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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB1550
Introduced 2/22/2007, by Rep. Jack D. Franks SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Creates the Renewable Solar and Wind Energy Act. Provides that beginning July 1, 2007, certain entities not in the electric utility business or in the gas
distribution business may apply to the electric utility
serving the situs of the entity for an investment cost recovery incentive for each kilowatt-hour
from a customer-generated electricity renewable energy system installed
on the entity's property that is not interconnected to an electric distribution
system. Requires applicants to submit a certification to the Department of Revenue before being approved for the incentive. Requires applicants to keep records of incentives received. Provides for recovery of incentives due and remittance of excessive incentives. Provides tax credits for certain participating entities. Requires the Department to report to the Environment and Energy Committees of the General Assembly by
December 1, 2011 on the impact of this Act.
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A BILL FOR
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| AN ACT concerning renewable energy.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the |
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| Renewable Solar and Wind Energy Act. |
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| Section 5. Legislative findings. The General Assembly |
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| finds that the use of
renewable energy resources generated from |
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| local sources such as solar
and wind power benefit the State by |
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| reducing the load on the State's
electric energy grid, by |
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| providing non-polluting sources of electricity
generation, and |
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| by the creation of jobs for local industries that
develop and |
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| sell renewable energy products and technologies.
The State can |
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| support these industries by providing
incentives for the |
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| purchase of locally made renewable energy products.
Locally |
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| made renewable technologies benefit and protect the State's
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| environment. The General Assembly also finds that the State's |
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| economy can
be enhanced through the creation of incentives to |
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| develop additional
renewable energy industries in the State. |
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| The General Assembly intends to provide incentives for the |
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| greater use
of locally created renewable energy technologies, |
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| support and retain
existing local industries, and create new |
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| opportunities for renewable
energy industries to develop in the |
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| State. |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| Section 10. Definitions. For purposes of this Act:
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| (1) "Customer-generated electricity" means the alternating |
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| current
electricity that is generated from a renewable energy |
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| system located on
an individual's, businesses', or unit of |
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| local government's real property that
is also provided |
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| electricity generated by an electric utility.
A system located |
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| on a leasehold interest does not qualify under this
definition. |
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| "Customer-generated electricity" does not include
electricity |
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| generated by an electric utility with greater than
1,000 |
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| megawatt hours of annual sales or a gas distribution
business.
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| (2) "Economic development kilowatt-hour" means the actual |
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| kilowatt-hour measurement of customer-generated electricity |
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| multiplied by the
appropriate economic development factor.
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| (3) "Photovoltaic cell" means a device that converts light |
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| directly
into electricity without moving parts.
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| (4) "Renewable energy system" means a solar energy system |
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| or a wind generator
used for producing electricity.
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| (5) "Solar energy system" means any device or combination |
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| of
devices or elements that rely upon direct sunlight as an |
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| energy source
for use in the generation of electricity.
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| (6) "Solar inverter" means the device used to convert |
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| direct
current to alternating current in a photovoltaic cell |
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| system.
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| (7) "Solar module" means the smallest nondivisible |
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| self-contained
physical structure housing interconnected |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| photovoltaic cells and
providing a single direct current |
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| electrical output.
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| (8) "Standards for interconnection to the electric |
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| distribution
system" means technical, engineering, |
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| operational, safety, and
procedural requirements for |
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| interconnection to the electric
distribution system of an |
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| electric utility.
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| Section 15. Investment; cost recovery. |
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| (a) Any individual, business, or unit of local
government, |
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| not in the electric utility business or in the gas
distribution |
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| business, may apply to the electric utility
serving that |
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| individual, business, or unit of local
government, each State |
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| fiscal year beginning on July 1,
2007, for an investment cost |
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| recovery incentive for each kilowatt-hour
from a |
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| customer-generated electricity renewable energy system |
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| installed
on its property that is not interconnected to the |
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| electric distribution
system. No incentive may be paid for |
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| kilowatt-hours generated before
July 1, 2007, or after June 30, |
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| 2014.
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| (b) When electric utilities serving 80% of the
total |
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| customer load in the State adopt uniform standards for
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| interconnection to the electric distribution system, any |
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| individual,
business, or local governmental entity, not in the |
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| electric utility
business or in the gas distribution business, |
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| may apply to the electric utility serving that individual, |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| business, or unit of local
government, each fiscal year,
for an |
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| investment cost recovery incentive for each kilowatt-hour from
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| a customer-generated electricity renewable energy system |
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| installed on
its property that is not interconnected to the |
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| electric distribution
system and from a customer-generated |
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| electricity renewable energy
system installed on its property |
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| that is interconnected to the electric
distribution system. |
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| Uniform standards for interconnection to the
electric |
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| distribution system means those standards established by |
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| electric utilities that have 90% of total requirements in |
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| common. No incentive may be paid for kilowatt-hours generated |
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| before
July 1, 2007, or after June 30, 2014.
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| (c) Before submitting for the first time the application |
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| for the
incentive allowed under this Section, the applicant |
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| shall submit to the
Department of Revenue a certification in a |
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| form and manner prescribed by the
Department that includes, but |
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| is not limited to, the following
information:
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| (1) the name and address of the applicant and location |
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| of the
renewable energy system;
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| (2) the applicant's tax registration number;
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| (3) that the electricity produced by the applicant |
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| meets the
definition of "customer-generated electricity" |
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| and that the renewable
energy system produces electricity |
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| with:
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| (A) any solar inverters and solar modules |
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| manufactured in
the State;
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| (B) a wind generator powered by blades |
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| manufactured in the
State;
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| (C) a solar inverter manufactured in the State;
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| (D) a solar module manufactured in the State; or
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| (E) solar or wind equipment manufactured outside |
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| of the State;
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| (4) that the electricity can be transformed or |
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| transmitted for
entry into or operation in parallel with |
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| electricity transmission and
distribution systems;
and |
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| (5) the date that the renewable energy system received |
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| any required final
electrical permit from the applicable |
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| local jurisdiction.
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| Within 30 days after receipt of the certification the
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| Department shall advise the applicant in writing whether the
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| renewable energy system qualifies for an incentive under this |
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| Section.
The Department may consult with the other State |
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| agencies to determine eligibility for the incentive. |
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| (d) By August 1 of each year, application for the incentive
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| shall be made to the electric utility serving the situs of the
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| system by certification in a form and manner prescribed by the
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| Department that includes, but is not limited to, the following
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| information:
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| (1) the name and address of the applicant and location |
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| of the
renewable energy system;
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| (2) the applicant's tax registration number;
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| (3) the date of the letter from the Department stating
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| that the renewable energy system is eligible for the |
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| incentives under
this Section;
and |
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| (4) a statement of the amount of kilowatt-hours |
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| generated by the
renewable energy system in the prior |
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| fiscal year.
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| Within 60 days of receipt of the incentive certification |
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| the
electric utility serving the situs of the system shall |
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| notify
the applicant in writing whether the incentive payment |
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| will be
authorized or denied. The business may consult with the |
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| Department to determine eligibility for the
incentive payment. |
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| Persons receiving incentive payments shall keep and
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| preserve, for a period of 5 years, suitable records as may be
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| necessary to determine the amount of incentive applied for and
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| received. Such records shall be open for examination at any |
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| time upon
notice by the electric utility that made the payment |
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| or by the
Department. If upon examination of any records or |
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| from other
information obtained by the business or Department |
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| it appears that an
incentive has been paid in an amount that |
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| exceeds the correct amount of
incentive payable, the business |
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| may assess against the person for the
amount found to have been |
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| paid in excess of the correct amount of
incentive payable and |
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| shall add interest on that amount. |
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| If it appears that the amount of incentive paid is less |
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| than
the correct amount of incentive payable the business may |
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| authorize
additional payment.
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| (e) The investment cost recovery incentive may be paid |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| $0.15 per economic development kilowatt-hour unless requests |
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| exceed the
amount authorized for credit to the participating |
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| electric utility. For the purposes of this Section, the rate |
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| paid for the
investment cost recovery incentive may be |
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| multiplied by the following
factors:
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| (1) For customer-generated electricity produced using |
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| solar modules
manufactured in the State, 2 and four-tenths. |
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| (2) For customer-generated electricity produced using |
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| a solar or a
wind generator equipped with an inverter |
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| manufactured in this State, one and two-tenths. |
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| (3) For customer-generated electricity produced using |
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| an anaerobic
digester, or by other solar equipment or using |
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| a wind generator
equipped with blades manufactured in this |
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| State, one. |
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| (4) For all other customer-generated electricity |
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| produced by wind,
eight-tenths. |
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| (f) No individual, household, business, or local |
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| governmental
entity is eligible for incentives for more than |
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| $2,000
per year.
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| (g) If requests for the investment cost recovery incentive |
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| exceed
the amount of funds available for credit to the |
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| participating electric utility, the incentive payments shall |
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| be reduced
proportionately.
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| (h) The environmental attributes of the renewable energy |
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| system
belong to the applicant, and do not transfer to the |
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| State or the electric utility upon receipt of the investment |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| cost recovery
incentive.
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| Section 20. Credit. |
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| (a) An electric utility shall be
allowed a credit against |
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| any taxes otherwise due to the State of Illinois in an amount
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| equal to investment cost recovery incentive payments made in |
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| any fiscal
year under Section 15 of this Act. The credit shall |
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| be taken in a form
and manner as required by the Department. |
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| The credit may not exceed the taxes that would otherwise be |
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| owed by the entity. Refunds shall not be granted in the place |
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| of credits.
Expenditures not used to earn a credit in one |
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| fiscal year may not be
used to earn a credit in subsequent |
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| years.
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| (b) For any business that has claimed credit for amounts |
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| that
exceed the correct amount of the incentive payable under |
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| Section 15 of
this Act, the amount of tax against which credit |
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| was claimed for the
excess payments shall be immediately due |
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| and payable. The Department
shall assess interest but not |
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| penalties on the taxes against which the
credit was claimed. |
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| (c) The right to earn tax credits under this Section |
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| expires June
30, 2015. Credits may not be claimed after June |
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| 30, 2016.
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| Section 25. Reports. |
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| (a) Using existing sources of information,
the Department |
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| shall report to the Environment and Energy Committees of the |
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HB1550 |
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LRB095 10142 CMK 30356 b |
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| General Assembly by
December 1, 2011. The report shall measure |
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| the impact of this Act,
including the total number of solar |
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| energy system manufacturing
companies in the State, any change |
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| in the number of solar energy system
manufacturing companies in |
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| the State, and, when relevant, the effect
on job creation, the |
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| number of jobs created for State residents,
and such other |
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| factors as the Department selects.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
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| becoming law.
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