Public Act 095-0311
 
HB0351 Enrolled LRB095 05290 MJR 25368 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
Section 17-800 as follows:
 
    (220 ILCS 5/17-800 new)
    Sec. 17-800. Aggregation of electrical load by
municipalities and counties. The corporate authorities of a
municipality or county board of a county may adopt an
ordinance, under which it may aggregate in accordance with this
Section residential retail electrical loads located,
respectively, within the municipality or county and, for that
purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service agreements to
facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity
and related services and equipment. The corporate authorities
or county board also may exercise such authority jointly with
any other municipality or county. An ordinance under this
Section shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only
with the prior consent of each person owning, occupying,
controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to be
aggregated. Nothing in this Section, however, authorizes the
aggregation of electric loads that are served or authorized to
be served by an electric cooperative as defined by and pursuant
to the Electric Supplier Act or loads served by a municipality
that owns and operates its own electric distribution system. No
aggregation pursuant to an ordinance adopted under this Section
that provides for an election under this Section shall take
effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting
upon the ordinance at the election held pursuant to this
Section.
    A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a
public utility or an alternative retail electric supplier and
shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the
Commission only to the extent provided in this Section.
    A municipality may initiate a process to authorize
aggregation by a majority vote of the municipal council, with
the approval of the mayor. A county may initiate the process to
authorize aggregation by a majority vote of the county board.
Two or more municipalities or counties, or a combination of
both, may initiate a process jointly to authorize aggregation
by a majority vote of each particular municipality or county as
herein required.
    Upon the applicable requisite authority under this
Section, the corporate authorities or the county board shall
develop a plan of operation and governance for the aggregation
program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this
Section, the corporate authorities or county board shall hold
at least 2 public hearings on the plan. Before the first
hearing, the corporate authorities or county board shall
publish notice of the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the
date, time, and location of each hearing. Any load aggregation
plan established pursuant to this Section shall:
        (1) provide for universal access to all applicable
    residential customers and equitable treatment of
    applicable residential customers;
        (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency
    services to be provided to each class of customers; and
        (3) meet any requirements established by law or the
    Commission concerning aggregated service offered pursuant
    to this Section.
    The plan shall be filed with the Commission for review and
approval and shall include, without limitation, an
organizational structure of the program, its operations, and
funding; the methods of establishing rates and allocating costs
among participants; the methods for entering and terminating
agreements with other entities; the rights and
responsibilities of program participants; and procedures for
termination of the program. Within 120 days after receipt of
the plan, the Commission shall issue an order either approving
or rejecting the plan. If the Commission rejects the plan, it
shall state detailed reasons for rejecting the plan in its
order. Upon approval of the plan, the corporate authorities or
county board may solicit bids for electricity and other related
services pursuant to the methods established in the plan. The
corporate authorities or county board shall report the results
of this solicitation and proposed agreement awards to the
Commission, which shall have 15 business days to suspend such
awards if the solicitation or awards are not in conformance
with the plan or if the cost for energy would in the first year
exceed the cost of that energy if that energy was obtained from
an electric utility under Section 16-103 of this Act by
citizens in the municipality or county or group of
municipalities and counties, unless the applicant can
demonstrate that the cost for energy under the aggregation plan
will be lower in the subsequent years or the applicant can
demonstrate that such excess cost is due to the purchase of
renewable energy. If the Commission does not suspend the
proposed contract awards within 15 business days after filing,
the corporate authorities or county board shall have the right
to award the proposed agreements.
    It shall be the duty of the aggregated entity to fully
inform residential retail customers in advance that they have
the right to opt in to the aggregation program. The disclosure
shall prominently state all charges to be made and shall
include full disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant
to Section 16-103 of this Act, how to access it, and the fact
that it is available to them without penalty, if they are
currently receiving service under that Section. The Commission
shall furnish, without charge, to any citizen a list of all
supply options available to them in a format that allows
comparison of prices and products.
    This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties
from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate
residential retail electric loads.