Full Text of SB2485 96th General Assembly
SB2485 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 SB2485
Introduced 10/15/2009, by Sen. William R. Haine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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220 ILCS 5/8-406 |
from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406 |
220 ILCS 5/8-406.1 new |
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220 ILCS 5/8-509 |
from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-509 |
220 ILCS 5/8-510 |
from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-510 |
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Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that specified provisions concerning a certificate of public convenience and necessity do not apply to an electric utility providing transmission service connections located within its certified or service territory in the usual course of business or transmission system extensions approved pursuant to a specific provision. Adds a provision concerning an alternative procedure for obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity for specified transmission line extensions not in the usual course of business. Includes land use studies as an activity requiring a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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SB2485 |
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LRB096 14944 MJR 29837 b |
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| AN ACT concerning utilities.
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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 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Sections 8-406, 8-509, and 8-510 and by adding Section 8-406.1 | 6 |
| as follows:
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| (220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
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| Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and | 9 |
| necessity.
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| (a) No public utility not owning any city or village
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| franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in | 12 |
| furnishing any
product or commodity within this State as of | 13 |
| July 1, 1921 and not
possessing a certificate of
public | 14 |
| convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce | 15 |
| Commission,
the State Public Utilities Commission or
the Public | 16 |
| Utilities Commission, at the time this amendatory Act of 1985 | 17 |
| goes
into effect, shall transact any business in this State | 18 |
| until it shall have
obtained a certificate from the Commission | 19 |
| that public convenience and
necessity require the transaction | 20 |
| of such business.
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| (b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any | 22 |
| new plant,
equipment, property or facility which is not in | 23 |
| substitution of any
existing plant, equipment, property or |
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| facility or any extension or
alteration thereof or in addition | 2 |
| thereto,
unless and until it shall have obtained from the
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| Commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity | 4 |
| require such
construction. Whenever after a hearing the | 5 |
| Commission determines that any
new construction or the | 6 |
| transaction of any business by a public utility will
promote | 7 |
| the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have | 8 |
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power to issue certificates of public convenience and | 9 |
| necessity. The
Commission shall determine that proposed | 10 |
| construction will promote the
public convenience and necessity | 11 |
| only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the
proposed | 12 |
| construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
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| efficient service to its customers and is the
least-cost means | 14 |
| of
satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the | 15 |
| proposed construction will promote the development of an | 16 |
| effectively competitive electricity market that operates | 17 |
| efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least | 18 |
| cost means of satisfying those objectives;
(2) that the utility | 19 |
| is capable of efficiently managing and
supervising the | 20 |
| construction process and has taken sufficient action to
ensure | 21 |
| adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof; | 22 |
| and (3)
that the utility is capable of financing the proposed | 23 |
| construction without
significant adverse financial | 24 |
| consequences for the utility or its
customers.
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| This Section does not apply to an electric utility | 26 |
| providing transmission service connections located within its |
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| certified or service territory in the usual course of business | 2 |
| or transmission system extensions approved under Section | 3 |
| 8-406.1. Transmission service connections made in the usual | 4 |
| course of business include any of the following: | 5 |
| (i) the replacement or upgrading of existing electric | 6 |
| transmission line, notwithstanding its voltage level, | 7 |
| capacity, or length; | 8 |
| (ii) the relocation of existing electric transmission | 9 |
| line, notwithstanding its voltage level, capacity, or | 10 |
| length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a | 11 |
| roadway or other transportation infrastructure; | 12 |
| (iii) an electric transmission line that is | 13 |
| constructed solely to serve a single customer's premises | 14 |
| and that will pass under or over the premises owned by the | 15 |
| customer to be served or under or over premises for which | 16 |
| the customer has secured the necessary right of way; or | 17 |
| (iv) the construction of an electric transmission line | 18 |
| having a capacity of 100 kilovolts or more and a length of | 19 |
| not more than 5,280 feet. | 20 |
| (c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 21 |
| 1987, no
construction shall commence on any new nuclear
power | 22 |
| plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of | 23 |
| public
convenience and necessity or other authorization shall | 24 |
| be issued therefor
by the Commission, until the Director of the | 25 |
| Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency finds that the United | 26 |
| States Government, through its
authorized agency, has |
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| identified and approved a demonstrable technology or
means for | 2 |
| the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such
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| construction has been specifically approved by a statute | 4 |
| enacted by the General
Assembly.
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| As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means | 6 |
| those aqueous
wastes resulting from the operation of the first | 7 |
| cycle of the solvent
extraction system or equivalent and the | 8 |
| concentrated wastes of the
subsequent extraction cycles or | 9 |
| equivalent in a facility for reprocessing
irradiated reactor | 10 |
| fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to
fuel | 11 |
| reprocessing.
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| (d) In making its determination, the Commission shall | 13 |
| attach primary
weight to the overall cost , cost of materials, | 14 |
| or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
Commission | 15 |
| may consider any or all factors which will or may affect such | 16 |
| overall
cost , cost of materials, or cost savings.
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| (e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which | 18 |
| shall remain
in force not to exceed one year in cases of | 19 |
| emergency, to assure maintenance
of adequate service or to | 20 |
| serve particular customers, without notice or
hearing, pending | 21 |
| the determination of an application for a certificate, and
may | 22 |
| by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section | 23 |
| temporary
acts or operations for which the issuance of a | 24 |
| certificate will not be
required in the public interest.
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| A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may | 26 |
| apply for and
obtain a certificate of public convenience and |
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| necessity pursuant to this
Section with respect to any matter | 2 |
| as to which it has received the
authorization or order of the | 3 |
| Commission under the Electric Supplier Act,
and any such | 4 |
| authorization or order granted a public utility by the
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| Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be | 6 |
| deemed to
be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the | 7 |
| same force and effect
as, a certificate of public convenience | 8 |
| and necessity issued pursuant to this
Section.
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| No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a | 10 |
| party to or shall
be entitled to be heard or to otherwise | 11 |
| appear or participate in any
proceeding initiated under this | 12 |
| Section for authorization of power plant
construction and as to | 13 |
| matters as to which a remedy is available under The
Electric | 14 |
| Supplier Act.
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| (f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the | 16 |
| Commission, upon
its own motion or upon application by the | 17 |
| person or corporation affected.
Unless exercised within a | 18 |
| period of 2 years from the grant thereof
authority conferred by | 19 |
| a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by
the | 20 |
| Commission shall be null and void.
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| No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall be | 22 |
| construed as
granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege, | 23 |
| immunity or franchise.
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| (Source: P.A. 95-700, eff. 11-9-07.)
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| (220 ILCS 5/8-406.1 new) |
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| Sec. 8-406.1. Certificate of public convenience and | 2 |
| necessity; alternative procedure for specified transmission | 3 |
| line extensions not in the usual course of business. | 4 |
| (a) An electric utility may seek an alternative certificate | 5 |
| of public convenience and necessity for the construction of any | 6 |
| new electric transmission lines having a capacity of 100 | 7 |
| kilovolts or more and a continuous length of more than 5,280 | 8 |
| feet. | 9 |
| (b) An application for a certificate of public convenience | 10 |
| and necessity under this Section shall include all information | 11 |
| related to the manner and time of construction and other | 12 |
| information in support of the alternative treatment afforded by | 13 |
| this Section. The application shall also provide information | 14 |
| required under paragraphs (c), (e), (g), and (j) of 18 CFR | 15 |
| 50.7, as now in effect and as amended from time to time, and | 16 |
| the application shall include an application fee of $100,000 to | 17 |
| be paid into the Public Utility Fund at the time the Chief | 18 |
| Clerk of the Commission deems the application complete and | 19 |
| accepts the filing. The electric utility shall publish notice | 20 |
| of its application in the official State newspaper within 10 | 21 |
| days after the date of the application's filing. | 22 |
| (c) The Commission shall grant the application for a | 23 |
| certificate of public convenience and necessity pursuant to | 24 |
| this Section if, based upon the application filed with the | 25 |
| Commission, it finds all of the following: | 26 |
| (i) That the transmission line is the least cost means |
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| of satisfying the service needs of the electric utility's | 2 |
| customers or that the electric utility's proposed | 3 |
| construction of the line will promote the development of an | 4 |
| effectively competitive electricity market that operates | 5 |
| efficiently and is equitable to all customers. | 6 |
| (ii) That the electric utility is capable of | 7 |
| efficiently managing and supervising the construction | 8 |
| process and has taken sufficient action to ensure adequate | 9 |
| and efficient construction and supervision. | 10 |
| (iii) That the electric utility is capable of financing | 11 |
| the proposed construction without significant adverse | 12 |
| financial consequences for the utility or its customers. | 13 |
| (d) The Commission shall issue its decision with findings | 14 |
| of fact and conclusions of law granting or denying the | 15 |
| application no later than 120 days after the application is | 16 |
| filed. | 17 |
| (e) The electric utility shall pay a one-time construction | 18 |
| fee to each county in which the transmission line is | 19 |
| constructed pursuant to a certificate granted under this | 20 |
| Section. The construction fee shall be $20,000 per mile of | 21 |
| transmission line constructed in that county, or proportionate | 22 |
| fraction thereof, and it shall be paid to the county treasurer | 23 |
| 30 days after completion of the construction of the | 24 |
| transmission line constructed in that county pursuant to the | 25 |
| certificate of public convenience and necessity granted under | 26 |
| this Section. Counties receiving a payment under this Section |
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| from an electric utility may distribute all or portions of the | 2 |
| fee to local taxing districts in that county who are contiguous | 3 |
| to the transmission line. | 4 |
| (f) A decision denying the application under this Section | 5 |
| shall not act as a bar to the electric utility's seeking a | 6 |
| certificate pursuant to the provisions of Section 8-406 of this | 7 |
| Act. | 8 |
| (g) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, a | 9 |
| decision granting a certificate under this Section shall | 10 |
| include an order pursuant to Section 8-503 of this Act | 11 |
| authorizing or directing the construction of the electric | 12 |
| transmission line as approved by the Commission, in the manner | 13 |
| and within the time specified in the order.
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| (220 ILCS 5/8-509) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-509)
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| Sec. 8-509.
When necessary for the construction of any | 16 |
| alterations,
additions, extensions or improvements ordered or | 17 |
| authorized under Section
8-406.1, 8-503 , or 12-218 of this Act, | 18 |
| any public utility may enter upon, take or
damage private | 19 |
| property in the manner provided for by the law of eminent | 20 |
| domain.
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| This Section applies to the exercise of eminent domain | 22 |
| powers by
telephone companies or telecommunications carriers | 23 |
| only when the facilities
to be constructed are intended to be | 24 |
| used in whole or in part for providing
one or more intrastate | 25 |
| telecommunications services classified as
"noncompetitive" |
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| under Section 13-502 in a tariff filed by the condemnor.
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| exercise of eminent domain powers by telephone companies or
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| telecommunications carriers in all other cases shall be | 4 |
| governed solely by
"An Act relating to the powers, duties and | 5 |
| property of telephone
companies", approved May 16, 1903, as now | 6 |
| or hereafter amended.
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| (Source: P.A. 86-221.)
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| (220 ILCS 5/8-510) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-510)
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| Sec. 8-510. Land surveys and land use studies . For the | 10 |
| purpose of making land surveys and land use studies , any public | 11 |
| utility
that has been granted a certificate of public | 12 |
| convenience and necessity
by, or received an order under | 13 |
| Section 8-503 or 8-406.1 of this Act from, the
Commission may, | 14 |
| 30 days after providing written notice to the
owner thereof by | 15 |
| registered mail, enter upon the property of any owner who
has | 16 |
| refused permission for entrance upon that property, but subject | 17 |
| to
responsibility for all damages which may be inflicted | 18 |
| thereby.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 |
| becoming law.
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