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| Public Act 098-0434 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by | ||||
changing Section 1-92 as follows: | ||||
(20 ILCS 3855/1-92) | ||||
Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of electrical load by | ||||
municipalities, townships, and counties. | ||||
(a) The corporate authorities of a municipality, township | ||||
board, or county board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under | ||||
which it may aggregate in accordance with this
Section | ||||
residential and small commercial retail electrical loads | ||||
located, respectively, within the
municipality, the township, | ||||
or the unincorporated areas of the 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, township board, or county
board | ||||
may also exercise such authority jointly with any other | ||||
municipality, township, or county.
Two or
more
municipalities, | ||||
townships, or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate | ||||
a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote | ||||
of each particular
municipality, township, or
county as | ||||
required by this Section. | ||
If the corporate authorities, township board, or the county | ||
board seek to operate the aggregation program as an opt-out | ||
program for residential and small commercial retail customers, | ||
then prior to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to | ||
aggregation of residential and small commercial retail | ||
electric loads, the corporate authorities of a municipality, | ||
the township board, or the county board of a county shall | ||
submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or | ||
not the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program | ||
for residential and small commercial retail customers. | ||
In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | ||
general election law, notice of the referendum shall state | ||
briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | ||
the corporate authorities, the township board, or the county | ||
board shall adopt an opt-out aggregation program for | ||
residential and small commercial retail customers shall be | ||
submitted to the electors of the municipality, township board, | ||
or county board at a regular election and approved by a | ||
majority of the electors voting on the question. The corporate | ||
authorities, township board, or county board must certify to | ||
the proper election authority, which must submit the question | ||
at an election in accordance with the Election Code. | ||
The election authority must submit the question in | ||
substantially the following form: | ||
Shall the (municipality, township, or county in which | ||
the question is being voted upon) have the authority to | ||
arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential | ||
and small commercial retail customers who have not opted | ||
out of such program? | ||
The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | ||
If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | ||
in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities, township | ||
board, or county board may implement an opt-out aggregation | ||
program for residential and small commercial retail customers. | ||
A referendum must pass in each particular municipality, | ||
township, or county that is engaged in the aggregation program. | ||
If the referendum fails, then the corporate authorities, | ||
township board, or county board shall operate the aggregation | ||
program as an opt-in program for residential and small | ||
commercial retail customers. | ||
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,
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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 shall take
effect | ||
unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate | ||
authority, township board, or county board voting upon the | ||
ordinance.
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A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | ||
public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier.
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For purposes of this Section, "township" means the portion | ||
of a township that is an unincorporated portion of a county | ||
that is not otherwise a part of a municipality. In addition to | ||
such other limitations as are included in this Section, a | ||
township board shall only have authority to aggregate | ||
residential and small commercial customer loads in accordance | ||
with this Section if the county board of the county in which | ||
the township is located (i) is not also submitting a referendum | ||
to its residents at the same general election that the township | ||
board proposes to submit a referendum under this subsection | ||
(a), (ii) has not received authorization through passage of a | ||
referendum to operate an opt-out aggregation program for | ||
residential and small commercial retail customers under this | ||
subsection (a), and (iii) has not otherwise enacted an | ||
ordinance under this subsection (a) authorizing the operation | ||
of an opt-in aggregation program for residential and small | ||
commercial retail customers as described in this Section. | ||
(b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | ||
Section, the corporate
authorities, the township board, or the | ||
county board, with assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, | ||
shall develop a plan of operation and
governance for the
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aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under | ||
this Section,
the
corporate authorities, township board, or | ||
county board shall hold at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.
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Before the first hearing, the corporate authorities, township | ||
board, or county board shall
publish notice of
the hearings | ||
once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
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circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the | ||
plan and state the date,
time, and
location of each hearing.
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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
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concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this | ||
Section. | ||
(c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and | ||
other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the | ||
purchase of electricity and other related services shall be | ||
conducted in the following order: | ||
(1) The corporate authorities, township board, or | ||
county board may solicit bids for electricity and other | ||
related services. The bid specifications may include a | ||
provision requiring the bidder to disclose the fuel type of | ||
electricity to be procured or generated on behalf of the | ||
aggregation program customers. The corporate authorities, | ||
township board, or county board
may consider the proposed | ||
source of electricity to be procured or generated to be put | ||
into the grid on behalf of aggregation program customers in | ||
the competitive
bidding process. The Agency and Commission | ||
may collaborate to issue joint
guidance on voluntary | ||
uniform standards for bidder disclosures of the source of
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electricity to be procured or generated to be put into the | ||
grid on behalf of aggregation program customers. | ||
(1.5) A township board shall request from the electric | ||
utility those residential and small commercial customers | ||
within their aggregate area either by zip code or zip codes | ||
or other means as determined by the electric utility. The | ||
electric utility shall then provide to the township board | ||
the residential and small commercial customers, including | ||
the names and addresses of residential and small commercial | ||
customers, electronically. The township board shall be | ||
responsible for authenticating the residential and small | ||
commercial customers contained in this listing and | ||
providing edits of the data to affirm, add, or delete the | ||
residential and small commercial customers located within | ||
its jurisdiction. The township board shall provide the | ||
edited list to the electric utility in an electronic format | ||
or other means selected by the electric utility and certify | ||
that the information is accurate. | ||
(2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public | ||
Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | ||
Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that | ||
provides residential and small commercial retail electric | ||
service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the | ||
corporate authorities, township board, or the county board | ||
in the aggregate area, submit to the requesting party, in | ||
an electronic format, those account numbers, names, and | ||
addresses of residential and small commercial retail | ||
customers in the aggregate area that are reflected in the | ||
electric utility's records at the time of the request; | ||
provided, however, that any township board has first | ||
provided an accurate customer list to the electric utility | ||
as provided for herein. | ||
Any corporate authority, township board, or county board | ||
receiving customer information from an electric utility shall | ||
be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of the | ||
information described in Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities | ||
Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | ||
Business Practices Act, and an electric utility shall not be | ||
held liable for any claims arising out of the provision of | ||
information pursuant to this item (2). | ||
(d) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county | ||
board operate under an opt-in program for residential and small | ||
commercial retail customers, then the corporate authorities, | ||
township board, or county board shall comply with all of the | ||
following: | ||
(1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | ||
corporate authorities, township board, or county board | ||
shall allow residential and small commercial retail | ||
customers to commit to the terms and conditions of a bid | ||
that has been selected by the corporate authorities, | ||
township board, or county board. | ||
(2) If (A) the corporate authorities, township board, | ||
or county board award proposed agreements for the purchase | ||
of electricity and other related services and (B) an | ||
agreement is reached between the corporate authorities, | ||
township board, or county board for those services, then | ||
customers committed to the terms and conditions according | ||
to item (1) of this subsection (d) shall be committed to | ||
the agreement. | ||
(e) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county | ||
board operate as an opt-out program for residential and small | ||
commercial retail customers, then it shall be the duty of the | ||
aggregated entity to fully inform
residential and small | ||
commercial retail customers in advance that they have the right | ||
to opt out of 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 the Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the | ||
fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are
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currently receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois | ||
Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
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list of all supply options available to them in a format that
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allows
comparison of prices and products. | ||
(f) Any person or entity retained by a municipality or | ||
county, or jointly by more than one such unit of local | ||
government, to provide input, guidance, or advice in the | ||
selection of an electricity supplier for an aggregation program | ||
shall disclose in writing to the involved units of local | ||
government the nature of any relationship through which the | ||
person or entity may receive, either directly or indirectly, | ||
commissions or other remuneration as a result of the selection | ||
of any particular electricity supplier. The written disclosure | ||
must be made prior to formal approval by the involved units of | ||
local government of any professional services agreement with | ||
the person or entity, or no later than October 1, 2012 with | ||
respect to any such professional services agreement entered | ||
into prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | ||
97th General Assembly. The disclosure shall cover all direct | ||
and indirect relationships through which commissions or | ||
remuneration may result, including the pooling of commissions | ||
or remuneration among multiple persons or entities, and shall | ||
identify all involved electricity suppliers. The disclosure | ||
requirements in this subsection (f) are to be liberally | ||
construed to ensure that the nature of financial interests are | ||
fully revealed, and these disclosure requirements shall apply | ||
regardless of whether the involved person or entity is licensed | ||
under Section 16-115C of the Public Utilities Act. Any person | ||
or entity that fails to make the disclosure required under this | ||
subsection (f) is liable to the involved units of local | ||
government in an amount equal to all compensation paid to such | ||
person or entity by the units of local government for the | ||
input, guidance, or advice in the selection of an electricity | ||
supplier, plus reasonable attorneys fees and court costs | ||
incurred by the units of local government in connection with | ||
obtaining such amount. | ||
(g) The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to | ||
municipalities, townships, counties, or associations working | ||
with municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding | ||
process. | ||
(h) This Section does not prohibit municipalities or | ||
counties from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to | ||
aggregate residential and small commercial retail electric | ||
loads.
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(Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10; 97-338, eff. 8-12-11; | ||
97-823, eff. 7-18-12; 97-1067, eff. 8-24-12; revised 9-20-12.)
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