HB0351sam001 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Gary Forby

Filed: 5/1/2007

09500HB0351sam001 LRB095 05290 MJR 35653 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 351

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 351 on page 1, by replacing lines 4 and 5 with the following:

"Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Sections 16-103 and 16-118 and by adding Section 17-800 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/16-103)

Sec. 16-103. Service obligations of electric utilities.

(a) An electric utility shall continue offering to retail customers each tariffed service that it offered as a distinct and identifiable service on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997 until the service is (i) declared competitive pursuant to Section 16-113, or (ii) abandoned pursuant to Section 8-508. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as limiting an electric utility's right to propose, or the Commission's power to approve, allow or order modifications in the rates, terms and conditions for such services pursuant to Article IX or Section 16-111 of this Act.

(b) An electric utility shall also offer, as tariffed services, delivery services in accordance with this Article, the power purchase options described in Section 16-110 and real-time pricing as provided in Section 16-107.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, each electric utility shall continue offering to all residential customers and to all small commercial retail customers in its service area, as a tariffed service, bundled electric power and energy delivered to the customer's premises consistent with the bundled utility service provided by the electric utility on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997. Upon declaration of the provision of electric power and energy as competitive, the electric utility shall continue to offer to such customers, as a tariffed service, bundled service options at rates which reflect recovery of all cost components for providing the service. For those components of the service which have been declared competitive, cost shall be the market based prices. Market based prices as referred to herein shall mean, for electric power and energy, either (i) those prices for electric power and energy determined as provided in Section 16-112, or (ii) the electric utility's cost of obtaining the electric power and energy at wholesale through a competitive bidding or other arms-length acquisition process.

(d) Any residential or small commercial retail customer which elects delivery services is entitled to return to the electric utility's bundled utility tariffed service offering provided in accordance with subsection (c) of this Section upon payment of a reasonable administrative fee which shall be set forth in the tariff, provided, however, that the electric utility shall be entitled to impose the condition that such customer may not elect delivery services for up to 24 months thereafter.

(e) The Commission shall not require an electric utility to offer any tariffed service other than the services required by this Section, and shall not require an electric utility to offer any competitive service.

(f) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers shall maintain a full, complete, accurate, and current electronic database containing the retail account information for all retail customers in its service territory with a non-coincident peak demand of less than 400 kilowatts. The retail account information shall include, but not be limited to, the retail customer's name, account number, meter number, service address, an indication whether the retail customer is receiving bundled electric power and energy from the electric utility, billing and usage data dating back no less than 24 months, and shall be capable of generating cumulative information concerning the usage, load shape curve, or other general characteristics of customers by rate classification. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Article, upon the request of the corporate authorities of a municipality or county board, or a person who presents verifiable authorization and is acting as their agent, and payment of a reasonable fee, the electric utility shall provide real time access to such retail account information database and shall otherwise make such customer information available in an electronic format. The charges associated with the provision of service pursuant to this Section shall be subject to periodic Commission review. Any municipality or county board that receives such retail account information shall have the right to provide such retail account information or any portion thereof to any alternative retail electric supplier that any municipality or county board has selected to assist it in aggregating the retail electric loads of its residents pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section.

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

(220 ILCS 5/16-118)

Sec. 16-118. Services provided by electric utilities to alternative retail electric suppliers.

(a) It is in the best interest of Illinois energy consumers to promote fair and open competition in the provision of electric power and energy and to prevent anticompetitive practices in the provision of electric power and energy. Therefore, to the extent an electric utility provides electric power and energy or delivery services to alternative retail electric suppliers and such services are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and are not competitive services, they shall be provided through tariffs that are filed with the Commission, pursuant to Article IX of this Act. Each electric utility shall permit alternative retail electric suppliers to interconnect facilities to those owned by the utility provided they meet established standards for such interconnection, and may provide standby or other services to alternative retail electric suppliers. The alternative retail electric supplier shall sign a contract setting forth the prices, terms and conditions for interconnection with the electric utility and the prices, terms and conditions for services provided by the electric utility to the alternative retail electric supplier in connection with the delivery by the electric utility of electric power and energy supplied by the alternative retail electric supplier.

(b) An electric utility shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of the Act that would allow alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located to issue single bills to the retail customers for both the services provided by such alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility and the delivery services provided by the electric utility to such customers. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection shall (i) require partial payments made by retail customers to be credited first to the electric utility's tariffed services, (ii) impose commercially reasonable terms with respect to credit and collection, including requests for deposits, (iii) retain the electric utility's right to disconnect the retail customers, if it does not receive payment for its tariffed services, in the same manner that it would be permitted to if it had billed for the services itself, and (iv) require the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility that elects the billing option provided by this tariff to include on each bill to retail customers an identification of the electric utility providing the delivery services and a listing of the charges applicable to such services. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions. In addition, an electric utility, an alternative retail electric supplier or electric utility other than the electric utility in whose service area the customer is located, and a customer served by such alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility, may enter into an agreement pursuant to which the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility pays the charges specified in Section 16-108, or other customer-related charges, including taxes and fees, in lieu of such charges being recovered by the electric utility directly from the customer.

(c) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that provides alternative retail electric suppliers, and electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located, and that are providing service to residents of municipalities or counties that have aggregated, the retail electric loads of those residents pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section with the option to have the electric utility purchase their receivables for power and energy service provided to retail customers with a non-coincident peak demand of less than 400 kilowatts. Receivables for power and energy of alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area the retail customers are located shall be purchased by the electric utility at a just and reasonable discount rate to be reviewed and approved by the Commission after notice and hearing. The discount rate shall be based on the electric utility's historical bad debt and any administrative costs associated with the electric utility's purchase of receivables. The discounted rate for purchase of receivables shall be included in the tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (c). The discount rate filed pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to periodic reconciliations and Commission review. The electric utility shall impose the same terms on retail customers with respect to credit and collection, including requests for deposits, and retain the electric utility's right to disconnect the retail customers, if it does not receive payment for its tariffed services or purchased receivables, in the same manner that it would be permitted to if the retail customers purchased power and energy from the electric utility. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (c) may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions.

(d) An electric utility with more than 100,000 customers shall file a tariff pursuant to Article IX of this Act that would provide alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located and that are providing service to residents of municipalities or counties that have aggregated the retail electric loads of the residents pursuant to subsection (a) of this Section with the option to have the electric utility produce and provide single bills to the retail customers for both the services provided by the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility and the delivery services provided by the electric utility to the customers. The tariffs filed pursuant to this subsection shall require the electric utility to collect and remit customer payments for services provided by alternative retail electric suppliers or electric utilities other than the electric utility in whose service area retail customers are located. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection shall require the electric utility to include on each bill to retail customers an identification of the alternative retail electric supplier or other electric utility that elects the billing option. The tariff filed pursuant to this subsection (d) may also include other just and reasonable terms and conditions and provide for the recovery of prudently incurred costs associated with the provision of service pursuant to this subsection (d). The costs associated with the provision of service pursuant to this section shall be subject to periodic Commission review.

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

on page 1, line 21, immediately following "aggregated", by inserting the following: ", or, in municipalities with a population over 500,000, whether each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center will be automatically enrolled in the aggregation unless that person exercises an option not to participate"; and

on page 3, line 21, by replacing "120" with "45"; and

on page 4, by replacing lines 1 through 17 with the following: "services pursuant to the methods established in the plan."; and

on page 4, line 20, by replacing "opt in" with "opt in or, in municipalities with a population over 500,000, opt out, as the case may be,".