Electric Utility Oversight Committee
Filed: 2/22/2007
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 351
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 351 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | ||||||
5 | Section 17-800 as
follows:
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6 | (220 ILCS 5/17-800 new)
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7 | Sec. 17-800. Aggregation of electrical load by | ||||||
8 | municipalities and counties. The corporate authorities of a | ||||||
9 | municipality or county board of a county
may
adopt an | ||||||
10 | ordinance, under which it may aggregate in accordance with this
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11 | Section residential retail electrical loads located, | ||||||
12 | respectively, within the
municipality or
county and, for that | ||||||
13 | purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service
agreements to | ||||||
14 | facilitate
for those
loads the sale and purchase of electricity | ||||||
15 | and related services and equipment.
The corporate authorities | ||||||
16 | or county
board also
may exercise such authority jointly with |
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1 | any other municipality or county.
An
ordinance under this | ||||||
2 | Section shall specify whether the aggregation will occur
only | ||||||
3 | with
the prior consent of each person owning, occupying, | ||||||
4 | controlling, or using an
electric load
center proposed to be | ||||||
5 | aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
however,
authorizes the | ||||||
6 | aggregation of electric loads that are served or authorized to | ||||||
7 | be served by an electric cooperative as defined by and pursuant | ||||||
8 | to the Electric Supplier Act or loads served by a municipality | ||||||
9 | that owns and operates its own electric distribution system. No
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10 | aggregation pursuant to an ordinance adopted
under this Section | ||||||
11 | that provides for an election under this Section shall take
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12 | effect unless
approved by a majority of the electors voting | ||||||
13 | upon the ordinance at the
election held
pursuant to this | ||||||
14 | Section.
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15 | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | ||||||
16 | public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier and
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17 | shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the
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18 | Commission only to the extent provided in this Section.
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19 | A municipality may initiate a process to authorize | ||||||
20 | aggregation by a majority
vote of the municipal council, with | ||||||
21 | the approval of the mayor. A county may
initiate the
process to | ||||||
22 | authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the county board. | ||||||
23 | Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of | ||||||
24 | both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation | ||||||
25 | by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as | ||||||
26 | herein required.
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1 | Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | ||||||
2 | Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board shall | ||||||
3 | develop a plan of operation and
governance for the
aggregation | ||||||
4 | program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this | ||||||
5 | Section,
the
corporate authorities or county board shall hold | ||||||
6 | at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.
Before the first | ||||||
7 | hearing, the corporate authorities or county board shall
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8 | publish notice of
the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive | ||||||
9 | weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation
in the | ||||||
10 | jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the | ||||||
11 | date,
time, and
location of each hearing.
Any load aggregation | ||||||
12 | plan established pursuant to this Section shall:
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13 | (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | ||||||
14 | residential customers and equitable treatment of | ||||||
15 | applicable
residential customers;
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16 | (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | ||||||
17 | services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and
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18 | (3) meet any requirements established by law or the | ||||||
19 | Commission
concerning aggregated service offered pursuant | ||||||
20 | to this Section.
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21 | The plan shall be filed with the Commission for
review and | ||||||
22 | approval and shall include, without limitation, an | ||||||
23 | organizational
structure of
the program, its operations, and | ||||||
24 | funding; the methods of establishing rates and
allocating
costs | ||||||
25 | among participants; the methods for entering and terminating | ||||||
26 | agreements
with other
entities; the rights and |
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1 | responsibilities of program participants; and
procedures for | ||||||
2 | termination of the
program. Within 120 days after receipt of | ||||||
3 | the plan, the Commission shall issue
an order either approving | ||||||
4 | or rejecting the plan. If the Commission rejects the
plan, it | ||||||
5 | shall state detailed reasons for rejecting the plan in its | ||||||
6 | order.
Upon approval of the plan, the corporate authorities or | ||||||
7 | county
board may
solicit bids for electricity and other related | ||||||
8 | services pursuant to the methods
established in
the plan. The | ||||||
9 | corporate authorities or county board shall report the results | ||||||
10 | of
this
solicitation and proposed
agreement awards to the | ||||||
11 | Commission, which shall have 15
business days to suspend such | ||||||
12 | awards if the solicitation or awards
are not in
conformance | ||||||
13 | with the plan or if the cost for energy would in the first year
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14 | exceed the cost
of that energy if that energy was obtained from | ||||||
15 | an electric utility under
Section 16-103 of this Act by
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16 | citizens in the municipality or county or group of | ||||||
17 | municipalities and counties,
unless the
applicant can | ||||||
18 | demonstrate that the cost for energy under the aggregation plan
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19 | will be
lower in the subsequent years or the applicant can | ||||||
20 | demonstrate that such excess
cost is
due to the purchase of | ||||||
21 | renewable energy. If the
Commission does not suspend the | ||||||
22 | proposed contract awards within 15 business
days
after
filing, | ||||||
23 | the corporate authorities or county board shall have the right | ||||||
24 | to award
the proposed
agreements.
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25 | It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully | ||||||
26 | inform
residential retail customers in advance that they have |
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1 | the right to opt in to the aggregation program.
The disclosure | ||||||
2 | shall prominently state all charges to be made and
shall | ||||||
3 | include
full disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant | ||||||
4 | to Section 16-103 of this Act, how
to access it,
and the fact | ||||||
5 | that it is available to them without penalty, if they are
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6 | currently receiving
service under that Section. The Commission | ||||||
7 | shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
list of all | ||||||
8 | supply options available to them in a format that
allows
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9 | comparison of prices and products. ".
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