Sen. Patrick J. Joyce

Filed: 4/16/2021

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2393

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2393 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7    "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
8Opportunity.
9    "Qualifying gas pipeline project" means the construction
10or installation of gas equipment used in connection with the
11distribution and delivery of natural gas in Pembroke Township.
 
12    Section 10. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
13Program.
14    (a) The Department shall create the Pembroke Township
15Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program for a duration of 5

 

 

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1years. The Program shall provide that the Department shall
2distribute grants, subject to appropriation, from moneys in
3the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Fund for the
4conversion of appliances to be compatible with natural gas.
5    (b) The Department shall adopt rules for the
6administration of the Program. At a minimum, the rules shall
7require that the applicant for the grants demonstrate that the
8grants will result in the conversion of necessary equipment to
9have the ability to utilize natural gas. The rules shall allow
10for conversion grants awarded to residents of Pembroke
11Township and to Pembroke Township to provide assistance for
12the use of natural gas and shall ensure that the applicant
13complies with all other requirements of the rules.
14    (c) A grantee must maintain all records as required by
15rule. The records shall be subject to audit by the Department,
16by an auditor appointed by the Department, or by a State
17officer authorized to conduct audits.
18    (d) Eligible applicants under this Program may include a
19nonprofit or community action association that will help the
20residents of Pembroke with the convergence of natural gas
21services in the residents' homes. Notwithstanding any
22provision of law to the contrary, an entity regulated under
23the Public Utilities Act may serve as a grantee under this Act.
 
24    Section 15. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
25Program Fund. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment

 

 

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1Pilot Program Fund is created as a special fund in the State
2treasury. Subject to appropriation, all moneys in the Fund
3shall be used by the Department to fund grants for qualified
4utility infrastructure projects. The Department may accept
5private and public funds, including federal funds, for deposit
6into the Fund. Earnings attributable to moneys in the Fund
7shall be deposited into the Fund.
 
8    Section 20. Data collection and reporting. The Department
9shall collect data regarding the successes and challenges of
10the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program and
11shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General
12Assembly by March 1 of each year beginning in 2022 until the
13Pilot Program terminates. The report shall: (i) make a
14recommendation as to whether the Pilot Program should
15continue; (ii) provide cost estimates, including the average
16per person costs; and (iii) recommend ways in which the Pilot
17Program can be improved to better address the needs for
18natural gas distribution.
 
19    Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
20Section 5.935 as follows:
 
21    (30 ILCS 105/5.935 new)
22    Sec. 5.935. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
23Pilot Program Fund.
 

 

 

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1    Section 95. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
2changing Sections 8-406 and by adding Section 8-406.2 as
3follows:
 
4    (220 ILCS 5/8-406)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
5    Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
6necessity.
7    (a) No public utility not owning any city or village
8franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
9furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
10July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
11convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
12Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission or the
13Public Utilities Commission, at the time this amendatory Act
14of 1985 goes into effect, shall transact any business in this
15State until it shall have obtained a certificate from the
16Commission that public convenience and necessity require the
17transaction of such business. A certificate of public
18convenience and necessity requiring the transaction of public
19utility business in any area of this State shall include
20authorization to the public utility receiving the certificate
21of public convenience and necessity to construct such plant,
22equipment, property, or facility as is provided for under the
23terms and conditions of its tariff and as is necessary to
24provide utility service and carry out the transaction of

 

 

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1public utility business by the public utility in the
2designated area.
3    (b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
4new plant, equipment, property or facility which is not in
5substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property or
6facility or any extension or alteration thereof or in addition
7thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from the
8Commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity
9require such construction. Whenever after a hearing the
10Commission determines that any new construction or the
11transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
12the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
13the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
14necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
15construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
16only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
17construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
18efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
19of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
20proposed construction will promote the development of an
21effectively competitive electricity market that operates
22efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
23cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the
24utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
25construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
26adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;

 

 

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1and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
2construction without significant adverse financial
3consequences for the utility or its customers.
4    (c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
51987, no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power
6plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of
7public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall
8be issued therefor by the Commission, until the Director of
9the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency finds that the
10United States Government, through its authorized agency, has
11identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for
12the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such
13construction has been specifically approved by a statute
14enacted by the General Assembly.
15    As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
16those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
17cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
18concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or
19equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
20fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
21reprocessing.
22    (d) In making its determination under subsection (b) of
23this Section, the Commission shall attach primary weight to
24the cost or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
25Commission may consider any or all factors which will or may
26affect such cost or cost savings, including the public

 

 

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1utility's engineering judgment regarding the materials used
2for construction.
3    (e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
4shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
5emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
6serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
7the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
8by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
9temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
10certificate will not be required in the public interest.
11    A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may
12apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
13necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
14as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
15Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
16authorization or order granted a public utility by the
17Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
18deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the
19same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
20and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
21    No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
22party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
23appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
24Section for authorization of power plant construction and as
25to matters as to which a remedy is available under The Electric
26Supplier Act.

 

 

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1    (f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
2Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the
3person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
4period of 2 years from the grant thereof authority conferred
5by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
6Commission shall be null and void.
7    No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall
8be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
9immunity or franchise.
10    (g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
11described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or
12that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
13Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
14this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
15apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of
16this Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an
17electric line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For
18purposes of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of
19the following:
20        (1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
21    electric service line and related facilities,
22    notwithstanding its length;
23        (2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
24    service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
25    length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
26    roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or

 

 

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1        (3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
2    related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a
3    single customer's premises or to provide a generator
4    interconnection to the public utility's transmission
5    system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
6    by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
7    premises for which the customer or generator has secured
8    the necessary right of way.
9    (h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
10electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
11show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
12meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
13each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
146 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
15public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
16of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
17general circulation within the affected county once a week for
183 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior
19to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
20contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
21line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
22proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
23transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
24other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
25meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
26mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements

 

 

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1regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
2Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
3Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
4county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
5the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
6meeting.
7    (i) For applications filed after the effective date of
8this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the
9Commission shall by registered mail notify each owner of
10record of land, as identified in the records of the relevant
11county tax assessor, included in the right-of-way over which
12the utility seeks in its application to construct a
13high-voltage electric line of the time and place scheduled for
14the initial hearing on the public utility's application. The
15utility shall reimburse the Commission for the cost of the
16postage and supplies incurred for mailing the notice.
17(Source: P.A. 99-399, eff. 8-18-15.)
 
18    (220 ILCS 5/8-406.2 new)
19    Sec. 8-406.2. Certificate of public convenience and
20necessity; extension of utility service area and facilities to
21serve designated hardship areas.
22    (a) This Section is intended to provide a mechanism by
23which a gas public utility may extend its service territory
24and gas distribution system to provide service to designated
25low-income areas whose residents do not have access to natural

 

 

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1gas service and must purchase more costly alternatives to
2satisfy their energy needs.
3    (b) In this Section:
4    "Designated hardship area" means a defined geographic area
5described by the applicant gas utility that meets the
6following requirements:
7        (1) the area is designated as a qualified census tract
8    by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as
9    published in the most current Federal Register; if the
10    U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ceases to
11    make this designation, then at least 25% of the households
12    in the area are at or below the poverty level; and
13        (2) the area is not currently served by a gas utility.
14    "Hardship area facilities" means all gas distribution
15system facilities that are proposed to be constructed or
16extended and used to serve the designated hardship area,
17through and including retail gas meters. "Hardship area
18facilities" includes the capacity to address reasonably
19foreseeable growth in areas adjacent to or in the vicinity of
20the designated hardship area.
21    (c) A gas public utility may apply for a certificate of
22public convenience and necessity pursuant to this Section to
23increase its gas service territory and extend its gas
24distribution system to serve a designated hardship area. An
25application under this Section shall include all of the
26following:

 

 

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1        (1) a description of the designated hardship area and
2    its relationship to the existing gas distribution system
3    of the applicant;
4        (2) a showing that the designated hardship area meets
5    the criteria for being a designated hardship area under
6    subsection (b) of this Section;
7        (3) a description of the hardship area facilities
8    proposed to serve the designated hardship area;
9        (4) a projection of the costs to construct and deploy
10    the hardship area facilities; and
11        (5) a showing that the estimated cost to construct and
12    deploy the hardship area facilities is equal to or less
13    than 250% of the amount allowed under the gas utilities'
14    then current tariffs to provide standard service to extend
15    main and services.
16    (d) The Commission shall, after notice and hearing, grant
17a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this
18Section if, based upon the application filed with the
19Commission and the evidentiary record, the Commission finds
20that all of the following criteria are satisfied:
21        (1) the area to be served is a designated hardship
22    area;
23        (2) the proposed hardship area facilities will provide
24    adequate, reliable, and efficient gas delivery service to
25    the customers within the designated hardship area and are
26    the least-cost means of providing such gas delivery

 

 

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1    service to these customers;
2        (3) the public utility is capable of efficiently
3    managing and supervising the construction of the hardship
4    area facilities and has taken sufficient action to ensure
5    adequate and efficient construction and supervision of the
6    construction;
7        (4) the public utility is capable of financing the
8    construction of the hardship area facilities without
9    significant adverse financial consequences for the utility
10    or its customers; and
11        (5) the estimated cost to construct and deploy the
12    hardship area facilities is equal to or less than 250% of
13    the amount allowed under the gas utilities then current
14    tariffs to provide standard service to extend main and
15    services.
16    (e) The Commission shall issue its decision with findings
17of fact and conclusions of law granting or denying the
18application no later than 120 days after the application is
19filed.
 
20    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21becoming law.".