interconnected for each year.

(B) The Agency shall publish for comment the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan no later than 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly and shall review, and may revise, the plan at least every 2 years thereafter. To the extent practicable, the Agency shall review and propose any revisions to the long-term renewable energy resources procurement plan in conjunction with the Agency's other planning and approval processes conducted under this Section. The initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall:

(aa) Identify the procurement programs and competitive procurement events consistent with the applicable requirements of the Illinois Power Agency Act and shall be designed to achieve the goals set forth in subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of that Act.

(bb) Include a schedule for procurements for renewable energy credits from utility-scale wind projects, utility-scale solar projects, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects consistent with subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(cc) Identify the process whereby the Agency will submit to the Commission for review and approval the proposed contracts to implement the programs required by such plan.

Copies of the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's and Commission's websites, and copies shall also be provided to each affected electric utility. An affected utility and other interested parties shall have 45 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions. All comments submitted to the Agency shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses, and, if objecting to all or a portion of the procurement plan, accompanied by specific alternative wording or proposals. All comments shall be posted on the Agency's and Commission's websites. During this 45-day comment period, the Agency shall hold at least one public hearing within each utility's service area that is subject to the requirements of this paragraph (5) for the purpose of receiving public comment. Within 21 days following the end of the 45-day review period, the Agency may revise the long-term renewable resources procurement plan based on the comments received and shall file the plan with the Commission for review and approval.

(C) Within 14 days after the filing of the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan or any subsequent revisions, any person objecting to the plan may file an objection with the Commission. Within 21 days after the filing of the plan, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. The Commission shall enter its order confirming or modifying the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan or any subsequent revisions within 120 days after the filing of the plan by the Illinois Power Agency.

(D) The Commission shall approve the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and any subsequent revisions, including expressly the forecast used in the plan and taking into account that funding will be limited to the amount of revenues actually collected by the utilities, if the Commission determines that the plan will reasonably and prudently accomplish the requirements of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The Commission shall also approve the process for the submission, review, and approval of the proposed contracts to procure renewable energy credits or implement the programs authorized by the Commission pursuant to a long-term renewable resources procurement plan approved under this Section.

In approving any long-term renewable resources procurement plan after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Commission shall approve or modify the Agency's proposal for minimum equity standards pursuant to subsection (c-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The Commission shall consider any analysis performed by the Agency in developing its proposal, including past performance, availability of equity eligible contractors, and availability of equity eligible persons at the time the long-term renewable resources procurement plan is approved.

(iii) The Agency or third parties contracted by the Agency shall implement all programs authorized by the Commission in an approved long-term renewable resources procurement plan without further review and approval by the Commission. Third parties shall not begin implementing any programs or receive any payment under this Section until the Commission has approved the contract or contracts under the process authorized by the Commission in item (D) of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (5) of this subsection (b) and the third party and the Agency or utility, as applicable, have executed the contract. For those renewable energy credits subject to procurement through a competitive bid process under the plan or under the initial forward procurements for wind and solar resources described in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, the Agency shall follow the procurement process specified in the provisions relating to electricity procurement in subsections (e) through (i) of this Section.

(iv) An electric utility shall recover its costs associated with the procurement of renewable energy credits under this Section and pursuant to subsection (c-5) and (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act through an automatic adjustment clause tariff under subsection (k) or a tariff pursuant to subsection (i-5) or (i-7), as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act. A utility shall not be required to advance any payment or pay any amounts under this Section that exceed the actual amount of revenues collected by the utility under paragraph (6) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and subsection (k) or subsection (i-5), as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act, and contracts executed under this Section shall expressly incorporate this limitation.

(v) For the public interest, safety, and welfare, the Agency and the Commission may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section on an emergency basis immediately following the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly.

(vi) On or before July 1 of each year, the Commission shall hold an informal hearing for the purpose of receiving comments on the prior year's procurement process and any recommendations for change.

(b-5) An electric utility that as of January 1, 2019 served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State shall purchase renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities constructed at or adjacent to the sites of coal-fueled electric generating facilities in this State in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Except as expressly provided in this Section, the plans and procedures for such procurements shall not be included in the procurement plans provided for in this Section, but rather shall be conducted and implemented solely in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(b-7) An electric utility that as of January 1, 2019 served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State shall purchase high voltage direct current renewable energy credits in accordance with subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Except as expressly provided in this Section, the plans and procedures for such procurements shall not be included in the procurement plans provided for in this Section, but rather shall be conducted and implemented solely in accordance with subsection (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(c) The provisions of this subsection (c) shall not apply to procurements conducted pursuant to subsection (c-5) or (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. However, the Agency may retain a procurement administrator to assist the Agency in planning and carrying out the procurement events and implementing the other requirements specified in such subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, with the costs incurred by the Agency for the procurement administrator to be recovered through fees charged to applicants for selection to sell and deliver renewable energy credits to electric utilities pursuant to subsection (c-5) or (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The procurement process set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and subsection (e) of this Section shall be administered by a procurement administrator and monitored by a procurement monitor.

(1) The procurement administrator shall:

(i) design the final procurement process in accordance with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and subsection (e) of this Section following Commission approval of the procurement plan;

(ii) develop benchmarks in accordance with subsection (e)(3) to be used to evaluate bids; these benchmarks shall be submitted to the Commission for review and approval on a confidential basis prior to the procurement event;

(iii) serve as the interface between the electric utility and suppliers;

(iv) manage the bidder pre-qualification and registration process;

(v) obtain the electric utilities' agreement to the final form of all supply contracts and credit collateral agreements;

(vi) administer the request for proposals process;

(vii) have the discretion to negotiate to determine whether bidders are willing to lower the price of bids that meet the benchmarks approved by the Commission; any post-bid negotiations with bidders shall be limited to price only and shall be completed within 24 hours after opening the sealed bids and shall be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner; in conducting the negotiations, there shall be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing bidders; if information is disclosed to any bidder, it shall be provided to all competing bidders;

(viii) maintain confidentiality of supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs;

(ix) submit a confidential report to the Commission recommending acceptance or rejection of bids;

(x) notify the utility of contract counterparties and contract specifics; and

(xi) administer related contingency procurement events.

(2) The procurement monitor, who shall be retained by the Commission, shall:

(i) monitor interactions among the procurement administrator, suppliers, and utility;

(ii) monitor and report to the Commission on the progress of the procurement process;

(iii) provide an independent confidential report to the Commission regarding the results of the procurement event;

(iv) assess compliance with the procurement plans approved by the Commission for each utility that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois and for each small multi-jurisdictional utility that on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois;

(v) preserve the confidentiality of supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs;

(vi) provide expert advice to the Commission and consult with the procurement administrator regarding issues related to procurement process design, rules, protocols, and policy-related matters; and

(vii) consult with the procurement administrator regarding the development and use of benchmark criteria, standard form contracts, credit policies, and bid documents.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (j), the planning process shall be conducted as follows:

(1) Beginning in 2008, each Illinois utility procuring power pursuant to this Section shall annually provide a range of load forecasts to the Illinois Power Agency by July 15 of each year, or such other date as may be required by the Commission or Agency. The load forecasts shall cover the 5-year procurement planning period for the next procurement plan and shall include hourly data representing a high-load, low-load, and expected-load scenario for the load of those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. The utility shall provide supporting data and assumptions for each of the scenarios.

(2) Beginning in 2008, the Illinois Power Agency shall prepare a procurement plan by August 15th of each year, or such other date as may be required by the Commission. The procurement plan shall identify the portfolio of demand-response and power and energy products to be procured. Cost-effective demand-response measures shall be procured as set forth in item (iii) of subsection (b) of this Section. Copies of the procurement plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's and Commission's websites, and copies shall also be provided to each affected electric utility. An affected utility shall have 30 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the procurement plan. Other interested entities also may comment on the procurement plan. All comments submitted to the Agency shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses, and, if objecting to all or a portion of the procurement plan, accompanied by specific alternative wording or proposals. All comments shall be posted on the Agency's and Commission's websites. During this 30-day comment period, the Agency shall hold at least one public hearing within each utility's service area for the purpose of receiving public comment on the procurement plan. Within 14 days following the end of the 30-day review period, the Agency shall revise the procurement plan as necessary based on the comments received and file the procurement plan with the Commission and post the procurement plan on the websites.

(3) Within 5 days after the filing of the procurement plan, any person objecting to the procurement plan shall file an objection with the Commission. Within 10 days after the filing, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. The Commission shall enter its order confirming or modifying the procurement plan within 90 days after the filing of the procurement plan by the Illinois Power Agency.

(4) The Commission shall approve the procurement plan, including expressly the forecast used in the procurement plan, if the Commission determines that it will ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(4.5) The Commission shall review the Agency's recommendations for the selection of applicants to enter into long-term contracts for the sale and delivery of renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities to be constructed at or adjacent to the sites of coal-fueled electric generating facilities in this State in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and shall approve the Agency's recommendations if the Commission determines that the applicants recommended by the Agency for selection, the proposed new renewable energy facilities to be constructed, the amounts of renewable energy credits to be delivered pursuant to the contracts, and the other terms of the contracts, are consistent with the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(e) The procurement process shall include each of the following components:

(1) Solicitation, pre-qualification, and registration of bidders. The procurement administrator shall disseminate information to potential bidders to promote a procurement event, notify potential bidders that the procurement administrator may enter into a post-bid price negotiation with bidders that meet the applicable benchmarks, provide supply requirements, and otherwise explain the competitive procurement process. In addition to such other publication as the procurement administrator determines is appropriate, this information shall be posted on the Illinois Power Agency's and the Commission's websites. The procurement administrator shall also administer the prequalification process, including evaluation of credit worthiness, compliance with procurement rules, and agreement to the standard form contract developed pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection (e). The procurement administrator shall then identify and register bidders to participate in the procurement event.

(2) Standard contract forms and credit terms and instruments. The procurement administrator, in consultation with the utilities, the Commission, and other interested parties and subject to Commission oversight, shall develop and provide standard contract forms for the supplier contracts that meet generally accepted industry practices. Standard credit terms and instruments that meet generally accepted industry practices shall be similarly developed. The procurement administrator shall make available to the Commission all written comments it receives on the contract forms, credit terms, or instruments. If the procurement administrator cannot reach agreement with the applicable electric utility as to the contract terms and conditions, the procurement administrator must notify the Commission of any disputed terms and the Commission shall resolve the dispute. The terms of the contracts shall not be subject to negotiation by winning bidders, and the bidders must agree to the terms of the contract in advance so that winning bids are selected solely on the basis of price.

(3) Establishment of a market-based price benchmark. As part of the development of the procurement process, the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor, shall establish benchmarks for evaluating the final prices in the contracts for each of the products that will be procured through the procurement process. The benchmarks shall be based on price data for similar products for the same delivery period and same delivery hub, or other delivery hubs after adjusting for that difference. The price benchmarks may also be adjusted to take into account differences between the information reflected in the underlying data sources and the specific products and procurement process being used to procure power for the Illinois utilities. The benchmarks shall be confidential but shall be provided to, and will be subject to Commission review and approval, prior to a procurement event.

(4) Request for proposals competitive procurement process. The procurement administrator shall design and issue a request for proposals to supply electricity in accordance with each utility's procurement plan, as approved by the Commission. The request for proposals shall set forth a procedure for sealed, binding commitment bidding with pay-as-bid settlement, and provision for selection of bids on the basis of price.

(5) A plan for implementing contingencies in the event of supplier default or failure of the procurement process to fully meet the expected load requirement due to insufficient supplier participation, Commission rejection of results, or any other cause.

(i) Event of supplier default: In the event of supplier default, the utility shall review the contract of the defaulting supplier to determine if the amount of supply is 200 megawatts or greater, and if there are more than 60 days remaining of the contract term. If both of these conditions are met, and the default results in termination of the contract, the utility shall immediately notify the Illinois Power Agency that a request for proposals must be issued to procure replacement power, and the procurement administrator shall run an additional procurement event. If the contracted supply of the defaulting supplier is less than 200 megawatts or there are less than 60 days remaining of the contract term, the utility shall procure power and energy from the applicable regional transmission organization market, including ancillary services, capacity, and day-ahead or real time energy, or both, for the duration of the contract term to replace the contracted supply; provided, however, that if a needed product is not available through the regional transmission organization market it shall be purchased from the wholesale market.

(ii) Failure of the procurement process to fully meet the expected load requirement: If the procurement process fails to fully meet the expected load requirement due to insufficient supplier participation or due to a Commission rejection of the procurement results, the procurement administrator, the procurement monitor, and the Commission staff shall meet within 10 days to analyze potential causes of low supplier interest or causes for the Commission decision. If changes are identified that would likely result in increased supplier participation, or that would address concerns causing the Commission to reject the results of the prior procurement event, the procurement administrator may implement those changes and rerun the request for proposals process according to a schedule determined by those parties and consistent with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection. In any event, a new request for proposals process shall be implemented by the procurement administrator within 90 days after the determination that the procurement process has failed to fully meet the expected load requirement.

(iii) In all cases where there is insufficient supply provided under contracts awarded through the procurement process to fully meet the electric utility's load requirement, the utility shall meet the load requirement by procuring power and energy from the applicable regional transmission organization market, including ancillary services, capacity, and day-ahead or real time energy, or both; provided, however, that if a needed product is not available through the regional transmission organization market it shall be purchased from the wholesale market.

(6) The procurement processes described in this subsection and in subsection (c-5) and (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act are exempt from the requirements of the Illinois Procurement Code, pursuant to Section 20-10 of that Code.

(f) Within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids, the procurement administrator shall submit a confidential report to the Commission. The report shall contain the results of the bidding for each of the products along with the procurement administrator's recommendation for the acceptance and rejection of bids based on the price benchmark criteria and other factors observed in the process. The procurement monitor also shall submit a confidential report to the Commission within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids. The report shall contain the procurement monitor's assessment of bidder behavior in the process as well as an assessment of the procurement administrator's compliance with the procurement process and rules. The Commission shall review the confidential reports submitted by the procurement administrator and procurement monitor, and shall accept or reject the recommendations of the procurement administrator within 2 business days after receipt of the reports.

(g) Within 3 business days after the Commission decision approving the results of a procurement event, the utility shall enter into binding contractual arrangements with the winning suppliers using the standard form contracts; except that the utility shall not be required either directly or indirectly to execute the contracts if a tariff that is consistent with subsection (l) of this Section has not been approved and placed into effect for that utility.

(h) For the procurement of standard wholesale products, the names of the successful bidders and the load weighted average of the winning bid prices for each contract type and for each contract term shall be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event. For procurements conducted to meet the requirements of subsection (b) of Section 1-56 or subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act governed by the provisions of this Section, the address and nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility proposed by a winning bidder shall also be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event, along with the business address and contact information for any winning bidder. An estimate or approximation of the nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility may be disclosed if necessary to protect the confidentiality of individual bid prices.

The Commission, the procurement monitor, the procurement administrator, the Illinois Power Agency, and all participants in the procurement process shall maintain the confidentiality of all other supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs. Confidential information, including the confidential reports submitted by the procurement administrator and procurement monitor pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section, shall not be made publicly available and shall not be discoverable by any party in any proceeding, absent a compelling demonstration of need, nor shall those reports be admissible in any proceeding other than one for law enforcement purposes.

(i) Within 2 business days after a Commission decision approving the results of a procurement event or such other date as may be required by the Commission from time to time, the utility shall file for informational purposes with the Commission its actual or estimated retail supply charges, as applicable, by customer supply group reflecting the costs associated with the procurement and computed in accordance with the tariffs filed pursuant to subsection (l) of this Section and approved by the Commission.

(j) Within 60 days following August 28, 2007 (the effective date of Public Act 95-481), each electric utility that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois shall prepare and file with the Commission an initial procurement plan, which shall conform in all material respects to the requirements of the procurement plan set forth in subsection (b); provided, however, that the Illinois Power Agency Act shall not apply to the initial procurement plan prepared pursuant to this subsection. The initial procurement plan shall identify the portfolio of power and energy products to be procured and delivered for the period June 2008 through May 2009, and shall identify the proposed procurement administrator, who shall have the same experience and expertise as is required of a procurement administrator hired pursuant to Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Copies of the procurement plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Commission's website. The initial procurement plan may include contracts for renewable resources that extend beyond May 2009.

(i) Within 14 days following filing of the initial procurement plan, any person may file a detailed objection with the Commission contesting the procurement plan submitted by the electric utility. All objections to the electric utility's plan shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses. The electric utility may file a response to any objections to its procurement plan within 7 days after the date objections are due to be filed. Within 7 days after the date the utility's response is due, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. If it determines that a hearing is necessary, it shall require the hearing to be completed and issue an order on the procurement plan within 60 days after the filing of the procurement plan by the electric utility.

(ii) The order shall approve or modify the procurement plan, approve an independent procurement administrator, and approve or modify the electric utility's tariffs that are proposed with the initial procurement plan. The Commission shall approve the procurement plan if the Commission determines that it will ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(k) (Blank).

(k-5) (Blank).

(l) An electric utility shall recover its costs incurred under this Section and subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, including, but not limited to, the costs of procuring power and energy demand-response resources under this Section and its costs for purchasing renewable energy credits pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and (c-7). The utility shall file with the initial procurement plan its proposed tariffs through which its costs of procuring power that are incurred pursuant to a Commission-approved procurement plan and those other costs identified in this subsection (l), will be recovered. The tariffs shall include a formula rate or charge designed to pass through both the costs incurred by the utility in procuring a supply of electric power and energy for the applicable customer classes with no mark-up or return on the price paid by the utility for that supply, plus any just and reasonable costs that the utility incurs in arranging and providing for the supply of electric power and energy. The formula rate or charge shall also contain provisions that ensure that its application does not result in over or under recovery due to changes in customer usage and demand patterns, and that provide for the correction, on at least an annual basis, of any accounting errors that may occur. A utility shall recover through the tariff all reasonable costs incurred to implement or comply with any procurement plan that is developed and put into effect pursuant to Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section, and for the procurement of renewable energy credits pursuant to subsection (c-5) or (c-7) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, including any fees assessed by the Illinois Power Agency, costs associated with load balancing, and contingency plan costs. The electric utility shall also recover its full costs of procuring electric supply for which it contracted before the effective date of this Section in conjunction with the provision of full requirements service under fixed-price bundled service tariffs subsequent to December 31, 2006. All such costs shall be deemed to have been prudently incurred. The pass-through tariffs that are filed and approved pursuant to this Section shall not be subject to review under, or in any way limited by, Section 16-111(i) of this Act. All of the costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of zero emission credits in accordance with subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, all costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of carbon mitigation credits in accordance with subsection (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and, beginning June 1, 2017, all of the costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources in accordance with Sections 1-56 and 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and all of the costs incurred by the electric utility in purchasing renewable energy credits in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, shall be recovered through the electric utility's tariffed charges applicable to all of its retail customers, as specified in subsection (k), or subsection (i-5), or (i-7) as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act, and shall not be recovered through the electric utility's tariffed charges for electric power and energy supply to its eligible retail customers.

(m) The Commission has the authority to adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section. For the public interest, safety, and welfare, the Commission also has authority to adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section on an emergency basis immediately following August 28, 2007 (the effective date of Public Act 95-481).

(n) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any affiliated electric utilities that submit a single procurement plan covering their combined needs may procure for those combined needs in conjunction with that plan, and may enter jointly into power supply contracts, purchases, and other procurement arrangements, and allocate capacity and energy and cost responsibility therefor among themselves in proportion to their requirements.

(o) On or before June 1 of each year, the Commission shall hold an informal hearing for the purpose of receiving comments on the prior year's procurement process and any recommendations for change.

(p) An electric utility subject to this Section may propose to invest, lease, own, or operate an electric generation facility or high voltage direct current transmission line as part of its procurement plan, provided the utility demonstrates that such facility is the least-cost option to provide electric service to those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. If the facility is shown to be the least-cost option and is included in a procurement plan prepared in accordance with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section, then the electric utility shall make a filing pursuant to Section 8-406 of this Act, and may request of the Commission any statutory relief required thereunder. If the Commission grants all of the necessary approvals for the proposed facility, such supply shall thereafter be considered as a pre-existing contract under subsection (b) of this Section. The Commission shall in any order approving a proposal under this subsection specify how the utility will recover the prudently incurred costs of investing in, leasing, owning, or operating such generation facility through just and reasonable rates charged to those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. Cost recovery for facilities included in the utility's procurement plan pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to review under or in any way limited by the provisions of Section 16-111(i) of this Act. Nothing in this Section is intended to prohibit a utility from filing for a fuel adjustment clause as is otherwise permitted under Section 9-220 of this Act.

(q) If the Illinois Power Agency filed with the Commission, under Section 16-111.5 of this Act, its proposed procurement plan for the period commencing June 1, 2017, and the Commission has not yet entered its final order approving the plan on or before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, then the Illinois Power Agency shall file a notice of withdrawal with the Commission, after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, to withdraw the proposed procurement of renewable energy resources to be approved under the plan, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices using funds previously collected from electric utilities' retail customers that take service pursuant to electric utilities' hourly pricing tariff or tariffs and, for an electric utility that serves less than 100,000 retail customers in the State, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices. Upon receipt of the notice, the Commission shall enter an order that approves the withdrawal of the proposed procurement of renewable energy resources from the plan. The initially proposed procurement of renewable energy resources shall not be approved or be the subject of any further hearing, investigation, proceeding, or order of any kind.

This amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly preempts and supersedes any order entered by the Commission that approved the Illinois Power Agency's procurement plan for the period commencing June 1, 2017, to the extent it is inconsistent with the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly. To the extent any previously entered order approved the procurement of renewable energy resources, the portion of that order approving the procurement shall be void, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices using funds previously collected from electric utilities' retail customers that take service under electric utilities' hourly pricing tariff or tariffs and, for an electric utility that serves less than 100,000 retail customers in the State, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits for distributed renewable energy generation devices.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)