Electric Utility Oversight Committee
Adopted in House Comm. on Mar 14, 2007
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 894
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 894 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 changing | ||||||
5 | Section 16-115 as follows:
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6 | (220 ILCS 5/16-115)
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7 | Sec. 16-115. Certification of alternative retail
electric | ||||||
8 | suppliers.
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9 | (a) Any alternative retail electric supplier must obtain
a | ||||||
10 | certificate of service authority from the Commission in
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11 | accordance with this Section before serving any retail
customer | ||||||
12 | or other user located in this State. An alternative
retail | ||||||
13 | electric supplier may request, and the Commission may
grant, a | ||||||
14 | certificate of service authority for the entire State
or for a | ||||||
15 | specified geographic area of the State.
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16 | (b) An alternative retail electric supplier seeking a
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1 | certificate of service authority shall file with the
Commission | ||||||
2 | a verified application containing information
showing that the | ||||||
3 | applicant meets the requirements of this
Section. The | ||||||
4 | alternative retail electric supplier shall
publish notice of | ||||||
5 | its application in the official State
newspaper within 10 days | ||||||
6 | following the date of its filing. No
later than 45 days after | ||||||
7 | the application is properly filed
with the Commission, and such | ||||||
8 | notice is published, the
Commission shall issue its order | ||||||
9 | granting or denying the
application.
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10 | (c) An application for a certificate of service
authority | ||||||
11 | shall identify the area or areas in which the
applicant intends | ||||||
12 | to offer service and the types of services
it intends to offer. | ||||||
13 | Applicants that seek to serve
residential or small commercial | ||||||
14 | retail customers within a
geographic area that is smaller than | ||||||
15 | an electric utility's
service area shall submit evidence | ||||||
16 | demonstrating that the
designation of this smaller area does | ||||||
17 | not violate Section 16-115A. An applicant
that seeks to serve | ||||||
18 | residential or small
commercial retail customers may state in | ||||||
19 | its application for
certification any limitations that will be | ||||||
20 | imposed on the
number of customers or maximum load to be | ||||||
21 | served.
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22 | (d) The Commission shall grant the application for a
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23 | certificate of service authority if it makes the findings set
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24 | forth in this subsection
based on the verified
application and | ||||||
25 | such other information as the applicant may
submit:
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26 | (1) That the applicant possesses sufficient
technical, |
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1 | financial and managerial resources and
abilities to | ||||||
2 | provide the service for which it seeks a
certificate of | ||||||
3 | service authority. In determining the
level of technical, | ||||||
4 | financial and managerial resources
and abilities which the | ||||||
5 | applicant must demonstrate, the
Commission shall consider | ||||||
6 | (i) the characteristics,
including the size and financial | ||||||
7 | sophistication, of the
customers that the applicant seeks | ||||||
8 | to serve, and (ii)
whether the applicant seeks to provide | ||||||
9 | electric power and
energy using property, plant and | ||||||
10 | equipment which it owns,
controls or operates;
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11 | (2) That the applicant will comply with all
applicable | ||||||
12 | federal, State, regional and industry rules,
policies, | ||||||
13 | practices and procedures for the use,
operation, and | ||||||
14 | maintenance of the safety, integrity and
reliability, of | ||||||
15 | the interconnected electric transmission
system;
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16 | (3) That the applicant will only provide service to
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17 | retail customers in an electric utility's service area
that | ||||||
18 | are eligible to take delivery services under this
Act;
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19 | (4) That the applicant will comply with such
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20 | informational or reporting requirements as the Commission
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21 | may by rule establish and provide the information required | ||||||
22 | by Section 16-112.
Any data related to
contracts for the | ||||||
23 | purchase and sale of electric power and
energy shall be | ||||||
24 | made available for review by the Staff of
the Commission on | ||||||
25 | a confidential and proprietary basis
and only to the extent | ||||||
26 | and for the purposes which the
Commission determines are |
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1 | reasonably necessary in order
to carry out the purposes of | ||||||
2 | this Act;
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3 | (5) (Blank)
That if the applicant, its corporate | ||||||
4 | affiliates
or the applicant's principal source of | ||||||
5 | electricity (to
the extent such source is known at the time | ||||||
6 | of the
application) owns or controls facilities, for public | ||||||
7 | use,
for the transmission or distribution of electricity to
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8 | end-users within a defined geographic area to which
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9 | electric power and energy can be physically and
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10 | economically delivered by the electric utility or
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11 | utilities in whose service area or areas the proposed
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12 | service will be offered, the applicant, its corporate
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13 | affiliates or principal source of electricity, as the
case | ||||||
14 | may be, provides delivery services to the electric
utility | ||||||
15 | or utilities in whose service area or areas the
proposed | ||||||
16 | service will be offered that are reasonably
comparable to | ||||||
17 | those offered by the electric utility, and
provided | ||||||
18 | further, that the applicant agrees to certify
annually to | ||||||
19 | the Commission that it is continuing to
provide such | ||||||
20 | delivery services and that it has not
knowingly assisted | ||||||
21 | any person or entity to avoid the
requirements of this | ||||||
22 | Section. For purposes of this
subparagraph, "principal | ||||||
23 | source of electricity" shall
mean a single source that | ||||||
24 | supplies at least 65% of the
applicant's electric power and | ||||||
25 | energy, and the purchase of
transmission and distribution | ||||||
26 | services pursuant to a
filed tariff under the jurisdiction |
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1 | of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission or a state | ||||||
2 | public utility
commission shall not constitute control of | ||||||
3 | access to the
provider's transmission and distribution | ||||||
4 | facilities ;
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5 | (6) With respect to an applicant that seeks to serve
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6 | residential or small commercial retail customers, that
the | ||||||
7 | area to be served by the applicant and any
limitations it | ||||||
8 | proposes on the number of customers or
maximum amount of | ||||||
9 | load to be served meet the provisions
of Section 16-115A, | ||||||
10 | provided, that the Commission can
extend the time for | ||||||
11 | considering such a certificate
request by up to 90 days, | ||||||
12 | and can schedule hearings on
such a request;
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13 | (7) That the applicant meets the requirements of | ||||||
14 | subsection (a) of Section
16-128; and
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15 | (8) That the applicant will comply with all other
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16 | applicable laws and regulations.
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17 | (e) A retail customer that owns a cogeneration or | ||||||
18 | self-generation facility
and that seeks certification only to
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19 | provide electric power and energy from such facility to
retail | ||||||
20 | customers at separate locations which customers are
both (i) | ||||||
21 | owned by, or a subsidiary or other corporate
affiliate of, such | ||||||
22 | applicant and
(ii) eligible for delivery services, shall be | ||||||
23 | granted a
certificate of service authority upon filing an | ||||||
24 | application
and notifying the Commission that it has entered | ||||||
25 | into an
agreement with the relevant electric utilities pursuant | ||||||
26 | to
Section 16-118.
Provided, however, that if the retail |
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1 | customer owning such cogeneration or
self-generation facility | ||||||
2 | would not be charged a transition charge due to the
exemption | ||||||
3 | provided under subsection (f) of Section 16-108 prior to the
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4 | certification, and the retail customers at separate locations | ||||||
5 | are taking
delivery services in conjunction with purchasing | ||||||
6 | power and energy from the
facility, the retail customer on | ||||||
7 | whose premises the facility is located shall
not thereafter be | ||||||
8 | required to pay transition charges on the power and energy
that | ||||||
9 | such retail customer takes from the facility.
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10 | (f) The Commission shall have the authority to
promulgate | ||||||
11 | rules and regulations to carry out the provisions
of this | ||||||
12 | Section. On or before May 1, 1999, the Commission
shall adopt a | ||||||
13 | rule or rules applicable to the certification of
those | ||||||
14 | alternative retail electric suppliers that seek to serve
only | ||||||
15 | nonresidential retail customers with maximum electrical
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16 | demands of one megawatt or more which shall provide for (i)
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17 | expedited and streamlined procedures
for certification of such | ||||||
18 | alternative
retail electric suppliers and (ii) specific | ||||||
19 | criteria which,
if met by any such alternative retail electric | ||||||
20 | supplier, shall
constitute the demonstration of technical, | ||||||
21 | financial and
managerial resources and abilities to provide | ||||||
22 | service required
by subsection (d) (1) of this Section, such as | ||||||
23 | a requirement
to post a bond or letter of credit, from a | ||||||
24 | responsible surety
or financial institution, of sufficient | ||||||
25 | size for the nature
and scope of the services to be provided; | ||||||
26 | demonstration of
adequate insurance for the scope and nature of |
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1 | the services to
be provided; and experience in providing | ||||||
2 | similar services in
other jurisdictions.
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3 | (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 91-50, eff. 6-30-99.)".
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