HB0351 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB095 05290 MJR 25368 b

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB0351

Introduced 1/22/2007, by Rep. Thomas Holbrook

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

220 ILCS 5/17-800 new

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Authorizes municipalities and counties to aggregate customers for the purchase of electricity. Provides for approval of aggregation by the voters. Requires the Commerce Commission to review aggregation plans.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

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

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

(220 ILCS 5/17-800 new)

Sec. 17-800. Aggregation of electrical load by municipalities and counties.

(a) The corporate authorities of a municipality or county board of a county may adopt an ordinance, under which it may aggregate in accordance with this Section one or more classes of the retail electrical loads located, respectively, within the municipality or county and, for that purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity and related services and equipment. The corporate authorities or county board also may exercise such authority jointly with any other municipality or county. An ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only with the prior consent of each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to be aggregated or will occur automatically for all such persons pursuant to the opt-out requirements of this Section. Nothing in this Section, however, authorizes the aggregation of retail electric loads of an electric load center that is located in the certified territory of a nonprofit electric supplier or an electric load center served by distribution facilities of a municipal electric utility. If an ordinance adopted under this Section specifies that aggregation will occur automatically, the corporate authorities or county board shall certify the question of the authority to aggregate in accordance with the Election Code to the election authority for submission to the voters at the next election. No aggregation pursuant to an ordinance adopted under this Section that provides for an election under this Section shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the ordinance at the election held pursuant to this Section.

No corporate authority or county board acting pursuant to an ordinance under this Section that provides for automatic aggregation shall aggregate the electrical load of any electric load center located within its jurisdiction unless it clearly discloses to the person owning, occupying, controlling, or using the load center that the person will be enrolled automatically in the aggregation program and will remain so enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a stated procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state prominently the rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow any person enrolled in the aggregation program the opportunity to opt out of the program every 3 years, without paying an exit fee. Any such person that leaves the aggregation program pursuant to the stated procedure shall default to the bundled utility service until the person chooses an alternative supplier or returns to the aggregation program.

A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a public utility or an alternative retail electric supplier and shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the Commission only to the extent provided in this Section.

A municipality may initiate a process to authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the municipal council, with the approval of the mayor. A county may initiate the process to authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the county board. Two or more municipalities or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate a process jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote of each particular municipality or county as herein required.

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

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

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

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

The plan shall be filed with the Commission for review and approval and shall include, without limitation, an organizational structure of the program, its operations, and funding; the methods of establishing rates and allocating costs among participants; the methods for entering and terminating agreements with other entities; the rights and responsibilities of program participants, including the terms and conditions under which retail customers who have chosen to opt out of the aggregated service may take service from the aggregated entity; and procedures for termination of the program. Within 120 days after receipt of the plan, the Commission shall issue an order either approving or rejecting the plan. If the Commission rejects the plan, it shall state detailed reasons for rejecting the plan in its order. Upon approval of the plan, the corporate authorities or county board may solicit bids for electricity and other related services pursuant to the methods established in the plan. The corporate authorities or county board shall report the results of this solicitation and proposed agreement awards to the Commission, which shall have 15 business days to suspend such awards if the solicitation or awards are not in conformance with the plan or if the cost for energy would in the first year exceed the cost of that energy if that energy was obtained from an electric utility under Section 16-103 of this Act by citizens in the municipality or county or group of municipalities and counties, unless the applicant can demonstrate that the cost for energy under the aggregation plan will be lower in the subsequent years or the applicant can demonstrate that such excess cost is due to the purchase of renewable energy. If the Commission does not suspend the proposed contract awards within 15 business days after filing, the corporate authorities or county board shall have the right to award the proposed agreements.

It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully inform retail customers in advance of automatic enrollment that they are to be automatically enrolled and that they have the right to opt out of the aggregated entity without penalty. The disclosure shall prominently state all charges to be made and shall include full disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103 of this Act, how to access it, and the fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are currently receiving service under that Section. The Commission shall furnish, without charge, to any citizen a list of all supply options available to them in a format that allows comparison of prices and products.

(b) The Commission shall promulgate rules by which the corporate authorities or county board may request information from the electric utility or utilities whose customers may be included in its aggregation plan. The rules shall ensure that municipalities and counties have reasonable and timely access to information pertinent to the formation of a plan and solicitation of bids to serve customers, that confidentiality of individuals is protected, and that charges for production of such data are reasonable and not unduly burdensome to the corporate authorities or county board. Information to be provided by the electric utility to the municipality or county shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) billing and electric load data by customer class;

(2) forecasts of electric demand; and

(3) for the purpose of opt-out notification, the names, addresses, and meter and account numbers of customers who do not take service from an alternative retail electric supplier.