HB5626 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 20870 SMS 36368 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5626

Introduced , by Rep. Gregory Harris

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

220 ILCS 5/16-115A
220 ILCS 5/20-110
815 ILCS 505/2EE

Amends the Public Utilities Act. Requires an alternative retail electric supplier to annually submit certain rate information from the prior 12-month period to the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Attorney General. Requires an alternative retail electric supplier's marketing materials to contain the current utility price. Provides that an alternative retail electric supplier that is certified to serve residential retail customers shall not charge customers who receive financial assistance from the Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program an amount that exceeds the public utility supply price. Provides that existing agreements between an alternative retail electric supplier and an Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program recipient that charge the customer an amount that exceeds the public utility price shall not be renewed upon the expiration of the existing agreement. Provides that the annual report the Director of Retail Market Development submits shall include the information alternative retail electric suppliers submitted concerning rates from the prior 12-month period. Amends the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Provides that a violation of the provisions concerning obligations of alternative retail electric suppliers in the Public Utilities Act and its administrative rules constitutes a violation under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Effective immediately.

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 changing Sections 16-115A and 20-110 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/16-115A)

Sec. 16-115A. Obligations of alternative retail electric suppliers.

(a) An alternative retail electric supplier shall:

(i) comply with the requirements imposed on public utilities by Sections 8-201 through 8-207, 8-301, 8-505 and 8-507 of this Act, to the extent that these Sections have application to the services being offered by the alternative retail electric supplier; and

(ii) continue to comply with the requirements for certification stated in subsection (d) of Section 16-115; and .

(iii) on or before June 1, 2019 and every year thereafter, submit to the Commission and the Office of the Attorney General information about the rates the retail electric supplier charged to residential customers in the prior 12-month period, including each distinct rate charged and whether the rate was a fixed or variable rate, and any fees charged in addition to the supply rate, including monthly fees, flat fees, or similar service charges.

(b) An alternative retail electric supplier shall obtain verifiable authorization from a customer, in a form or manner approved by the Commission consistent with Section 2EE of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, before the customer is switched from another supplier.

(c) No alternative retail electric supplier, or electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area a customer is located, shall (i) enter into or employ any arrangements which have the effect of preventing a retail customer with a maximum electrical demand of less than one megawatt from having access to the services of the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located or (ii) charge retail customers for such access. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent an arms-length agreement between a supplier and a retail customer that sets a term of service, notice period for terminating service and provisions governing early termination through a tariff or contract as allowed by Section 16-119.

(d) An alternative retail electric supplier that is certified to serve residential or small commercial retail customers shall not:

(1) deny service to a customer or group of customers nor establish any differences as to prices, terms, conditions, services, products, facilities, or in any other respect, whereby such denial or differences are based upon race, gender or income.

(2) deny service to a customer or group of customers based on locality nor establish any unreasonable difference as to prices, terms, conditions, services, products, or facilities as between localities.

(e) An alternative retail electric supplier shall comply with the following requirements with respect to the marketing, offering and provision of products or services to residential and small commercial retail customers:

(i) Any marketing materials which make statements concerning prices, terms and conditions of service shall contain information that adequately discloses the prices, terms and conditions of the products or services that the alternative retail electric supplier is offering or selling to the customer and shall contain the current utility price.

(ii) Before any customer is switched from another supplier, the alternative retail electric supplier shall give the customer written information that adequately discloses, in plain language, the prices, terms and conditions of the products and services being offered and sold to the customer.

(iii) An alternative retail electric supplier shall provide documentation to the Commission and to customers that substantiates any claims made by the alternative retail electric supplier regarding the technologies and fuel types used to generate the electricity offered or sold to customers.

(iv) The alternative retail electric supplier shall provide to the customer (1) itemized billing statements that describe the products and services provided to the customer and their prices, and (2) an additional statement, at least annually, that adequately discloses the average monthly prices, and the terms and conditions, of the products and services sold to the customer.

(f) An alternative retail electric supplier may limit the overall size or availability of a service offering by specifying one or more of the following: a maximum number of customers, maximum amount of electric load to be served, time period during which the offering will be available, or other comparable limitation, but not including the geographic locations of customers within the area which the alternative retail electric supplier is certificated to serve. The alternative retail electric supplier shall file the terms and conditions of such service offering including the applicable limitations with the Commission prior to making the service offering available to customers.

(g) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as preventing an alternative retail electric supplier, which is an affiliate of, or which contracts with, (i) an industry or trade organization or association, (ii) a membership organization or association that exists for a purpose other than the purchase of electricity, or (iii) another organization that meets criteria established in a rule adopted by the Commission, from offering through the organization or association services at prices, terms and conditions that are available solely to the members of the organization or association.

(h) Beginning September 1, 2018, an alternative retail electric supplier that is certified to serve residential retail customers shall not charge customers who receive financial assistance from the Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program an amount that exceeds the public utility supply price. This amount includes the supply price and any fees or other charges charged by the alternative retail electric supplier. Existing agreements between an alternative retail electric supplier and an Illinois Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program recipient that charge the customer an amount that exceeds the public utility price shall not be renewed upon the expiration of the existing agreement.

(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)

(220 ILCS 5/20-110)

Sec. 20-110. Office of Retail Market Development. Within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, subject to appropriation, the Commission shall establish an Office of Retail Market Development and employ on its staff a Director of Retail Market Development to oversee the Office. The Director shall have authority to employ or otherwise retain at least 2 professionals dedicated to the task of actively seeking out ways to promote retail competition in Illinois to benefit all Illinois consumers.

The Office shall actively seek input from all interested parties and shall develop a thorough understanding and critical analyses of the tools and techniques used to promote retail competition in other states.

The Office shall monitor existing competitive conditions in Illinois, identify barriers to retail competition for all customer classes, and actively explore and propose to the Commission and to the General Assembly solutions to overcome identified barriers. The Director may include municipal aggregation of customers and creating and designing customer choice programs as tools for retail market development. Solutions proposed by the Office to promote retail competition must also promote safe, reliable, and affordable electric service.

On or before June 30 of each year, the Director shall submit a report to the Commission, the General Assembly, and the Governor, that details specific accomplishments achieved by the Office in the prior 12 months in promoting retail electric competition and that suggests administrative and legislative action necessary to promote further improvements in retail electric competition. On or before June 30, 2020 and every year thereafter, the report shall include the information submitted to the Commission pursuant to paragraph (iii) of subsection (a) of Section 16-115A.

(Source: P.A. 94-1095, eff. 2-2-07.)

Section 10. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2EE as follows:

(815 ILCS 505/2EE)

Sec. 2EE. Electric service provider selection. An electric service provider shall not submit or execute a change in a subscriber's selection of a provider of electric service unless and until (i) the provider first discloses all material terms and conditions of the offer to the subscriber; (ii) the provider has obtained the subscriber's express agreement to accept the offer after the disclosure of all material terms and conditions of the offer; and (iii) the provider has confirmed the request for a change in accordance with one of the following procedures:

(a) The new electric service provider has obtained the subscriber's written or electronically signed authorization in a form that meets the following requirements:

(1) An electric service provider shall obtain any necessary written or electronically signed authorization from a subscriber for a change in electric service by using a letter of agency as specified in this Section. Any letter of agency that does not conform with this Section is invalid.

(2) The letter of agency shall be a separate document (an easily separable document containing only the authorization language described in subparagraph (a)(5) of this Section) whose sole purpose is to authorize an electric service provider change. The letter of agency must be signed and dated by the subscriber requesting the electric service provider change.

(3) The letter of agency shall not be combined with inducements of any kind on the same document.

(4) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this Section, the letter of agency may be combined with checks that contain only the required letter of agency language prescribed in subparagraph (a)(5) of this Section and the necessary information to make the check a negotiable instrument. The letter of agency check shall not contain any promotional language or material. The letter of agency check shall contain in easily readable, bold-face type on the face of the check, a notice that the consumer is authorizing an electric service provider change by signing the check. The letter of agency language also shall be placed near the signature line on the back of the check.

(5) At a minimum, the letter of agency must be printed with a print of sufficient size to be clearly legible, and must contain clear and unambiguous language that confirms:

(i) The subscriber's billing name and address;

(ii) The decision to change the electric service provider from the current provider to the prospective provider;

(iii) The terms, conditions, and nature of the service to be provided to the subscriber must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, in writing, and an electric service provider must directly establish the rates for the service contracted for by the subscriber; and

(iv) That the subscriber understand that any electric service provider selection the subscriber chooses may involve a charge to the subscriber for changing the subscriber's electric service provider.

(6) Letters of agency shall not suggest or require that a subscriber take some action in order to retain the subscriber's current electric service provider.

(7) If any portion of a letter of agency is translated into another language, then all portions of the letter of agency must be translated into that language.

(b) An appropriately qualified independent third party has obtained, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this subsection (b), the subscriber's oral authorization to change electric suppliers that confirms and includes appropriate verification data. The independent third party (i) must not be owned, managed, controlled, or directed by the supplier or the supplier's marketing agent; (ii) must not have any financial incentive to confirm supplier change requests for the supplier or the supplier's marketing agent; and (iii) must operate in a location physically separate from the supplier or the supplier's marketing agent.

Automated third-party verification systems and 3-way conference calls may be used for verification purposes so long as the other requirements of this subsection (b) are satisfied.

A supplier or supplier's sales representative initiating a 3-way conference call or a call through an automated verification system must drop off the call once the 3-way connection has been established.

All third-party verification methods shall elicit, at a minimum, the following information: (i) the identity of the subscriber; (ii) confirmation that the person on the call is authorized to make the supplier change; (iii) confirmation that the person on the call wants to make the supplier change; (iv) the names of the suppliers affected by the change; (v) the service address of the supply to be switched; and (vi) the price of the service to be supplied and the material terms and conditions of the service being offered, including whether any early termination fees apply. Third-party verifiers may not market the supplier's services by providing additional information, including information regarding procedures to block or otherwise freeze an account against further changes.

All third-party verifications shall be conducted in the same language that was used in the underlying sales transaction and shall be recorded in their entirety. Submitting suppliers shall maintain and preserve audio records of verification of subscriber authorization for a minimum period of 2 years after obtaining the verification. Automated systems must provide consumers with an option to speak with a live person at any time during the call.

(c) When a subscriber initiates the call to the prospective electric supplier, in order to enroll the subscriber as a customer, the prospective electric supplier must, with the consent of the customer, make a date-stamped, time-stamped audio recording that elicits, at a minimum, the following information:

(1) the identity of the subscriber;

(2) confirmation that the person on the call is authorized to make the supplier change;

(3) confirmation that the person on the call wants to make the supplier change;

(4) the names of the suppliers affected by the change;

(5) the service address of the supply to be switched; and

(6) the price of the service to be supplied and the material terms and conditions of the service being offered, including whether any early termination fees apply.

Submitting suppliers shall maintain and preserve the audio records containing the information set forth above for a minimum period of 2 years.

(d) Complaints may be filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission under this Section by a subscriber whose electric service has been provided by an electric service supplier in a manner not in compliance with this Section. If, after notice and hearing, the Commission finds that an electric service provider has violated this Section, the Commission may in its discretion do any one or more of the following:

(1) Require the violating electric service provider to refund to the subscriber charges collected in excess of those that would have been charged by the subscriber's authorized electric service provider.

(2) Require the violating electric service provider to pay to the subscriber's authorized electric supplier the amount the authorized electric supplier would have collected for the electric service. The Commission is authorized to reduce this payment by any amount already paid by the violating electric supplier to the subscriber's authorized provider for electric service.

(3) Require the violating electric subscriber to pay a fine of up to $1,000 into the Public Utility Fund for each repeated and intentional violation of this Section.

(4) Issue a cease and desist order.

(5) For a pattern of violation of this Section or for intentionally violating a cease and desist order, revoke the violating provider's certificate of service authority.

(e) For purposes of this Section, "electric service provider" shall have the meaning given that phrase in Section 6.5 of the Attorney General Act.

(f) A violation of Section 16-115A of the Public Utilities Act and the administrative rules adopted thereunder at 83 Ill. Adm. Code Part 412 also constitutes a violation of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 95-700, eff. 11-9-07.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.