Full Text of HB6424 96th General Assembly
HB6424ham001 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Rep. Michael K. Smith
Filed: 3/23/2010
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LRB096 21052 AMC 39306 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 6424
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 6424 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 9-201 as follows: | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/9-201) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 9-201) | 7 |
| Sec. 9-201. (a) Unless the Commission otherwise orders, and | 8 |
| except as
otherwise provided in this Section, no change shall | 9 |
| be made by any
public utility in any rate or other charge or | 10 |
| classification, or in any
rule, regulation, practice or | 11 |
| contract relating to or affecting any rate
or other charge, | 12 |
| classification or service, or in any privilege or
facility, | 13 |
| except after 45 days' notice to the Commission and to the
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| public as herein provided. Such notice shall be given by filing | 15 |
| with
the Commission and keeping open for public inspection new | 16 |
| schedules or
supplements stating plainly the change or changes |
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| to be made in the
schedule or schedules then in force, and the | 2 |
| time when the change or
changes will go into effect, and by | 3 |
| publication in a newspaper of
general circulation or such other | 4 |
| notice to persons affected by such
change as may be prescribed | 5 |
| by rule of the Commission. The Commission,
for good cause | 6 |
| shown, may allow changes without requiring the 45 days'
notice | 7 |
| herein provided for, by an order specifying the changes so to | 8 |
| be
made and the time when they shall take effect and the manner | 9 |
| in which
they shall be filed and published. | 10 |
| No increases shall be made by an electric utility in any | 11 |
| rate or other charge or classification, or in any rule, | 12 |
| regulation, practice, or contract relating to or affecting any | 13 |
| rate or other charge, classification, or service, or in any | 14 |
| privilege or facility for 3 years after the effective date of | 15 |
| this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly. | 16 |
| When any change is proposed in any rate or other charge, or
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| classification, or in any rule, regulation, practice, or | 18 |
| contract
relating to or affecting any rate or other charge, | 19 |
| classification or
service, or in any privilege or facility, | 20 |
| such proposed change shall be
plainly indicated on the new | 21 |
| schedule filed with the Commission, by some
character to be | 22 |
| designated by the Commission, immediately preceding or
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| following the item. | 24 |
| When any public utility providing water or sewer service | 25 |
| proposes any
change in any rate or other charge, or | 26 |
| classification, or in any rule,
regulation, practice, or |
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LRB096 21052 AMC 39306 a |
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| contract relating to or affecting any rate or
other charge, | 2 |
| classification or service, or in any privilege or facility,
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| such utility shall, in addition to the other notice | 4 |
| requirements of this
Act, provide notice of such change to all | 5 |
| customers potentially affected by
including a notice and | 6 |
| description of such change, and of Commission
procedures for | 7 |
| intervention, in the first bill sent to each such customer
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| after the filing of the proposed change. | 9 |
| (b) Whenever there shall be filed with the Commission any | 10 |
| schedule
stating an individual or joint rate or other charge, | 11 |
| classification,
contract, practice, rule or regulation, the | 12 |
| Commission shall have power,
and it is hereby given authority, | 13 |
| either upon complaint or upon its own
initiative without | 14 |
| complaint, at once, and if it so orders, without
answer or | 15 |
| other formal pleadings by the interested public utility or
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| utilities, but upon reasonable notice, to enter upon a hearing
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| concerning the propriety of such rate or other charge, | 18 |
| classification,
contract, practice, rule or regulation, and | 19 |
| pending the hearing and
decision thereon, such rate or other | 20 |
| charge, classification, contract,
practice, rule or regulation | 21 |
| shall not go into effect. The period of
suspension of such rate | 22 |
| or other charge, classification, contract,
practice, rule or | 23 |
| regulation shall not extend more than 105 days beyond
the time | 24 |
| when such rate or other charge, classification, contract,
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| practice, rule or regulation would otherwise go into effect | 26 |
| unless the
Commission, in its discretion, extends the period of |
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| suspension for a
further period not exceeding 6 months. | 2 |
| All rates or other charges, classifications, contracts, | 3 |
| practices, rules or
regulations not so suspended shall, on the | 4 |
| expiration of 45 days from
the time of filing the same with the | 5 |
| Commission, or of such lesser time
as the Commission may grant, | 6 |
| go into effect and be the established and
effective rates or | 7 |
| other charges, classifications, contracts, practices,
rules | 8 |
| and regulations, subject to the power of the Commission, after | 9 |
| a
hearing had on its own motion or upon complaint, as herein | 10 |
| provided, to
alter or modify the same. | 11 |
| Within 30 days after such changes have been
authorized by | 12 |
| the Commission, copies of the new or revised schedules
shall be | 13 |
| posted or filed in accordance with the terms of Section 9-103 | 14 |
| of
this Act, in such a manner that all changes shall be plainly | 15 |
| indicated. The Commission shall incorporate into the period of | 16 |
| suspension a review period of 4 business days during which the | 17 |
| Commission may review and determine whether the new or revised | 18 |
| schedules comply with the Commission's decision approving a | 19 |
| change to the public utility's rates. Such review period shall | 20 |
| not extend the suspension period by more than 2 days. Absent | 21 |
| notification to the contrary within the 4 business day period, | 22 |
| the new or revised schedules shall be deemed approved. | 23 |
| (c) If the Commission enters upon a hearing concerning the | 24 |
| propriety of
any proposed rate or other charge, classification, | 25 |
| contract, practice, rule
or regulation, the Commission shall | 26 |
| establish the rates or other charges,
classifications, |
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| contracts, practices, rules or regulations proposed, in
whole | 2 |
| or in part, or others in lieu thereof, which it shall find to | 3 |
| be just
and reasonable. In such hearing, the burden of proof to | 4 |
| establish the justness
and reasonableness of the proposed rates | 5 |
| or other charges, classifications,
contracts, practices, rules | 6 |
| or regulations, in whole and in part, shall be
upon the | 7 |
| utility. The utility, the staff of the Commission, the Attorney | 8 |
| General, or any party to a proceeding initiated under this | 9 |
| Section who has been granted intervenor status and submitted a | 10 |
| post-hearing brief must be given the opportunity to present | 11 |
| oral argument, if requested no later than the date for filing | 12 |
| exceptions, on the propriety of any proposed rate or other | 13 |
| charge, classification, contract, practice, rule, or | 14 |
| regulation. No rate or other charge, classification, contract,
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| practice, rule or regulation shall be found just and reasonable | 16 |
| unless it
is consistent with Sections of this Article. | 17 |
| (d) Except where compliance with Section 8-401 of this Act | 18 |
| is of urgent and immediate concern, no representative of a | 19 |
| public utility may discuss with a commissioner, commissioner's | 20 |
| assistant, or hearing examiner in a non-public setting a | 21 |
| planned filing for a general rate increase. If a public utility | 22 |
| makes a filing under this Section, then no substantive | 23 |
| communication by any such person with a commissioner, | 24 |
| commissioner's assistant or hearing examiner concerning the | 25 |
| filing is permitted until a notice of hearing has been issued. | 26 |
| After the notice of hearing has been issued, the only |
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| communications by any such person with a commissioner, | 2 |
| commissioner's assistant, or hearing examiner concerning the | 3 |
| filing permitted are communications permitted under Section | 4 |
| 10-103 of this Act. If any such communication does occur, then | 5 |
| within 5 days of the docket being initiated all details | 6 |
| relating to the communication shall be placed on the public | 7 |
| record of the proceeding. The record shall include any | 8 |
| materials, whether written, recorded, filmed, or graphic in | 9 |
| nature, produced or reproduced on any media, used in connection | 10 |
| with the communication. The record shall reflect the names of | 11 |
| all persons who transmitted, received, or were otherwise | 12 |
| involved in the communication, the duration of the | 13 |
| communication, and whether the communication occurred in | 14 |
| person or by other means. In the case of an oral communication, | 15 |
| the record shall also reflect the location or locations of all | 16 |
| persons involved in the communication and, if the communication | 17 |
| occurred by telephone, the telephone numbers for the callers | 18 |
| and recipients of the communication. A commissioner, | 19 |
| commissioner's assistant, or hearing examiner who is involved | 20 |
| in any such communication shall be recused from the affected | 21 |
| proceeding. The Commission, or any commissioner or hearing | 22 |
| examiner presiding over the proceeding shall, in the event of a | 23 |
| violation of this Section, take action necessary to ensure that | 24 |
| such violation does not prejudice any party or adversely affect | 25 |
| the fairness of the proceedings including dismissing the | 26 |
| affected proceeding. Nothing in this subsection (d) is intended |
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| to preclude otherwise allowable updates on issues that may be | 2 |
| indirectly related to a general rate case filing because cost | 3 |
| recovery for the underlying activity may be requested. Such | 4 |
| updates may include, without limitation, issues related to | 5 |
| outages and restoration, credit ratings, security issuances, | 6 |
| reliability, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission matters, | 7 |
| Federal Communications Commission matters, regional | 8 |
| reliability organizations, consumer education, or labor | 9 |
| matters, provided that such updates may not include cost | 10 |
| recovery in a planned rate case. | 11 |
| (Source: P.A. 96-33, eff. 7-10-09.)".
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