Full Text of SB1312 99th General Assembly
SB1312enr 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning utilities.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 4-304 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/4-304) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 4-304)
| 7 | | Sec. 4-304.
Beginning in 1986, the Commission shall prepare | 8 | | an
annual report which shall be filed by January 31 of each | 9 | | year with the Joint
Committee on Legislative Support Services | 10 | | of the General Assembly , the
Public Counsel and the Governor | 11 | | and which shall be publicly available. Such
report shall | 12 | | include:
| 13 | | (1) A general review of agency activities and changes, | 14 | | including:
| 15 | | (a) a review of significant decisions and other | 16 | | regulatory actions for
the preceding year, and pending | 17 | | cases, and an analysis of the impact of
such decisions and | 18 | | actions, and potential impact of any significant pending
| 19 | | cases;
| 20 | | (b) for each significant decision, regulatory action | 21 | | and pending
case, a description of the positions advocated | 22 | | by major parties, including
Commission staff, and for each | 23 | | such decision rendered or action taken, the
position |
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| 1 | | adopted by the Commission and reason therefor;
| 2 | | (c) a description of the Commission's budget, | 3 | | caseload, and staff
levels, including specifically:
| 4 | | (i) a breakdown by type of case of the cases | 5 | | resolved and filed during
the year and of pending | 6 | | cases;
| 7 | | (ii) a description of the allocation of the | 8 | | Commission's budget,
identifying amounts budgeted for | 9 | | each significant regulatory function or
activity and | 10 | | for each department, bureau, section, division or | 11 | | office of
the Commission and its employees;
| 12 | | (iii) a description of current employee levels, | 13 | | identifying any change
occurring during the year in the | 14 | | number of employees, personnel policies
and practices | 15 | | or compensation levels; and identifying the number and | 16 | | type
of employees assigned to each Commission | 17 | | regulatory function and to each
department, bureau, | 18 | | section, division or office of the Commission;
| 19 | | (d) a description of any significant changes in | 20 | | Commission policies,
programs or practices with respect to | 21 | | agency organization and
administration, hearings and | 22 | | procedures or substantive regulatory
activity.
| 23 | | (2) A discussion and analysis of the state of each utility | 24 | | industry
regulated by the Commission and significant changes, | 25 | | trends and developments
therein, including the number and types | 26 | | of firms offering each utility
service, existing, new and |
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| 1 | | prospective technologies, variations in the
quality, | 2 | | availability and price for utility services in different
| 3 | | geographic areas of the State, and any other industry factors | 4 | | or
circumstances which may affect the public interest or the | 5 | | regulation of such
industries.
| 6 | | (3) A specific discussion of the energy planning | 7 | | responsibilities and
activities of the Commission and energy | 8 | | utilities, including:
| 9 | | (a) the extent to which conservation, cogeneration, | 10 | | renewable energy
technologies and improvements in energy | 11 | | efficiency are being utilized by energy
consumers, the | 12 | | extent to which additional potential exists for the | 13 | | economical
utilization of such supplies, and a description | 14 | | of existing and proposed
programs and policies designed to | 15 | | promote and encourage such utilization;
| 16 | | (b) a description of each energy plan filed with the | 17 | | Commission pursuant
to the provisions of this Act, and a | 18 | | copy, or detailed summary of the most
recent energy plans | 19 | | adopted by the Commission; and
| 20 | | (c) a discussion of the powers by which the Commission | 21 | | is implementing
the planning responsibilities of Article | 22 | | VIII, including a description of
the staff and budget | 23 | | assigned to such function, the procedures by which
| 24 | | Commission staff reviews and analyzes energy plans | 25 | | submitted by the utilities,
the Department of Natural | 26 | | Resources, and any other person or
party ; and .
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| 1 | | (d) a summary of the adoption of solar photovoltaic | 2 | | systems by residential and small business consumers in | 3 | | Illinois and a description of any and all barriers to | 4 | | residential and small business consumers' financing, | 5 | | installation, and valuation of energy produced by solar | 6 | | photovoltaic systems; electric utilities, alternative | 7 | | retail electric suppliers, and installers of distributed | 8 | | generation shall provide all information requested by the | 9 | | Commission or its staff necessary to complete the analysis | 10 | | required by this paragraph (d). | 11 | | (4) A discussion of the extent to which utility services | 12 | | are available
to all Illinois citizens including:
| 13 | | (a) the percentage and number of persons or households | 14 | | requiring each
such service who are not receiving such | 15 | | service, and the reasons therefore,
including specifically | 16 | | the number of such persons or households who are
unable to | 17 | | afford such service;
| 18 | | (b) a critical analysis of existing programs designed | 19 | | to promote and
preserve the availability and affordability | 20 | | of utility services; and
| 21 | | (c) an analysis of the financial impact on utilities | 22 | | and other
ratepayers of the inability of some customers or | 23 | | potential customers to
afford utility service, including | 24 | | the number of service disconnections and
reconnections, | 25 | | and cost thereof and the dollar amount of uncollectible
| 26 | | accounts recovered through rates.
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| 1 | | (5) A detailed description of the means by which the | 2 | | Commission is
implementing its new statutory responsibilities | 3 | | under this Act, and the
status of such implementation, | 4 | | including specifically:
| 5 | | (a) Commission reorganization resulting from the | 6 | | addition of an
Executive Director and hearing examiner | 7 | | qualifications and review;
| 8 | | (b) Commission responsibilities for construction and | 9 | | rate supervision,
including construction cost audits, | 10 | | management audits, excess capacity
adjustments, phase-ins | 11 | | of new plant and the means and capability for monitoring
| 12 | | and reevaluating existing or future construction projects;
| 13 | | (c) promulgation and application of rules concerning | 14 | | ex parte
communications, circulation of recommended orders | 15 | | and transcription of closed
meetings.
| 16 | | (6) A description of all appeals taken from Commission | 17 | | orders, findings
or decisions and the status and outcome of | 18 | | such appeals.
| 19 | | (7) A description of the status of all studies and | 20 | | investigations
required by this Act, including those ordered | 21 | | pursuant to Sections 8-304,
9-242, 9-244 and 13-301 and all
| 22 | | such subsequently ordered studies or investigations.
| 23 | | (8) A discussion of new or potential developments in | 24 | | federal
legislation, and federal agency and judicial decisions | 25 | | relevant to State
regulation of utility services.
| 26 | | (9) All recommendations for appropriate legislative action |
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| 1 | | by the General
Assembly.
| 2 | | The Commission may include such other information as it | 3 | | deems to be
necessary or beneficial in describing or explaining | 4 | | its activities or
regulatory responsibilities. The report | 5 | | required by this Section shall be
adopted by a vote of the full | 6 | | Commission prior to filing.
| 7 | | (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
| 8 | | Section 10. If and only if House Bill 3766 of the 99th | 9 | | General Assembly becomes law in the form in which it passed | 10 | | both houses on May 26, 2015, then the Public Utilities Act is | 11 | | amended by changing Section 16-119 as follows:
| 12 | | (220 ILCS 5/16-119)
| 13 | | Sec. 16-119. Switching suppliers. An electric utility or an | 14 | | alternative retail electric
supplier may establish a term of | 15 | | service, notice period for
terminating service and provisions | 16 | | governing early termination
through a tariff or contract. A | 17 | | customer may change its
supplier subject to tariff or contract | 18 | | terms and conditions.
Any notice provisions; or provision for a | 19 | | fee, charge or
penalty with early termination of a contract; | 20 | | shall be
conspicuously disclosed in any tariff or contract. Any | 21 | | tariff filed or contract renewed or entered into on and after | 22 | | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General | 23 | | Assembly that contains an early termination clause shall | 24 | | disclose the amount of the early termination fee or penalty , |
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| 1 | | provided that any early termination fee or penalty shall not | 2 | | exceed $50 total for residential customers and $150 for small | 3 | | commercial retail customers as defined in Section 16-102 of | 4 | | this Act, regardless of whether or not the tariff or contract | 5 | | is a multiyear tariff or contract. A customer
shall remain | 6 | | responsible for any unpaid charges owed to an
electric utility | 7 | | or alternative retail electric supplier at
the time it switches | 8 | | to another provider.
| 9 | | The caps on early termination fees and penalties under this | 10 | | Section shall apply only to early termination fees and | 11 | | penalties for early termination of electric service. The caps | 12 | | shall not apply to charges or fees for devices, equipment, or | 13 | | other services provided by the utility or alternative retail | 14 | | electric supplier. | 15 | | (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 09900HB3766enr.)
| 16 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Section takes effect upon | 17 | | becoming law. Section 10 takes effect upon becoming law or on | 18 | | the date House Bill 3766 of the 99th General Assembly takes | 19 | | effect, whichever is later.
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