093_HB2779eng

 
HB2779 Engrossed                     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
 
HB2779 Engrossed            -4-      LRB093 06903 JLS 11373 b
 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.