Full Text of HB1944 095th General Assembly
HB1944 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB1944
Introduced 2/23/2007, by Rep. Carolyn H. Krause SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
|
|
Amends the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 in the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the trustees of the Illinois Clean Energy Community
Trust shall distribute up to $2,000,000 each calendar year to applicants and programs that promote or implement energy efficiency or conservation programs in the State for 3 calendar years after the effective date. Provides that the trustees shall adopt rules necessary for implementation of the provisions. Effective immediately.
|
| |
|
|
| FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
|
|
A BILL FOR
|
|
|
|
|
HB1944 |
|
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 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 16-111.1 as follows:
| 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-111.1)
| 7 |
| Sec. 16-111.1. Illinois Clean Energy Community
Trust.
| 8 |
| (a) An electric utility which has sold or transferred
| 9 |
| generating facilities in a transaction to which subsection
(k) | 10 |
| of Section 16-111 applies is authorized to establish an
| 11 |
| Illinois clean energy community trust or foundation for the
| 12 |
| purposes of providing financial support and assistance to
| 13 |
| entities, public or private, within the State of Illinois
| 14 |
| including, but not limited to, units of State and local
| 15 |
| government, educational institutions, corporations, and
| 16 |
| charitable, educational, environmental and community
| 17 |
| organizations, for programs and projects that benefit the
| 18 |
| public by improving energy efficiency, developing renewable
| 19 |
| energy resources, supporting other energy related
projects | 20 |
| that improve the State's environmental quality, and supporting
| 21 |
| projects and programs intended to preserve or enhance the | 22 |
| natural habitats and
wildlife areas of the State. Provided, | 23 |
| however, that the trust or foundation
funds shall not be
used |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 2 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| for the remediation of environmentally impaired property. The | 2 |
| trust or
foundation may also assist in identifying other
energy | 3 |
| and environmental grant opportunities.
| 4 |
| (b) Such trust or foundation shall be governed by a
| 5 |
| declaration of trust or articles of incorporation and bylaws | 6 |
| which shall, at a
minimum, provide that:
| 7 |
| (1) There shall be 6 voting trustees of the
trust or | 8 |
| foundation, one of whom shall be appointed by
the Governor, | 9 |
| one of whom shall be appointed by the
President of the | 10 |
| Illinois Senate, one of whom shall be
appointed by the | 11 |
| Minority Leader of the Illinois
Senate, one of whom shall | 12 |
| be appointed by the Speaker
of the Illinois House of | 13 |
| Representatives, one of whom
shall be appointed by the | 14 |
| Minority Leader of the
Illinois House of Representatives, | 15 |
| and one of whom
shall be appointed by the electric utility | 16 |
| establishing
the trust or foundation, provided that the | 17 |
| voting
trustee appointed by the utility shall be a
| 18 |
| representative of a recognized environmental action
group | 19 |
| selected by the utility. The Governor
shall designate one | 20 |
| of the 6 voting trustees to serve as chairman of the trust | 21 |
| or foundation, who shall serve as
chairman of the trust or | 22 |
| foundation at the pleasure of the Governor. In addition,
| 23 |
| there shall be 4 non-voting trustees, one of whom
shall be | 24 |
| appointed by the Director of
Commerce and Economic | 25 |
| Opportunity, one of whom shall be
appointed by the Director | 26 |
| of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency, one of |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 3 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| whom shall be appointed by
the Director of Natural | 2 |
| Resources, and
one of whom shall be appointed by the | 3 |
| electric utility
establishing the trust or foundation, | 4 |
| provided that the
non-voting trustee appointed by the | 5 |
| utility shall bring
financial expertise to the trust or | 6 |
| foundation and
shall have appropriate credentials | 7 |
| therefor.
| 8 |
| (2) All voting trustees and the non-voting
trustee with | 9 |
| financial expertise shall be entitled to
compensation for | 10 |
| their services as trustees, provided,
however, that no | 11 |
| member of the General Assembly and no
employee of the | 12 |
| electric utility establishing the trust
or foundation | 13 |
| serving as a voting trustee shall receive
any compensation | 14 |
| for his or her services as a trustee,
and provided further | 15 |
| that the compensation to the chairman
of the trust shall | 16 |
| not exceed $25,000 annually and the
compensation to any | 17 |
| other trustee shall not exceed $20,000 annually.
All | 18 |
| trustees shall be entitled to reimbursement for
reasonable | 19 |
| expenses incurred on behalf of the trust in
the performance | 20 |
| of their duties as trustees. All
such compensation and | 21 |
| reimbursements shall be paid out
of the trust.
| 22 |
| (3) Trustees shall be appointed within 30 days
after | 23 |
| the creation of the trust or foundation and shall
serve for | 24 |
| a term of 5 years commencing upon the date
of their | 25 |
| respective appointments, until their
respective successors | 26 |
| are appointed and qualified.
|
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 4 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| (4) A vacancy in the office of trustee shall be
filled | 2 |
| by the person holding the office responsible for
appointing | 3 |
| the trustee whose death or resignation
creates the vacancy, | 4 |
| and a trustee appointed to fill a
vacancy shall serve the | 5 |
| remainder of the term of the
trustee whose resignation or | 6 |
| death created the vacancy.
| 7 |
| (5) The trust or foundation shall have an
indefinite | 8 |
| term, and shall terminate at such time as no
trust assets | 9 |
| remain.
| 10 |
| (6) The trust or foundation shall be funded in
the | 11 |
| minimum amount of $250,000,000, with the allocation
and | 12 |
| disbursement of funds for the various purposes for
which | 13 |
| the trust or foundation is established to be
determined by | 14 |
| the trustees in accordance with the
declaration of trust or | 15 |
| the articles of incorporation
and bylaws; provided, | 16 |
| however, that this amount may be
reduced by up to | 17 |
| $25,000,000 if, at the time the trust or foundation is | 18 |
| funded,
a corresponding amount
is contributed by the | 19 |
| electric utility establishing the
trust or foundation to | 20 |
| the Board of Trustees of
Southern Illinois University for | 21 |
| the purpose of funding programs or projects
related to | 22 |
| clean coal
and provided further that $25,000,000 of the | 23 |
| amount contributed to the
trust or foundation shall be | 24 |
| available to fund programs or projects related to
clean | 25 |
| coal.
| 26 |
| (7) The trust or foundation shall be authorized
to |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 5 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| employ an executive director and other employees, to
enter | 2 |
| into leases, contracts and other obligations on
behalf of | 3 |
| the trust or foundation, and to incur
expenses that the | 4 |
| trustees deem necessary or
appropriate for the fulfillment | 5 |
| of the purposes for
which the trust or foundation is | 6 |
| established, provided, however, that salaries
and | 7 |
| administrative expenses incurred on behalf of the trust or | 8 |
| foundation shall
not exceed $500,000 in the first fiscal | 9 |
| year after the trust or foundation is
established and shall | 10 |
| not exceed $1,000,000 in each subsequent fiscal year.
| 11 |
| (8) The trustees may create and appoint advisory
boards | 12 |
| or committees to assist them with the
administration of the | 13 |
| trust or foundation, and to
advise and make recommendations | 14 |
| to them regarding the
contribution and disbursement of the | 15 |
| trust or foundation funds.
| 16 |
| (c)(1) In addition to the allocation and disbursement of | 17 |
| funds for
the purposes set forth in subsection (a) of this | 18 |
| Section, the trustees of the
trust or foundation shall | 19 |
| annually contribute funds in amounts set forth
in | 20 |
| subparagraph (2) of this subsection to the Citizens Utility | 21 |
| Board created by
the Citizens Utility Board Act; provided, | 22 |
| however, that any such funds shall be
used solely for the | 23 |
| representation of the interests of utility consumers | 24 |
| before
the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Federal | 25 |
| Energy Regulatory Commission,
and the Federal | 26 |
| Communications Commission and for the provision of |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 6 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| consumer
education on utility service and prices and on | 2 |
| benefits and methods of energy
conservation.
Provided, | 3 |
| however, that no part of such funds shall be used to | 4 |
| support (i) any
lobbying activity, (ii) activities related | 5 |
| to fundraising, (iii) advertising or
other marketing | 6 |
| efforts regarding a particular utility, or (iv) | 7 |
| solicitation of
support for, or advocacy of, a particular | 8 |
| position regarding any specific
utility or a utility's | 9 |
| docketed proceeding.
| 10 |
| (2) In the calendar year in which the trust or | 11 |
| foundation is first
funded, the trustees shall contribute | 12 |
| $1,000,000 to the Citizens Utility Board
within 60 days | 13 |
| after such trust or foundation is established; provided,
| 14 |
| however, that such contribution shall be made after | 15 |
| December 31, 1999. In each
of the 6 calendar years | 16 |
| subsequent to the first contribution, if the trust or
| 17 |
| foundation is in existence,
the trustees shall contribute | 18 |
| to the Citizens Utility Board an amount equal to
the total | 19 |
| expenditures by such organization in the prior calendar | 20 |
| year, as set
forth in the report filed by the Citizens | 21 |
| Utility Board with the chairman of
such trust or foundation | 22 |
| as required by subparagraph (3) of this subsection.
Such | 23 |
| subsequent contributions shall be made within 30 days of | 24 |
| submission by the
Citizens Utility Board of such report to | 25 |
| the Chairman of the trust or
foundation, but in no event | 26 |
| shall any annual contribution by the trustees to
the |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 7 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| Citizens Utility Board exceed $1,000,000. Following such | 2 |
| 7-year period, an
Illinois statutory consumer protection | 3 |
| agency may petition the trust or
foundation for | 4 |
| contributions to fund expenditures of the type identified | 5 |
| in
paragraph (1), but in no event shall annual | 6 |
| contributions by the trust or
foundation for such | 7 |
| expenditures exceed $1,000,000.
| 8 |
| (3) The Citizens Utility Board shall file a report with | 9 |
| the chairman of
such
trust or foundation for each year in | 10 |
| which it expends any funds received from
the trust or | 11 |
| foundation setting forth the amount of any expenditures
| 12 |
| (regardless of the source of funds for such expenditures) | 13 |
| for: (i) the
representation of the interests of utility | 14 |
| consumers before the Illinois
Commerce Commission, the | 15 |
| Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Federal
| 16 |
| Communications Commission, and (ii) the provision of | 17 |
| consumer education on
utility service and prices and on | 18 |
| benefits and methods of energy conservation.
Such report | 19 |
| shall separately state the total amount of expenditures for | 20 |
| the
purposes or activities identified by items (i) and (ii) | 21 |
| of this
paragraph, the name and address of the external | 22 |
| recipient of any such
expenditure, if applicable, and the | 23 |
| specific purposes or activities (including
internal | 24 |
| purposes or activities) for which each expenditure was | 25 |
| made. Any
report required by this subsection shall be filed | 26 |
| with the chairman of such
trust or foundation no later than |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 8 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| March 31 of the year immediately following
the year for | 2 |
| which the report is required.
| 3 |
| (d) In addition to any other allocation and disbursement of | 4 |
| funds in this
Section, the
trustees of the trust or foundation | 5 |
| shall contribute an amount up to
$125,000,000 (1) for deposit
| 6 |
| into the General
Obligation Bond Retirement and Interest Fund | 7 |
| held in the State treasury to
assist in the
repayment on | 8 |
| general obligation bonds issued under subsection (d) of Section | 9 |
| 7
of the General
Obligation Bond Act, and (2) for deposit into | 10 |
| funds administered by agencies
with
responsibility for | 11 |
| environmental activities to assist in payment for
| 12 |
| environmental
programs. The amount required to be contributed | 13 |
| shall be
provided to the
trustees in a certification letter | 14 |
| from the Director of the Bureau of the
Budget that shall be
| 15 |
| provided no later than August 1, 2003.
The
payment from the
| 16 |
| trustees shall be paid to the State no later than December 31st | 17 |
| following the
receipt of the letter. | 18 |
| (d) The trustees shall distribute up to $2,000,000 each | 19 |
| calendar year to applicants and programs that promote or | 20 |
| implement energy efficiency or conservation programs in this | 21 |
| State for 3 calendar years after the effective date of this | 22 |
| amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. The trustees shall | 23 |
| adopt rules necessary for implementation of this subsection | 24 |
| (d).
| 25 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-32, eff. 6-20-03; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)
| 26 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
|
|
|
HB1944 |
- 9 - |
LRB095 09706 MJR 29910 b |
|
| 1 |
| becoming law.
|
|