Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB0418
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Full Text of SB0418  99th General Assembly

SB0418eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning public aid.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by changing
5Section 13 as follows:
 
6    (305 ILCS 20/13)
7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2018)
8    Sec. 13. Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
9    (a) The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund is
10hereby created as a special fund in the State Treasury. The
11Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund is authorized
12to receive moneys from voluntary donations from individuals,
13foundations, corporations, and other sources, moneys received
14pursuant to Section 17, and, by statutory deposit, the moneys
15collected pursuant to this Section. The Fund is also authorized
16to receive voluntary donations from individuals, foundations,
17corporations, and other sources, as well as contributions made
18in accordance with Section 507MM of the Illinois Income Tax
19Act. Subject to appropriation, the Department shall use moneys
20from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund for
21payments to electric or gas public utilities, municipal
22electric or gas utilities, and electric cooperatives on behalf
23of their customers who are participants in the program

 

 

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1authorized by Sections 4 and 18 of this Act, for the provision
2of weatherization services and for administration of the
3Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund. The yearly
4expenditures for weatherization may not exceed 10% of the
5amount collected during the year pursuant to this Section,
6except that amounts in excess of 10% collected in a given year
7may be expended from the Fund if they represent funds from
8previous years or if they represent amounts deposited into the
9Fund from the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Program. The yearly
10administrative expenses of the Supplemental Low-Income Energy
11Assistance Fund may not exceed 10% of the amount collected
12during that year pursuant to this Section, except when unspent
13funds from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
14are reallocated from a previous year; up to 10% of those
15reallocated funds may be spent in the year they are
16reallocated.
17    (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111 of the
18Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (k) of this
19Section, each public utility, electric cooperative, as defined
20in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act, and municipal
21utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities
22Act, that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
23distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois shall,
24effective January 1, 1998, assess each of its customer accounts
25a monthly Energy Assistance Charge for the Supplemental
26Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund. The delivering public

 

 

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1utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric or gas
2cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to
3the collection of the fee imposed by this Section. The monthly
4charge shall be as follows:
5        (1) $0.48 per month on each account for residential
6    electric service;
7        (2) $0.48 per month on each account for residential gas
8    service;
9        (3) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential
10    electric service which had less than 10 megawatts of peak
11    demand during the previous calendar year;
12        (4) $4.80 per month on each account for non-residential
13    gas service which had distributed to it less than 4,000,000
14    therms of gas during the previous calendar year;
15        (5) $360 per month on each account for non-residential
16    electric service which had 10 megawatts or greater of peak
17    demand during the previous calendar year; and
18        (6) $360 per month on each account for non-residential
19    gas service which had 4,000,000 or more therms of gas
20    distributed to it during the previous calendar year.
21    The incremental change to such charges imposed by this
22amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall not (i) be
23used for any purpose other than to directly assist customers
24and (ii) be applicable to utilities serving less than 100,000
25customers in Illinois on January 1, 2009.
26    In addition, electric and gas utilities have committed, and

 

 

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1shall contribute, a one-time payment of $22 million to the
2Fund, within 10 days after the effective date of the tariffs
3established pursuant to Sections 16-111.8 and 19-145 of the
4Public Utilities Act to be used for the Department's cost of
5implementing the programs described in Section 18 of this
6amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the Arrearage
7Reduction Program described in Section 18, and the programs
8described in Section 8-105 of the Public Utilities Act. If a
9utility elects not to file a rider within 90 days after the
10effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General
11Assembly, then the contribution from such utility shall be made
12no later than February 1, 2010.
13    (c) For purposes of this Section:
14        (1) "residential electric service" means electric
15    utility service for household purposes delivered to a
16    dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a
17    residential rate, or electric utility service for
18    household purposes delivered to a dwelling unit or units
19    which is billed under a residential rate and is registered
20    by a separate meter for each dwelling unit;
21        (2) "residential gas service" means gas utility
22    service for household purposes distributed to a dwelling of
23    2 or fewer units which is billed under a residential rate,
24    or gas utility service for household purposes distributed
25    to a dwelling unit or units which is billed under a
26    residential rate and is registered by a separate meter for

 

 

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1    each dwelling unit;
2        (3) "non-residential electric service" means electric
3    utility service which is not residential electric service;
4    and
5        (4) "non-residential gas service" means gas utility
6    service which is not residential gas service.
7    (d) Within 30 days after the effective date of this
8amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, each public
9utility engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
10distribution of natural gas shall file with the Illinois
11Commerce Commission tariffs incorporating the Energy
12Assistance Charge in other charges stated in such tariffs,
13which shall become effective no later than the beginning of the
14first billing cycle following such filing.
15    (e) The Energy Assistance Charge assessed by electric and
16gas public utilities shall be considered a charge for public
17utility service.
18    (f) By the 20th day of the month following the month in
19which the charges imposed by the Section were collected, each
20public utility, municipal utility, and electric cooperative
21shall remit to the Department of Revenue all moneys received as
22payment of the Energy Assistance Charge on a return prescribed
23and furnished by the Department of Revenue showing such
24information as the Department of Revenue may reasonably
25require; provided, however, that a utility offering an
26Arrearage Reduction Program pursuant to Section 18 of this Act

 

 

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1shall be entitled to net those amounts necessary to fund and
2recover the costs of such Program as authorized by that Section
3that is no more than the incremental change in such Energy
4Assistance Charge authorized by this amendatory Act of the 96th
5General Assembly. If a customer makes a partial payment, a
6public utility, municipal utility, or electric cooperative may
7elect either: (i) to apply such partial payments first to
8amounts owed to the utility or cooperative for its services and
9then to payment for the Energy Assistance Charge or (ii) to
10apply such partial payments on a pro-rata basis between amounts
11owed to the utility or cooperative for its services and to
12payment for the Energy Assistance Charge.
13    (g) The Department of Revenue shall deposit into the
14Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund all moneys
15remitted to it in accordance with subsection (f) of this
16Section; provided, however, that the amounts remitted by each
17utility shall be used to provide assistance to that utility's
18customers. The utilities shall coordinate with the Department
19to establish an equitable and practical methodology for
20implementing this subsection (g) beginning with the 2010
21program year.
22    (h) On or before December 31, 2002, the Department shall
23prepare a report for the General Assembly on the expenditure of
24funds appropriated from the Low-Income Energy Assistance Block
25Grant Fund for the program authorized under Section 4 of this
26Act.

 

 

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1    (i) The Department of Revenue may establish such rules as
2it deems necessary to implement this Section.
3    (j) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity may
4establish such rules as it deems necessary to implement this
5Section.
6    (k) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply to
7customers of municipal electric or gas utilities and electric
8or gas cooperatives if the municipal electric or gas utility or
9electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative decision to
10impose the charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or an
11electric cooperative makes an affirmative decision to impose
12the charge provided by this Section, the municipal electric or
13gas utility or electric cooperative shall inform the Department
14of Revenue in writing of such decision when it begins to impose
15the charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or electric
16or gas cooperative does not assess this charge, the Department
17may not use funds from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy
18Assistance Fund to provide benefits to its customers under the
19program authorized by Section 4 of this Act.
20    In its use of federal funds under this Act, the Department
21may not cause a disproportionate share of those federal funds
22to benefit customers of systems which do not assess the charge
23provided by this Section.
24    This Section is repealed effective December 31, 2018 unless
25renewed by action of the General Assembly. The General Assembly
26shall consider the results of the evaluations described in

 

 

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1Section 8 in its deliberations.
2(Source: P.A. 98-429, eff. 8-16-13.)