Full Text of HB1745 98th General Assembly
HB1745enr 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning State government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 1-92 as follows: | 6 | | (20 ILCS 3855/1-92) | 7 | | Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of electrical load by | 8 | | municipalities, townships, and counties. | 9 | | (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality, township | 10 | | board, or county board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under | 11 | | which it may aggregate in accordance with this
Section | 12 | | residential and small commercial retail electrical loads | 13 | | located, respectively, within the
municipality, the township, | 14 | | or the unincorporated areas of the county and, for that | 15 | | purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service
agreements to | 16 | | facilitate
for those
loads the sale and purchase of electricity | 17 | | and related services and equipment. | 18 | | The corporate authorities, township board, or county
board | 19 | | may also exercise such authority jointly with any other | 20 | | municipality, township, or county.
Two or
more
municipalities, | 21 | | townships, or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate | 22 | | a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote | 23 | | of each particular
municipality, township, or
county as |
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| 1 | | required by this Section. | 2 | | If the corporate authorities, township board, or the county | 3 | | board seek to operate the aggregation program as an opt-out | 4 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers, | 5 | | then prior to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to | 6 | | aggregation of residential and small commercial retail | 7 | | electric loads, the corporate authorities of a municipality, | 8 | | the township board, or the county board of a county shall | 9 | | submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or | 10 | | not the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program | 11 | | for residential and small commercial retail customers. Any | 12 | | county board that seeks to submit such a referendum to its | 13 | | residents shall do so only in unincorporated areas of the | 14 | | county where no electric aggregation ordinance has been | 15 | | adopted. | 16 | | In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | 17 | | general election law, notice of the referendum shall state | 18 | | briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | 19 | | the corporate authorities, the township board, or the county | 20 | | board shall adopt an opt-out aggregation program for | 21 | | residential and small commercial retail customers shall be | 22 | | submitted to the electors of the municipality, township board, | 23 | | or county board at a regular election and approved by a | 24 | | majority of the electors voting on the question. The corporate | 25 | | authorities, township board, or county board must certify to | 26 | | the proper election authority, which must submit the question |
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| 1 | | at an election in accordance with the Election Code. | 2 | | The election authority must submit the question in | 3 | | substantially the following form: | 4 | | Shall the (municipality, township, or county in which | 5 | | the question is being voted upon) have the authority to | 6 | | arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential | 7 | | and small commercial retail customers who have not opted | 8 | | out of such program? | 9 | | The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | 10 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | 11 | | in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities, township | 12 | | board, or county board may implement an opt-out aggregation | 13 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers. | 14 | | A referendum must pass in each particular municipality, | 15 | | township, or county that is engaged in the aggregation program. | 16 | | If the referendum fails, then the corporate authorities, | 17 | | township board, or county board shall operate the aggregation | 18 | | program as an opt-in program for residential and small | 19 | | commercial retail customers. | 20 | | An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the | 21 | | aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each | 22 | | person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric | 23 | | load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
| 24 | | however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are | 25 | | served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as | 26 | | defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads |
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| 1 | | served by a municipality that owns and operates its own | 2 | | electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect | 3 | | unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate | 4 | | authority, township board, or county board voting upon the | 5 | | ordinance.
| 6 | | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | 7 | | public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier.
| 8 | | For purposes of this Section, "township" means the portion | 9 | | of a township that is an unincorporated portion of a county | 10 | | that is not otherwise a part of a municipality. In addition to | 11 | | such other limitations as are included in this Section, a | 12 | | township board shall only have authority to aggregate | 13 | | residential and small commercial customer loads in accordance | 14 | | with this Section if the county board of the county in which | 15 | | the township is located (i) is not also submitting a referendum | 16 | | to its residents at the same general election that the township | 17 | | board proposes to submit a referendum under this subsection | 18 | | (a), (ii) has not received authorization through passage of a | 19 | | referendum to operate an opt-out aggregation program for | 20 | | residential and small commercial retail customers under this | 21 | | subsection (a), and (iii) has not otherwise enacted an | 22 | | ordinance under this subsection (a) authorizing the operation | 23 | | of an opt-in aggregation program for residential and small | 24 | | commercial retail customers as described in this Section. | 25 | | (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | 26 | | Section, the corporate
authorities, the township board, or the |
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| 1 | | county board, with assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, | 2 | | shall develop a plan of operation and
governance for the
| 3 | | aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under | 4 | | this Section,
the
corporate authorities, township board, or | 5 | | county board shall hold at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.
| 6 | | Before the first hearing, the corporate authorities, township | 7 | | board, or county board shall
publish notice of
the hearings | 8 | | once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
| 9 | | circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the | 10 | | plan and state the date,
time, and
location of each hearing.
| 11 | | Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to this Section | 12 | | shall: | 13 | | (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | 14 | | residential customers and equitable treatment of | 15 | | applicable
residential customers; | 16 | | (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | 17 | | services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and | 18 | | (3) meet any requirements established by law
| 19 | | concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this | 20 | | Section. | 21 | | (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and | 22 | | other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the | 23 | | purchase of electricity and other related services shall be | 24 | | conducted in the following order: | 25 | | (1) The corporate authorities, township board, or | 26 | | county board may solicit bids for electricity and other |
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| 1 | | related services. | 2 | | (1.5) A township board shall request from the electric | 3 | | utility those residential and small commercial customers | 4 | | within their aggregate area either by zip code or zip codes | 5 | | or other means as determined by the electric utility. The | 6 | | electric utility shall then provide to the township board | 7 | | the residential and small commercial customers, including | 8 | | the names and addresses of residential and small commercial | 9 | | customers, electronically. The township board shall be | 10 | | responsible for authenticating the residential and small | 11 | | commercial customers contained in this listing and | 12 | | providing edits of the data to affirm, add, or delete the | 13 | | residential and small commercial customers located within | 14 | | its jurisdiction. The township board shall provide the | 15 | | edited list to the electric utility in an electronic format | 16 | | or other means selected by the electric utility and certify | 17 | | that the information is accurate. | 18 | | (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public | 19 | | Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | 20 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that | 21 | | provides residential and small commercial retail electric | 22 | | service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the | 23 | | corporate authorities, township board, or the county board | 24 | | in the aggregate area, submit to the requesting party, in | 25 | | an electronic format, those account numbers, names, and | 26 | | addresses of residential and small commercial retail |
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| 1 | | customers in the aggregate area that are reflected in the | 2 | | electric utility's records at the time of the request; | 3 | | provided, however, that any township board has first | 4 | | provided an accurate customer list to the electric utility | 5 | | as provided for herein. | 6 | | Any corporate authority, township board, or county board | 7 | | receiving customer information from an electric utility shall | 8 | | be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of the | 9 | | information described in Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities | 10 | | Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 11 | | Business Practices Act, and an electric utility shall not be | 12 | | held liable for any claims arising out of the provision of | 13 | | information pursuant to this item (2). | 14 | | (d) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county | 15 | | board operate under an opt-in program for residential and small | 16 | | commercial retail customers, then the corporate authorities, | 17 | | township board, or county board shall comply with all of the | 18 | | following: | 19 | | (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | 20 | | corporate authorities, township board, or county board | 21 | | shall allow residential and small commercial retail | 22 | | customers to commit to the terms and conditions of a bid | 23 | | that has been selected by the corporate authorities, | 24 | | township board, or county board. | 25 | | (2) If (A) the corporate authorities, township board, | 26 | | or county board award proposed agreements for the purchase |
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| 1 | | of electricity and other related services and (B) an | 2 | | agreement is reached between the corporate authorities, | 3 | | township board, or county board for those services, then | 4 | | customers committed to the terms and conditions according | 5 | | to item (1) of this subsection (d) shall be committed to | 6 | | the agreement. | 7 | | (e) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county | 8 | | board operate as an opt-out program for residential and small | 9 | | commercial retail customers, then it shall be the duty of the | 10 | | aggregated entity to fully inform
residential and small | 11 | | commercial retail customers in advance that they have the right | 12 | | to opt out of the aggregation program.
The disclosure shall | 13 | | prominently state all charges to be made and
shall include
full | 14 | | disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section | 15 | | 16-103 of the Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the | 16 | | fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are
| 17 | | currently receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois | 18 | | Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
| 19 | | list of all supply options available to them in a format that
| 20 | | allows
comparison of prices and products. | 21 | | (f) Any person or entity retained by a municipality or | 22 | | county, or jointly by more than one such unit of local | 23 | | government, to provide input, guidance, or advice in the | 24 | | selection of an electricity supplier for an aggregation program | 25 | | shall disclose in writing to the involved units of local | 26 | | government the nature of any relationship through which the |
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| 1 | | person or entity may receive, either directly or indirectly, | 2 | | commissions or other remuneration as a result of the selection | 3 | | of any particular electricity supplier. The written disclosure | 4 | | must be made prior to formal approval by the involved units of | 5 | | local government of any professional services agreement with | 6 | | the person or entity, or no later than October 1, 2012 with | 7 | | respect to any such professional services agreement entered | 8 | | into prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 9 | | 97th General Assembly. The disclosure shall cover all direct | 10 | | and indirect relationships through which commissions or | 11 | | remuneration may result, including the pooling of commissions | 12 | | or remuneration among multiple persons or entities, and shall | 13 | | identify all involved electricity suppliers. The disclosure | 14 | | requirements in this subsection (f) are to be liberally | 15 | | construed to ensure that the nature of financial interests are | 16 | | fully revealed, and these disclosure requirements shall apply | 17 | | regardless of whether the involved person or entity is licensed | 18 | | under Section 16-115C of the Public Utilities Act. Any person | 19 | | or entity that fails to make the disclosure required under this | 20 | | subsection (f) is liable to the involved units of local | 21 | | government in an amount equal to all compensation paid to such | 22 | | person or entity by the units of local government for the | 23 | | input, guidance, or advice in the selection of an electricity | 24 | | supplier, plus reasonable attorneys fees and court costs | 25 | | incurred by the units of local government in connection with | 26 | | obtaining such amount. |
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| 1 | | (g) The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to | 2 | | municipalities, townships, counties, or associations working | 3 | | with municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding | 4 | | process. | 5 | | (h) This Section does not prohibit municipalities or | 6 | | counties from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to | 7 | | aggregate residential and small commercial retail electric | 8 | | loads.
| 9 | | (Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10; 97-338, eff. 8-12-11; | 10 | | 97-823, eff. 7-18-12; 97-1067, eff. 8-24-12; revised 9-20-12.)
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