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1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sections 17-800, 17-810, 17-815, and 17-820 as
follows:
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6 | (220 ILCS 5/17-800 new)
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7 | Sec. 17-800. Registration of aggregators. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) A person may
not provide aggregation services in this | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | State unless the person is
registered with the Commission as an | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | aggregator. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | (b) For purposes of this Article, "aggregator" means a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | person joining
2 or more customers, other than municipalities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | and corporations, into a single purchasing unit to
negotiate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | the purchase of electricity from retail electric
providers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Aggregators may not sell or take title to electricity.
Retail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | electric providers are not aggregators. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | (c) A person registering under this Section shall comply
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18 | with all customer protection provisions, all disclosure
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19 | requirements, and all marketing guidelines established by the
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20 | Commission and by this Act. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | (d) The Commission shall establish terms and conditions it
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22 | determines necessary to regulate the reliability and integrity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | of
aggregators in this State on or before June 1, 2008. |
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1 | (e) An aggregator may register any time after September 1,
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2 | 2008. | ||||||
3 | (f) The Commission shall have up to 60 days to process
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4 | applications for registration filed by aggregators. | ||||||
5 | (g) Registration is not required of a customer that is
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6 | aggregating loads from its own location or facilities. | ||||||
7 | (h) The Commission shall work with the Department of
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8 | Commerce and Economic Opportunity to communicate information | ||||||
9 | about
opportunities for operation as aggregators to potential | ||||||
10 | new
aggregators, including small and historically | ||||||
11 | underutilized
businesses. | ||||||
12 | (220 ILCS 5/17-810 new)
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13 | Sec. 17-810. Registration of municipal or county | ||||||
14 | aggregators. | ||||||
15 | (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality or county | ||||||
16 | board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance, under which it may | ||||||
17 | aggregate in accordance with this
Section one or
more classes | ||||||
18 | of the retail electrical loads located, respectively, within | ||||||
19 | the
municipality or
county and, for that purpose, may solicit | ||||||
20 | bids and enter into service
agreements to facilitate
for those
| ||||||
21 | loads the sale and purchase of electricity and related services | ||||||
22 | and equipment.
The corporate authorities or county
board also
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23 | may exercise such authority jointly with any other municipality | ||||||
24 | or county.
An
ordinance under this Section shall specify | ||||||
25 | whether the aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent |
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1 | of each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
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2 | electric load
center proposed to be aggregated or will occur | ||||||
3 | automatically for all such
persons
pursuant to the opt-out | ||||||
4 | requirements of this Section. Nothing in this Section,
however,
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5 | authorizes the aggregation of retail electric loads of an | ||||||
6 | electric load center
that is located
in the certified territory | ||||||
7 | of a nonprofit electric supplier or an electric load
center | ||||||
8 | served
by distribution facilities of a municipal electric | ||||||
9 | utility. If
an ordinance
adopted under this Section specifies | ||||||
10 | that aggregation will occur automatically,
the corporate | ||||||
11 | authorities or county board shall
certify the
question of the | ||||||
12 | authority to aggregate in accordance with the Election Code to
| ||||||
13 | the
election authority for submission to the voters at the next | ||||||
14 | election. No
aggregation pursuant to an ordinance adopted
under | ||||||
15 | this Section that provides for an election under this Section | ||||||
16 | shall take
effect unless
approved by a majority of the electors | ||||||
17 | voting upon the ordinance at the
election held
pursuant to this | ||||||
18 | Section.
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19 | No corporate authority or county board acting pursuant to | ||||||
20 | an ordinance under
this
Section that provides for automatic | ||||||
21 | aggregation
shall
aggregate the electrical load of any electric | ||||||
22 | load center located within its
jurisdiction
unless it clearly | ||||||
23 | discloses to the person owning, occupying,
controlling, or
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24 | using the load center that the person will be enrolled | ||||||
25 | automatically in the
aggregation
program and will remain so | ||||||
26 | enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a
stated
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1 | procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state | ||||||
2 | prominently the
rates, charges,
and other terms and conditions | ||||||
3 | of enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow
any
person | ||||||
4 | enrolled in the aggregation program the opportunity to opt out | ||||||
5 | of the
program
every 3 years, without paying an exit fee. Any | ||||||
6 | such person that leaves the
aggregation program pursuant to the | ||||||
7 | stated procedure shall default to the
bundled utility service | ||||||
8 | until the person chooses an alternative supplier or
returns to | ||||||
9 | the aggregation program.
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10 | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | ||||||
11 | public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier and
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12 | shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the
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13 | Commission only to the extent provided in this Section.
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14 | A municipality may initiate a process to authorize | ||||||
15 | aggregation by a majority
vote of the municipal council, with | ||||||
16 | the approval of the mayor. A county may
initiate the
process to | ||||||
17 | authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the county board. | ||||||
18 | Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of | ||||||
19 | both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation | ||||||
20 | by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as | ||||||
21 | herein required.
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22 | Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | ||||||
23 | Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board shall | ||||||
24 | develop a plan of operation and
governance for the
aggregation | ||||||
25 | program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this | ||||||
26 | Section,
the
corporate authorities or county board shall hold |
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1 | at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.
Before the first | ||||||
2 | hearing, the corporate authorities or county board shall
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3 | publish notice of
the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive | ||||||
4 | weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation
in the | ||||||
5 | jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the | ||||||
6 | date,
time, and
location of each hearing.
Any load aggregation | ||||||
7 | plan established pursuant to this Section shall:
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8 | (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | ||||||
9 | customers and equitable treatment of applicable
classes of
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10 | customers;
| ||||||
11 | (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | ||||||
12 | services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and
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13 | (3) meet any requirements established by law or the | ||||||
14 | Commission
concerning aggregated service offered pursuant | ||||||
15 | to this Section.
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16 | The plan shall be filed with the Commission for
review and | ||||||
17 | approval and shall include, without limitation, an | ||||||
18 | organizational
structure of
the program, its operations, and | ||||||
19 | funding; the methods of establishing rates and
allocating
costs | ||||||
20 | among participants; the methods for entering and terminating | ||||||
21 | agreements
with other
entities; the rights and | ||||||
22 | responsibilities of program participants, including
the terms | ||||||
23 | and conditions under which retail customers who have chosen to | ||||||
24 | opt
out of the aggregated service may take service from the | ||||||
25 | aggregated entity; and
procedures for termination of the
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26 | program. Within 120 days after receipt of the plan, the |
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1 | Commission shall issue
an order either approving or rejecting | ||||||
2 | the plan. If the Commission rejects the
plan, it shall state | ||||||
3 | detailed reasons for rejecting the plan in its order.
Upon | ||||||
4 | approval of the plan, the corporate authorities or county
board | ||||||
5 | may
solicit bids for electricity and other related services | ||||||
6 | pursuant to the methods
established in
the plan. The corporate | ||||||
7 | authorities or county board shall report the results of
this
| ||||||
8 | solicitation and proposed
agreement awards to the Commission, | ||||||
9 | which shall have 15
business days to suspend such awards if the | ||||||
10 | solicitation or awards
are not in
conformance with the plan or | ||||||
11 | if the cost for energy would in the first year
exceed the cost
| ||||||
12 | of that energy if that energy was obtained from an electric | ||||||
13 | utility under
Section 16-103 of this Act by
citizens in the | ||||||
14 | municipality or county or group of municipalities and counties,
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15 | unless the
applicant can demonstrate that the cost for energy | ||||||
16 | under the aggregation plan
will be
lower in the subsequent | ||||||
17 | years or the applicant can demonstrate that such excess
cost is
| ||||||
18 | due to the purchase of renewable energy. If the
Commission does | ||||||
19 | not suspend the proposed contract awards within 15 business
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20 | days
after
filing, the corporate authorities or county board | ||||||
21 | shall have the right to award
the proposed
agreements.
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22 | It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully | ||||||
23 | inform
retail customers in advance of automatic enrollment that | ||||||
24 | they are to be
automatically
enrolled
and that they have the | ||||||
25 | right to opt out of the aggregated entity without
penalty.
The | ||||||
26 | disclosure shall prominently state all charges to be made and
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1 | shall include
full disclosure of the cost to obtain service | ||||||
2 | pursuant to Section 16-103 of this Act, how
to access it,
and | ||||||
3 | the fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they | ||||||
4 | are
currently receiving
service under that Section. The | ||||||
5 | Commission shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
list | ||||||
6 | of all supply options available to them in a format that
allows
| ||||||
7 | comparison of prices and products. | ||||||
8 | (b) A
municipal or county aggregator may not provide | ||||||
9 | aggregation services in this
State unless the municipal or | ||||||
10 | county aggregator registers with the
Commission. | ||||||
11 | (c) In this Section, "municipal or county aggregator" means | ||||||
12 | a person
authorized by 2 or more municipal or county governing | ||||||
13 | bodies to join the
bodies into a single purchasing unit to | ||||||
14 | negotiate the purchase of
electricity from retail electric | ||||||
15 | providers or aggregation by a
municipality or county under the | ||||||
16 | Illinois Municipal Code. | ||||||
17 | (d) A municipal or county aggregator may register any time | ||||||
18 | after
September 1, 2008. | ||||||
19 | (220 ILCS 5/17-815 new)
| ||||||
20 | Sec. 17-815. Registration of private corporation or | ||||||
21 | organization aggregators. | ||||||
22 | (a) A private corporation or organization aggregator may | ||||||
23 | not
provide aggregation services in this State unless the | ||||||
24 | private corporations or organization aggregator registers with | ||||||
25 | the Commission. |
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1 | (b) In this Section, "private corporation or organization | ||||||
2 | aggregator"
means a person, private corporation, or | ||||||
3 | organization authorized by
2 or more private corporation or | ||||||
4 | organization bodies to join the
bodies into a single purchasing | ||||||
5 | unit or multiple purchasing units
to negotiate the purchase of | ||||||
6 | electricity from retail electric
providers for the facilities | ||||||
7 | of the aggregated private corporations or organization or | ||||||
8 | aggregation by a person, private corporation, or organization. | ||||||
9 | (c) A private corporation or organization aggregator may | ||||||
10 | register any
time after September 1, 2008. | ||||||
11 | (220 ILCS 5/17-820 new)
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12 | Sec. 17-820. Rules and revocation of certification. | ||||||
13 | (a) The
Commission may suspend, revoke, or amend a retail | ||||||
14 | certification for significant violations of this Article or
the | ||||||
15 | rules adopted under this title or of any reliability standard
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16 | adopted by an independent organization certified by the | ||||||
17 | Commission
to ensure the reliability of a power region's | ||||||
18 | electrical network,
including the failure to observe any | ||||||
19 | scheduling, operating,
planning, reliability, or settlement | ||||||
20 | protocols established by the
independent organization. The | ||||||
21 | Commission may also suspend or
revoke a retail electric | ||||||
22 | provider's certificate if the provider no
longer has the | ||||||
23 | financial or technical capability to provide
continuous and | ||||||
24 | reliable electric service. | ||||||
25 | (b) The Commission may suspend or revoke a power generation
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1 | company's registration for significant violations of this | ||||||
2 | Article or
the rules adopted under this Article or of the | ||||||
3 | reliability standards
adopted by an independent organization | ||||||
4 | certified by the Commission
to ensure the reliability of a | ||||||
5 | power region's electrical network,
including the failure to | ||||||
6 | observe any scheduling, operating,
planning, reliability, or | ||||||
7 | settlement protocols established by the
independent | ||||||
8 | organization. | ||||||
9 | (c) The Commission may suspend or revoke an aggregator's
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10 | registration for significant violations of this Article or of | ||||||
11 | the
rules adopted under this Article. | ||||||
12 | (d) The Commission may adopt rules necessary to implement | ||||||
13 | the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General | ||||||
14 | Assembly. | ||||||
15 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
16 | becoming law. |