093_HB2779

 
                                     LRB093 06903 JLS 11373 b

 1        AN ACT concerning the distribution of electricity.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
 5    Section 17-800 as follows:

 6        (220 ILCS 5/17-800 new)
 7        Sec.17-800.  Aggregation   of    electrical    load    by
 8    municipalities and counties.
 9        (a)  The  corporate  authorities  of  a  municipality  or
10    county  board of a county may adopt an ordinance, under which
11    it may aggregate in accordance with this Section one or  more
12    classes of the retail electrical loads located, respectively,
13    within  the municipality or county and, for that purpose, may
14    solicit bids and enter into service agreements to  facilitate
15    for  those  loads  the  sale  and purchase of electricity and
16    related services and equipment. The corporate authorities  or
17    county  board  also  may exercise such authority jointly with
18    any other municipality or county.  An  ordinance  under  this
19    Section shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only
20    with  the  prior  consent  of  each person owning, occupying,
21    controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to  be
22    aggregated  or  will occur automatically for all such persons
23    pursuant to the opt-out requirements of this Section. Nothing
24    in this  Section,  however,  authorizes  the  aggregation  of
25    retail  electric  loads  of  an  electric load center that is
26    located in the certified territory of  a  nonprofit  electric
27    supplier  or  an  electric load center served by distribution
28    facilities of a municipal electric utility. If  an  ordinance
29    adopted  under  this  Section specifies that aggregation will
30    occur automatically,  the  corporate  authorities  or  county
31    board   shall  certify  the  question  of  the  authority  to
 
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 1    aggregate  in  accordance  with  the  Election  Code  to  the
 2    election authority for submission to the voters at  the  next
 3    election.  No  aggregation  pursuant  to an ordinance adopted
 4    under this Section that provides for an election  under  this
 5    Section  shall  take  effect unless approved by a majority of
 6    the electors voting upon the ordinance at the  election  held
 7    pursuant to this Section.
 8        No corporate authority or county board acting pursuant to
 9    an  ordinance  under this Section that provides for automatic
10    aggregation  shall  aggregate  the  electrical  load  of  any
11    electric load center located within its  jurisdiction  unless
12    it   clearly  discloses  to  the  person  owning,  occupying,
13    controlling, or using the load center that the person will be
14    enrolled automatically in the aggregation  program  and  will
15    remain  so enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by
16    a stated procedure not to  be  so  enrolled.  The  disclosure
17    shall  state  prominently the rates, charges, and other terms
18    and conditions of  enrollment.  The  stated  procedure  shall
19    allow  any  person  enrolled  in  the aggregation program the
20    opportunity to opt out of the program every 3 years,  without
21    paying   an  exit  fee.  Any  such  person  that  leaves  the
22    aggregation program pursuant to the  stated  procedure  shall
23    default  to  the  bundled  utility  service  until the person
24    chooses an alternative supplier or returns to the aggregation
25    program.
26        A governmental aggregator under this  Section  is  not  a
27    public utility or an alternative retail electric supplier and
28    shall  be  subject  to  supervision  and  regulation  by  the
29    Commission only to the extent provided in this Section.
30        A  municipality  may  initiate  a  process  to  authorize
31    aggregation by a majority vote of the municipal council, with
32    the  approval of the mayor. A county may initiate the process
33    to authorize aggregation by a majority  vote  of  the  county
34    board.   Two   or  more  municipalities  or  counties,  or  a
 
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 1    combination of  both,  may  initiate  a  process  jointly  to
 2    authorize  aggregation  by a majority vote of each particular
 3    municipality or county as herein required.
 4        Upon  the  applicable  requisite  authority  under   this
 5    Section,  the corporate authorities or the county board shall
 6    develop  a  plan  of  operation  and   governance   for   the
 7    aggregation  program  so  authorized.  Before adopting a plan
 8    under this Section, the corporate authorities or county board
 9    shall hold at least 2 public hearings on the plan. Before the
10    first hearing, the  corporate  authorities  or  county  board
11    shall  publish  notice  of  the  hearings  once  a week for 2
12    consecutive weeks in a newspaper of  general  circulation  in
13    the  jurisdiction.  The  notice  shall summarize the plan and
14    state the date, time, and location of each hearing. Any  load
15    aggregation plan established pursuant to this Section shall:
16             (1)  provide  for universal access to all applicable
17        customers and equitable treatment of  applicable  classes
18        of customers;
19             (2)  describe    demand    management   and   energy
20        efficiency services to  be  provided  to  each  class  of
21        customers; and
22             (3)  meet any requirements established by law or the
23        Commission concerning aggregated service offered pursuant
24        to this Section.
25        The  plan  shall  be filed with the Commission for review
26    and  approval  and  shall  include,  without  limitation,  an
27    organizational structure of the program, its operations,  and
28    funding;  the  methods  of  establishing rates and allocating
29    costs  among  participants;  the  methods  for  entering  and
30    terminating agreements with other entities;  the  rights  and
31    responsibilities of program participants, including the terms
32    and  conditions  under which retail customers who have chosen
33    to opt out of the aggregated service may  take  service  from
34    the  aggregated entity; and procedures for termination of the
 
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 1    program.  Within 120 days after  receipt  of  the  plan,  the
 2    Commission shall issue an order either approving or rejecting
 3    the plan.  If the Commission rejects the plan, it shall state
 4    detailed  reasons  for rejecting the plan in its order.  Upon
 5    approval of the plan, the  corporate  authorities  or  county
 6    board  may  solicit  bids  for  electricity and other related
 7    services pursuant to the methods established in the plan. The
 8    corporate  authorities  or  county  board  shall  report  the
 9    results of this solicitation and proposed agreement awards to
10    the Commission, which shall have 15 business days to  suspend
11    such  awards  if  the  solicitation  or  awards  are  not  in
12    conformance  with the plan or if the cost for energy would in
13    the first year exceed the cost of that energy if that  energy
14    was obtained from an electric utility under Section 16-103 by
15    citizens   in   the   municipality  or  county  or  group  of
16    municipalities  and  counties,  unless  the   applicant   can
17    demonstrate  that  the  cost for energy under the aggregation
18    plan will be lower in the subsequent years or  the  applicant
19    can  demonstrate that such excess cost is due to the purchase
20    of renewable energy. If the Commission does not  suspend  the
21    proposed  contract  awards  within  15  business  days  after
22    filing,  the corporate authorities or county board shall have
23    the right to award the proposed agreements.
24        It shall be the duty of the aggregated  entity  to  fully
25    inform  retail  customers  in advance of automatic enrollment
26    that they are to be automatically enrolled and that they have
27    the right  to  opt  out  of  the  aggregated  entity  without
28    penalty.   The disclosure shall prominently state all charges
29    to be made and shall include full disclosure of the  cost  to
30    obtain  service pursuant to Section 16-103, how to access it,
31    and the fact that it is available to them without penalty, if
32    they are currently receiving service under that Section.  The
33    Commission  shall  furnish,  without charge, to any citizen a
34    list of all supply options available to them in a format that
 
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 1    allows comparison of prices and products.
 2        (b)  The Commission shall promulgate rules by  which  the
 3    corporate authorities or county board may request information
 4    from the electric utility or utilities whose customers may be
 5    included in its aggregation plan. The rules shall ensure that
 6    municipalities and counties have reasonable and timely access
 7    to  information  pertinent  to  the  formation  of a plan and
 8    solicitation of bids to serve customers, that confidentiality
 9    of individuals is protected, and that charges for  production
10    of  such data are reasonable and not unduly burdensome to the
11    corporate authorities or county  board.   Information  to  be
12    provided  by  the  electric  utility  to  the municipality or
13    county shall include, but is not limited to, the following:
14             (1)  billing and  electric  load  data  by  customer
15        class;
16             (2)  forecasts of electric demand; and
17             (3)  for  the  purpose  of opt-out notification, the
18        names,  addresses,  and  meter  and  account  numbers  of
19        customers who do not take  service  from  an  alternative
20        retail electric supplier.