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Public Act 92-0690
SB2235 Enrolled LRB9215298WHcsA
AN ACT concerning energy.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act of 1989 is amended
by changing Sections 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 13 as follows:
(305 ILCS 20/1) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1401)
Sec. 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known and may be
cited as the "Energy Assistance Act of 1989".
(Source: P.A. 86-127.)
(305 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1402)
Sec. 2. Findings and Intent.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) the health, welfare, and prosperity of the
people of the State of Illinois require that all citizens
receive essential levels of heat and electric service
regardless of economic circumstance;
(2) public utilities and other entities providing
such services are entitled to receive proper payment for
services actually rendered;
(3) declining Federal low income energy assistance
funding necessitates a State response to ensure the
continuity and the further development of energy
assistance and related policies and programs within
Illinois; and
(4) energy assistance policies and programs in
effect in Illinois during the past 3 years have benefited
all Illinois citizens, and should therefore be continued
with the modifications provided herein.
(b) Consistent with its findings, the General Assembly
declares that it is the policy of the State that:
(1) a comprehensive low income energy assistance
policy and program should be established which
incorporates income assistance, home weatherization, and
other measures to ensure that citizens have access to
affordable energy services;
(2) the ability of public utilities and other
entities to receive just compensation for providing
services should not be jeopardized by this policy;
(3) resources applied in achieving this policy
should be coordinated and efficiently utilized through
the integration of public programs and through the
targeting of assistance; and
(4) the State should utilize all appropriate and
available means to fund this program and, to the extent
possible, should identify and utilize sources of funding
which complement State tax revenues.
(Source: P.A. 86-127.)
(305 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1404)
Sec. 4. Energy Assistance Program.
(a) The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs is
hereby authorized to institute a program to ensure the
availability and affordability of heating and electric
service to low income citizens. The Department shall
implement the program by rule promulgated pursuant to The
Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The program shall be
consistent with the purposes and objectives of this Act and
with all other specific requirements provided herein. The
Department shall ensure that the program is in operation by
November 1, 1989, and may enter into such contracts and other
agreements with local agencies as may be necessary for the
purpose of administering the energy assistance program.
(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering
or limiting the authority conferred on the Illinois Commerce
Commission by the Public Utilities Act to regulate all
aspects of the provision of public utility service, including
but not limited to the authority to make rules and adjudicate
disputes between utilities and customers related to
eligibility for utility service, deposits, payment practices,
discontinuance of service, and the treatment of arrearages
owing for previously rendered utility service.
(Source: P.A. 86-127.)
(305 ILCS 20/5) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1405)
Sec. 5. Policy Advisory Council.
(a) Within the Department of Commerce and Community
Affairs is created a Low Income Energy Assistance Policy
Advisory Council.
(b) The Council shall be chaired by the Director of
Commerce and Community Affairs or his or her designee. There
shall be 20 members of the Low Income Energy Assistance
Policy Advisory Council, including the chairperson and the
following members:
(1) one member designated by the Illinois Commerce
Commission;
(2) one member designated by the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources;
(3) one member designated by the Illinois Energy
Association to represent electric public utilities
serving in excess of 1 million customers in this State;
(4) one member agreed upon by gas public utilities
that serve more than 500,000 and fewer than 1,500,000
customers in this State;
(5) one member agreed upon by gas public utilities
that serve 1,500,000 or more customers in this State;
(6) one member designated by the Illinois Energy
Association to represent combination gas and electric
public utilities;
(7) one member agreed upon by the Illinois
Municipal Electric Agency and the Association of Illinois
Electric Cooperatives;
(8) one member agreed upon by the Illinois
Industrial Energy Consumers;
(9) three members designated by the Department to
represent low income energy consumers;
(10) two members designated by the Illinois
Community Action Association to represent local agencies
that assist in the administration of this Act;
(11) one member designated by the Citizens Utility
Board to represent residential energy consumers;
(12) one member designated by the Illinois Retail
Merchants Association to represent commercial energy
customers;
(13) one member designated by the Department to
represent independent energy providers; and
(14) three members designated by the Mayor of the
City of Chicago.
(c) Designated and appointed members shall serve 2 year
terms and until their successors are appointed and qualified.
The designating organization shall notify the chairperson of
any changes or substitutions of a designee within 10 business
days of a change or substitution. Members shall serve without
compensation, but may receive reimbursement for actual costs
incurred in fulfilling their duties as members of the
Council.
(d) The Council shall have the following duties:
(1) to monitor the administration of this Act to
ensure effective, efficient, and coordinated program
development and implementation;
(2) to assist the Department in developing and
administering rules and regulations required to be
promulgated pursuant to this Act in a manner consistent
with the purpose and objectives of this Act;
(3) to facilitate and coordinate the collection and
exchange of all program data and other information needed
by the Department and others in fulfilling their duties
pursuant to this Act;
(4) to advise the Department on the proper level of
support required for effective administration of the Act;
(5) to provide a written opinion concerning any
regulation proposed pursuant to this Act, and to review
and comment on any energy assistance or related plan
required to be prepared by the Department;
(6) to advise the Department on the use of funds
collected pursuant to Section 11 of this Act, and on any
changes to existing low income energy assistance programs
to make effective use of such funds, so long as such uses
and changes are consistent with the requirements of the
Act. Policy Advisory Council to be comprised of:
(1) the following ex officio members or their
designees: the Director of Commerce and Community
Affairs who shall serve as Chair of the Committee, the
Director of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Human
Services, and the Chairman of the Illinois Commerce
Commission; and
(2) 9 persons who shall be appointed by the
Governor to serve 2 year terms and until their successors
are appointed and qualified, 3 of whom shall be persons
who represent low income households or organizations
which represent such households, 3 of whom shall be
representatives of public utilities or other entities
which provide winter energy services, and 3 of whom shall
be representatives of local agencies engaged by the
Department to assist in the administration of this Act.
(3) 6 persons who shall be appointed by the
Director of the Department of Commerce and Community
Affairs to serve 2 year terms and until their successors
are appointed and qualified, who shall be persons meeting
such qualifications as may be required by the federal
government for the administration of the Weatherization
Assistance Program funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy and any such related energy assistance programs.
(4) Members shall serve without compensation, but
may receive reimbursement for actual costs incurred in
fulfilling their duties as members of the Council.
(b) The Policy Advisory Council shall have the following
duties:
(1) to monitor the administration of this Act to
ensure effective, efficient, and coordinated program
development and implementation;
(2) to assist the Department in developing and
administering rules and regulations required to be
promulgated pursuant to this Act in a manner consistent
with the purpose and objectives of this Act;
(3) to facilitate and coordinate the collection and
exchange of all program data and other information needed
by the Department and others in fulfilling their duties
pursuant to this Act;
(4) to advise the Department on the proper level of
support required for effective administration of the Act;
(5) to provide a written opinion concerning any
regulation proposed pursuant to this Act, and to review
and comment on any energy assistance or related plan
required to be prepared by the Department;
(6) on or before March 1 of each year beginning in
1990, to prepare and submit a report to the Governor and
General Assembly which describes the activities of the
Department in the development and implementation of
energy assistance and related policies and programs,
which characterizes progress towards meeting the
objectives and requirements of this Act, and which
recommends any statutory changes which might be needed to
further such progress. The report submitted in 1991
shall include an analysis of and recommendations
regarding this Act's provisions concerning State payment
of pre-program arrearages; and
(7) to advise the Department on the use of funds
collected pursuant to Section 13 of this Act, and on any
changes to existing low-income energy assistance programs
to make effective use of such funds, so long as such uses
and changes are consistent with the requirements of
subsection (a) of Section 13 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 89-507, eff. 7-1-97;
90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)
(305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and
Energy Assistance.
(a) Any person who is a resident of the State of
Illinois and whose household income is not greater than an
amount determined annually by the Department, in consultation
with the Policy Advisory Council, may apply for assistance
pursuant to this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the Department. In setting the annual
eligibility level, the Department shall consider the amount
of available funding and may not set a limit higher than 150%
of the federal nonfarm poverty level as established by the
federal Office of Management and Budget.
(b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to
subsection (a) of this Section shall, subject to
appropriation from the General Assembly and subject to
availability of funds to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by this Act. The Department, upon
receipt of monies authorized pursuant to this Act for energy
assistance, shall commit funds for each qualified applicant
in an amount determined by the Department. In determining
the amounts of assistance to be provided to or on behalf of a
qualified applicant, the Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance go to households with the
greatest energy costs in relation to household income. The
Department shall include factors such as energy costs,
household size, household income, and region of the State
when determining individual household benefits. In setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to provide
assistance to approximately the same number of households who
participated in the 1991 Residential Energy Assistance
Partnership Program. Such assistance levels shall be
adjusted annually on the basis of funding availability and
energy costs. In promulgating rules for the administration
of this Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of
1/3 of funds available for benefits to eligible households
with the lowest incomes are made available to households who
are eligible for public assistance and that elderly and
disabled households are offered a priority one-month
application period.
(c) If the applicant is not a customer of an energy
provider for winter energy services or an applicant for such
service, such applicant shall receive a direct energy
assistance payment in an amount established by the Department
for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however,
that such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing
greater than 30% of household income.
(d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy
provider, such applicant shall receive energy assistance in
an amount established by the Department for all such
applicants under this Act, such amount to be paid by the
Department to the energy provider supplying winter energy
service to such applicant. Such applicant shall:
(i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any
other appropriate source of public energy assistance; and
(ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to
receive income information from any public or private
agency providing income or energy assistance and from any
employer, whether public or private.
(e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may
receive or have paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency
assistance payment to enable such applicant to obtain access
to winter energy services. Any such payments shall be made
in accordance with regulations of the Department.
(f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are
available, provide additional benefits to certain qualified
applicants:
(i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to
energy providers; and
(ii) to assist the household in responding to
excessively high summer temperatures or energy costs.
Households containing elderly members, children, a person
with a disability, or a person with a medical need for
conditioned air shall receive priority for receipt of
such benefits.
(Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01.)
(305 ILCS 20/7) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1407)
Sec. 7. State Weatherization Plan and Program.
(a) The Department shall, after consultation with the
Policy Advisory Council, prepare and promulgate an annual
State Weatherization Plan beginning in the year this Act
becomes effective. To the extent practicable, such Plan
shall provide for targeting use of both State and federal
weatherization funds to the households of eligible applicants
pursuant to this Act whose ratios of energy costs to income
are the highest. The State Weatherization Plan shall include
but need not be limited to the following:
(1) a description of the demographic
characteristics and energy use patterns of people
eligible for assistance pursuant to this Act;
(2) the methodology used by the Department in
targeting weatherization funds;
(3) a description of anticipated activity and
results for the year covered by the Plan, including an
estimate of energy cost savings expected to be realized
by the weatherization program; and
(4) every third year, beginning in 2002, an
evaluation of results from the weatherization program in
the year preceding the plan year, including the effect of
State Weatherization Program investments on energy
consumption and cost in the population eligible for
assistance pursuant to this Act, and the effect of
targeted weatherization investments on the costs of the
energy assistance program authorized by this Act.
(b) The Department shall implement the State
Weatherization Plan by rule through a program which provides
targeted weatherization assistance to eligible applicants for
energy assistance pursuant to this Act. The Department may
enter into such contracts and other arrangements with local
agencies as may be necessary for the purpose of administering
the weatherization program.
(Source: P.A. 86-127; 87-14.)
(305 ILCS 20/8) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1408)
Sec. 8. Program Evaluation Reports.
(a) The Department of Natural Resources shall prepare
and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly reports
on September 30 biennially March 15 of each year, beginning
in 2003 1991, evaluating the effectiveness of the energy
assistance and weatherization policies authorized by this
Act. The first report shall cover such effects during the
first winter during which the program authorized by this Act,
is in operation, and successive reports shall cover effects
since the issuance of the preceding report.
(1) (b) Reports issued pursuant to this Section
shall be limited to, information concerning the effects
of the policies authorized by this Act on (1) the ability
of eligible applicants to obtain and maintain adequate
and affordable winter energy services and (2) changes in
the costs and prices of winter energy services for people
who do not receive energy assistance pursuant to this
Act.
(2) (c) The Department of Natural Resources shall
by September 30, 2002, in consultation with the Policy
Advisory Council, determine the kinds of numerical and
other information needed to conduct the evaluations
required by this Section, and shall advise the Policy
Advisory Council of such information needs in a timely
manner. The Department of Commerce and Community
Affairs, the Department of Human Services, and the
Illinois Commerce Commission shall each provide such
information as the Department of Natural Resources may
require to ensure that the evaluation reporting
requirement established by this Section can be met.
(b) On or before December 31, 2002, 2004, 2006, and
2007, the Department shall prepare a report for the General
Assembly on the expenditure of funds appropriated for the
programs authorized under this Act.
(c) On or before December 31 of each year in 2004, 2006,
and 2007, the Department shall, in consultation with the
Council, prepare and submit evaluation reports to the
Governor and the General Assembly outlining the effects of
the program designed under this Act on the following as it
relates to the propriety of continuing the program:
(1) the definition of an eligible low income
residential customer;
(2) access of low income residential customers to
essential energy services;
(3) past due amounts owed to utilities by low
income persons in Illinois;
(4) appropriate measures to encourage energy
conservation, efficiency, and responsibility among low
income residential customers;
(5) the activities of the Department in the
development and implementation of energy assistance and
related policies and programs, which characterizes
progress toward meeting the objectives and requirements
of this Act, and which recommends any statutory changes
which might be needed to further such progress.
(d) The Department shall by September 30, 2002 in
consultation with the Council determine the kinds of
numerical and other information needed to conduct the
evaluations required by this Section.
(e) (d) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall require
each public utility providing heating or electric service to
compile and submit any numerical and other information needed
by the Department of Natural Resources to meet its reporting
obligations.
(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96; 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)
(305 ILCS 20/13)
Sec. 13. Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
(a) The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
is hereby created as a special fund in the State Treasury.
The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund is
authorized to receive, by statutory deposit, the moneys
collected pursuant to this Section. Subject to
appropriation, the Department shall use moneys from the
Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund for payments
to electric or gas public utilities, municipal electric or
gas utilities, and electric cooperatives on behalf of their
customers who are participants in the program authorized by
Section 4 of this Act, for the provision of weatherization
services and for administration of the Supplemental
Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund. The yearly expenditures
for weatherization may not exceed 10% of the amount collected
during the year pursuant to this Section. In determining
which customers will participate in the weatherization
component, the Department shall target weatherization for
those customers with the greatest energy burden, that is the
lowest income and greatest utility bills. The yearly
administrative expenses of the Supplemental Low-Income Energy
Assistance Fund may not exceed 10% of the amount collected
during that year pursuant to this Section.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111 of
the Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (k) of
this Section, each public utility, electric cooperative, as
defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act, and
municipal utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the
Public Utilities Act, that is engaged in the delivery of
electricity or the distribution of natural gas within the
State of Illinois shall, effective January 1, 1998, assess
each of its customer accounts a monthly Energy Assistance
Charge for the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund. The delivering public utility, municipal electric or
gas utility, or electric or gas cooperative for a
self-assessing purchaser remains subject to the collection of
the fee imposed by this Section. The monthly charge shall be
as follows:
(1) $0.40 per month on each account for residential
electric service;
(2) $0.40 per month on each account for residential
gas service;
(3) $4 per month on each account for
non-residential electric service which had less than 10
megawatts of peak demand during the previous calendar
year;
(4) $4 per month on each account for
non-residential gas service which had distributed to it
less than 4,000,000 therms of gas during the previous
calendar year;
(5) $300 per month on each account for
non-residential electric service which had 10 megawatts
or greater of peak demand during the previous calendar
year; and
(6) $300 per month on each account for
non-residential gas service which had 4,000,000 or more
therms of gas distributed to it during the previous
calendar year.
(c) For purposes of this Section:
(1) "residential electric service" means electric
utility service for household purposes delivered to a
dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a
residential rate, or electric utility service for
household purposes delivered to a dwelling unit or units
which is billed under a residential rate and is
registered by a separate meter for each dwelling unit;
(2) "residential gas service" means gas utility
service for household purposes distributed to a dwelling
of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a residential
rate, or gas utility service for household purposes
distributed to a dwelling unit or units which is billed
under a residential rate and is registered by a separate
meter for each dwelling unit;
(3) "non-residential electric service" means
electric utility service which is not residential
electric service; and
(4) "non-residential gas service" means gas utility
service which is not residential gas service.
(d) At least 45 days prior to the date on which it must
begin assessing Energy Assistance Charges, each public
utility engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
distribution of natural gas shall file with the Illinois
Commerce Commission tariffs incorporating the Energy
Assistance Charge in other charges stated in such tariffs.
(e) The Energy Assistance Charge assessed by electric
and gas public utilities shall be considered a charge for
public utility service.
(f) By the 20th day of the month following the month in
which the charges imposed by the Section were collected, each
public utility, municipal utility, and electric cooperative
shall remit to the Department of Revenue all moneys received
as payment of the Energy Assistance Charge on a return
prescribed and furnished by the Department of Revenue showing
such information as the Department of Revenue may reasonably
require. If a customer makes a partial payment, a public
utility, municipal utility, or electric cooperative may elect
either: (i) to apply such partial payments first to amounts
owed to the utility or cooperative for its services and then
to payment for the Energy Assistance Charge or (ii) to apply
such partial payments on a pro-rata basis between amounts
owed to the utility or cooperative for its services and to
payment for the Energy Assistance Charge.
(g) The Department of Revenue shall deposit into the
Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund all moneys
remitted to it in accordance with subsection (f) of this
Section.
(h) (Blank). If as of June 30, 2002 the program
authorized by Section 4 of this Act has not been replaced by
a new energy assistance program which is in operation, then
the General Assembly shall review the program; provided
however, that after that date, any public utility, municipal
utility, or electric cooperative shall continue to assess an
Energy Assistance Charge which was originally assessed on or
before June 30, 2002 and which remains unpaid.
On or before December 31, 2002, the Department shall
prepare a report for the General Assembly on the expenditure
of funds appropriated from the Low-Income Energy Assistance
Block Grant Fund for the program authorized under Section 4
of this Act.
(i) The Department of Revenue may establish such rules
as it deems necessary to implement this Section.
(j) The Department of Commerce and Community Affairs may
establish such rules as it deems necessary to implement this
Section.
(k) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply
to customers of municipal electric or gas utilities and
electric or gas cooperatives if the municipal electric or gas
utility or electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative
decision to impose the charge. If a municipal electric or
gas utility or an electric cooperative makes an affirmative
decision to impose the charge provided by this Section, the
municipal electric or gas utility or electric cooperative
shall inform the Department of Revenue in writing of such
decision when it begins to impose the charge. If a municipal
electric or gas utility or electric or gas cooperative does
not assess this charge, the Department may not use funds from
the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund to provide
benefits to its customers under the program authorized by
Section 4 of this Act.
In its use of federal funds under this Act, the
Department may not cause a disproportionate share of those
federal funds to benefit customers of systems which do not
assess the charge provided by this Section.
This Section is repealed effective December 31, 2007
unless renewed by action of the General Assembly. The General
Assembly shall consider the results of the evaluations
described in Section 8 in its deliberations.
(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 90-624, eff. 7-10-98.)
(305 ILCS 20/7.1 rep.)
(305 ILCS 20/9 rep.)
(305 ILCS 20/12 rep.)
(305 ILCS 20/14 rep.)
Section 10. The Energy Assistance Act of 1989 is amended
by repealing Sections 7.1, 9, 12, and 14.
Section 15. The Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and
Coal Resources Development Law of 1997 is amended by changing
Section 6-5 as follows:
(20 ILCS 687/6-5)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on December 16, 2007)
Sec. 6-5. Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology
Development Assistance Charge.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111 of
the Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (e) of
this Section, each public utility, electric cooperative, as
defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act, and
municipal utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the
Public Utilities Act, that is engaged in the delivery of
electricity or the distribution of natural gas within the
State of Illinois shall, effective January 1, 1998, assess
each of its customer accounts a monthly Renewable Energy
Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge.
The delivering public utility, municipal electric or gas
utility, or electric or gas cooperative for a self-assessing
purchaser remains subject to the collection of the fee
imposed by this Section. The monthly charge shall be as
follows:
(1) $0.05 per month on each account for residential
electric service as defined in Section 13 of the Energy
Assistance Act of 1989;
(2) $0.05 per month on each account for residential
gas service as defined in Section 13 of the Energy
Assistance Act of 1989;
(3) $0.50 per month on each account for
nonresidential electric service, as defined in Section 13
of the Energy Assistance Act of 1989, which had less than
10 megawatts of peak demand during the previous calendar
year;
(4) $0.50 per month on each account for
nonresidential gas service, as defined in Section 13 of
the Energy Assistance Act of 1989, which had distributed
to it less than 4,000,000 therms of gas during the
previous calendar year;
(5) $37.50 per month on each account for
nonresidential electric service, as defined in Section 13
of the Energy Assistance Act of 1989, which had 10
megawatts or greater of peak demand during the previous
calendar year; and
(6) $37.50 per month on each account for
nonresidential gas service, as defined in Section 13 of
the Energy Assistance Act of 1989, which had 4,000,000 or
more therms of gas distributed to it during the previous
calendar year.
(b) The Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology
Development Assistance Charge assessed by electric and gas
public utilities shall be considered a charge for public
utility service.
(c) Fifty percent of the moneys collected pursuant to
this Section shall be deposited in the Renewable Energy
Resources Trust Fund by the Department of Revenue. The
remaining 50 percent of the moneys collected pursuant to this
Section shall be deposited in the Coal Technology Development
Assistance Fund by the Department of Revenue for use under
the Illinois Coal Technology Development Assistance Act.
(d) By the 20th day of the month following the month in
which the charges imposed by this Section were collected,
each utility and alternative retail electric supplier
collecting charges pursuant to this Section shall remit to
the Department of Revenue for deposit in the Renewable Energy
Resources Trust Fund and the Coal Technology Development
Assistance Fund all moneys received as payment of the charge
provided for in this Section on a return prescribed and
furnished by the Department of Revenue showing such
information as the Department of Revenue may reasonably
require.
(e) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply
to customers of municipal electric or gas utilities and
electric or gas cooperatives if the municipal electric or gas
utility or electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative
decision to impose the charge. If a municipal electric or gas
utility or an electric or gas cooperative makes an
affirmative decision to impose the charge provided by this
Section, the municipal electric or gas utility or electric or
gas cooperative shall inform the Department of Revenue in
writing of such decision when it begins to impose the charge.
If a municipal electric or gas utility or electric or gas
cooperative does not assess this charge, its customers shall
not be eligible for the Renewable Energy Resources Program.
(f) The Department of Revenue may establish such rules
as it deems necessary to implement this Section.
(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 90-624, eff. 7-10-98.)
Section 20. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
changing Sections 8-207, 16-108, and 16-111 as follows:
(220 ILCS 5/8-207) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-207)
Sec. 8-207. Any former residential customer whose gas or
electric service was used to provide or control the primary
source of space heating in the dwelling and whose service is
disconnected for nonpayment of a bill or a deposit from
December 1 of the prior winter's heating season through April
1 of the current heating season shall be eligible for
reconnection and a deferred payment arrangement under the
provisions of this Section, subject to the following
limitations:
A utility shall not be required to reconnect service to,
and enter into a deferred payment arrangement with, a former
customer under the provisions of this Section (1) except
between November 1 and April 1 of the current heating season
for former customers who do not have applications pending for
the program described in Section 6 of the Energy Assistance
Act of 1989, and except between October 1 and April 1 of the
current heating season for all former customers who do have
applications pending for the program described in Section 6
of the Energy Assistance Act of 1989 and who provide proof of
application to the utility, (2) in 2 consecutive years, (3)
unless that former customer has paid at least 33 1/3% of the
amount billed for utility service rendered by that utility
subsequent to December 1 of the prior year, or (4) in any
instance where the utility can show there has been tampering
with the utility's wires, pipes, meters (including locking
devices), or other service equipment and further shows that
the former customer enjoyed the benefit of utility service
obtained in the aforesaid manner.
The terms and conditions of any deferred payment
arrangements established by the utility and a former customer
shall take into consideration the following factors, based
upon information available from current utility records or
provided by the former customer:
(1) the amount past due;
(2) the former customer's ability to pay;
(3) the former customer's payment history;
(4) the reasons for the accumulation of the past
due amounts; and
(5) any other relevant factors relating to the
former customer's circumstances.
After the former customer's eligibility has been
established in accordance with the first paragraph of this
Section and, upon the establishment of a deferred payment
agreement, the former customer shall pay 1/3 of the amount
past due (including reconnecting charge, if any) and 1/3 of
any deposit required by the utility.
Upon the payment of 1/3 of the amount past due and 1/3 of
any deposit required by the utility, the former customer's
service shall be reconnected as soon as possible. The
company and the former customer shall agree to a payment
schedule for the remaining balances which will reasonably
allow the former customer to make the payments on the
remainder of the deposit and the past due balance while
paying current bills during the winter heating season.
However, the utility is not obliged to make payment
arrangements extending beyond the following November. The
utility shall allow the former customer a minimum of 4 months
in which to retire the past due balance and 3 months in which
to pay the remainder of the deposit. The former customer
shall also be informed that payment on the amounts past due
and the deposit, if any, plus the current bills must be paid
by the due date or the customer may face termination of
service pursuant to this Section and Section 8-206.
The Commission shall develop rules to govern the
reconnection of a former customer who demonstrates a
financial inability to meet the requirement of 1/3 of the
amount past due and 1/3 of any deposit requested by the
utility. The Commission's rules shall establish a means by
which the former customer's utility service may be
reconnected through the payment of a reasonable amount and
upon entering into a deferred payment agreement.
Any payment agreement made shall be in writing, with a
copy provided to the former customer. The renegotiation and
reinstatement of a customer and the establishment of a budget
payment plan shall be pursuant to rules established by the
Commission.
Not later than September 15 of each year, every gas and
electric utility shall conduct a survey of all former
residential customers whose gas or electric service was used
to provide or control the primary source of space heating in
the dwelling and whose gas or electric service was terminated
for nonpayment of a bill or deposit from December 1 of the
previous year to September 15 of that year and where service
at that premises has not been restored. Not later than
October 1 of each year the utility shall notify each of these
former customers that the gas or electric service will be
restored by the company for the coming heating season if the
former customer contacts the utility and makes arrangements
with the utility for reconnection of service under the
conditions set forth in this Section. A utility shall notify
the former customer or an adult member of the household by
personal visit, telephone contact or mailing of a letter by
first class mail to the last known address of that former
customer. The utility shall keep records which would
indicate the date, form and the results of such contact.
Each gas and electric utility which has former customers
affected by this Section shall file reports with the
Commission providing such information as the Commission may
deem appropriate. The Commission shall notify each gas and
electric utility prior to August 1 of each year concerning
the information which is to be included in the report for
that year.
In no event shall any actions taken by a utility in
compliance with this Section be deemed to abrogate or in any
way interfere with the utility's rights to pursue the normal
collection processes otherwise available to it.
The Commission shall promulgate rules to implement this
Section.
(Source: P.A. 86-782; 87-469.)
(220 ILCS 5/16-108)
Sec. 16-108. Recovery of costs associated with the
provision of delivery services.
(a) An electric utility shall file a delivery services
tariff with the Commission at least 210 days prior to the
date that it is required to begin offering such services
pursuant to this Act. An electric utility shall provide the
components of delivery services that are subject to the
jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at
the same prices, terms and conditions set forth in its
applicable tariff as approved or allowed into effect by that
Commission. The Commission shall otherwise have the authority
pursuant to Article IX to review, approve, and modify the
prices, terms and conditions of those components of delivery
services not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, including the authority to
determine the extent to which such delivery services should
be offered on an unbundled basis. In making any such
determination the Commission shall consider, at a minimum,
the effect of additional unbundling on (i) the objective of
just and reasonable rates, (ii) electric utility employees,
and (iii) the development of competitive markets for electric
energy services in Illinois.
(b) The Commission shall enter an order approving, or
approving as modified, the delivery services tariff no later
than 30 days prior to the date on which the electric utility
must commence offering such services. The Commission may
subsequently modify such tariff pursuant to this Act.
(c) The electric utility's tariffs shall define the
classes of its customers for purposes of delivery services
charges. Delivery services shall be priced and made
available to all retail customers electing delivery services
in each such class on a nondiscriminatory basis regardless of
whether the retail customer chooses the electric utility, an
affiliate of the electric utility, or another entity as its
supplier of electric power and energy. Charges for delivery
services shall be cost based, and shall allow the electric
utility to recover the costs of providing delivery services
through its charges to its delivery service customers that
use the facilities and services associated with such costs.
Such costs shall include the costs of owning, operating and
maintaining transmission and distribution facilities. The
Commission shall also be authorized to consider whether, and
if so to what extent, the following costs are appropriately
included in the electric utility's delivery services rates:
(i) the costs of that portion of generation facilities used
for the production and absorption of reactive power in order
that retail customers located in the electric utility's
service area can receive electric power and energy from
suppliers other than the electric utility, and (ii) the costs
associated with the use and redispatch of generation
facilities to mitigate constraints on the transmission or
distribution system in order that retail customers located in
the electric utility's service area can receive electric
power and energy from suppliers other than the electric
utility. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as
directing the Commission to allocate any of the costs
described in (i) or (ii) that are found to be appropriately
included in the electric utility's delivery services rates to
any particular customer group or geographic area in setting
delivery services rates.
(d) The Commission shall establish charges, terms and
conditions for delivery services that are just and reasonable
and shall take into account customer impacts when
establishing such charges. In establishing charges, terms and
conditions for delivery services, the Commission shall take
into account voltage level differences. A retail customer
shall have the option to request to purchase electric service
at any delivery service voltage reasonably and technically
feasible from the electric facilities serving that customer's
premises provided that there are no significant adverse
impacts upon system reliability or system efficiency. A
retail customer shall also have the option to request to
purchase electric service at any point of delivery that is
reasonably and technically feasible provided that there are
no significant adverse impacts on system reliability or
efficiency. Such requests shall not be unreasonably denied.
(e) Electric utilities shall recover the costs of
installing, operating or maintaining facilities for the
particular benefit of one or more delivery services
customers, including without limitation any costs incurred in
complying with a customer's request to be served at a
different voltage level, directly from the retail customer or
customers for whose benefit the costs were incurred, to the
extent such costs are not recovered through the charges
referred to in subsections (c) and (d) of this Section.
(f) An electric utility shall be entitled but not
required to implement transition charges in conjunction with
the offering of delivery services pursuant to Section 16-104.
If an electric utility implements transition charges, it
shall implement such charges for all delivery services
customers and for all customers described in subsection (h),
but shall not implement transition charges for power and
energy that a retail customer takes from cogeneration or
self-generation facilities located on that retail customer's
premises, if such facilities meet the following criteria:
(i) the cogeneration or self-generation facilities
serve a single retail customer and are located on that
retail customer's premises (for purposes of this
subparagraph and subparagraph (ii), an industrial or
manufacturing retail customer and a third party
contractor that is served by such industrial or
manufacturing customer through such retail customer's own
electrical distribution facilities under the
circumstances described in subsection (vi) of the
definition of "alternative retail electric supplier" set
forth in Section 16-102, shall be considered a single
retail customer);
(ii) the cogeneration or self-generation facilities
either (A) are sized pursuant to generally accepted
engineering standards for the retail customer's
electrical load at that premises (taking into account
standby or other reliability considerations related to
that retail customer's operations at that site) or (B) if
the facility is a cogeneration facility located on the
retail customer's premises, the retail customer is the
thermal host for that facility and the facility has been
designed to meet that retail customer's thermal energy
requirements resulting in electrical output beyond that
retail customer's electrical demand at that premises,
comply with the operating and efficiency standards
applicable to "qualifying facilities" specified in title
18 Code of Federal Regulations Section 292.205 as in
effect on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1999;
(iii) the retail customer on whose premises the
facilities are located either has an exclusive right to
receive, and corresponding obligation to pay for, all of
the electrical capacity of the facility, or in the case
of a cogeneration facility that has been designed to meet
the retail customer's thermal energy requirements at that
premises, an identified amount of the electrical capacity
of the facility, over a minimum 5-year period; and
(iv) if the cogeneration facility is sized for the
retail customer's thermal load at that premises but
exceeds the electrical load, any sales of excess power or
energy are made only at wholesale, are subject to the
jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
and are not for the purpose of circumventing the
provisions of this subsection (f).
If a generation facility located at a retail customer's
premises does not meet the above criteria, an electric
utility implementing transition charges shall implement a
transition charge until December 31, 2006 for any power and
energy taken by such retail customer from such facility as if
such power and energy had been delivered by the electric
utility. Provided, however, that an industrial retail
customer that is taking power from a generation facility that
does not meet the above criteria but that is located on such
customer's premises will not be subject to a transition
charge for the power and energy taken by such retail customer
from such generation facility if the facility does not serve
any other retail customer and either was installed on behalf
of the customer and for its own use prior to January 1, 1997,
or is both predominantly fueled by byproducts of such
customer's manufacturing process at such premises and sells
or offers an average of 300 megawatts or more of electricity
produced from such generation facility into the wholesale
market. Such charges shall be calculated as provided in
Section 16-102, and shall be collected on each kilowatt-hour
delivered under a delivery services tariff to a retail
customer from the date the customer first takes delivery
services until December 31, 2006 except as provided in
subsection (h) of this Section. Provided, however, that an
electric utility, other than an electric utility providing
service to at least 1,000,000 customers in this State on
January 1, 1999, shall be entitled to petition for entry of
an order by the Commission authorizing the electric utility
to implement transition charges for an additional period
ending no later than December 31, 2008. The electric utility
shall file its petition with supporting evidence no earlier
than 16 months, and no later than 12 months, prior to
December 31, 2006. The Commission shall hold a hearing on
the electric utility's petition and shall enter its order no
later than 8 months after the petition is filed. The
Commission shall determine whether and to what extent the
electric utility shall be authorized to implement transition
charges for an additional period. The Commission may
authorize the electric utility to implement transition
charges for some or all of the additional period, and shall
determine the mitigation factors to be used in implementing
such transition charges; provided, that the Commission shall
not authorize mitigation factors less than 110% of those in
effect during the 12 months ended December 31, 2006. In
making its determination, the Commission shall consider the
following factors: the necessity to implement transition
charges for an additional period in order to maintain the
financial integrity of the electric utility; the prudence of
the electric utility's actions in reducing its costs since
the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997; the
ability of the electric utility to provide safe, adequate and
reliable service to retail customers in its service area; and
the impact on competition of allowing the electric utility to
implement transition charges for the additional period.
(g) The electric utility shall file tariffs that
establish the transition charges to be paid by each class of
customers to the electric utility in conjunction with the
provision of delivery services. The electric utility's
tariffs shall define the classes of its customers for
purposes of calculating transition charges. The electric
utility's tariffs shall provide for the calculation of
transition charges on a customer-specific basis for any
retail customer whose average monthly maximum electrical
demand on the electric utility's system during the 6 months
with the customer's highest monthly maximum electrical
demands equals or exceeds 3.0 megawatts for electric
utilities having more than 1,000,000 customers, and for other
electric utilities for any customer that has an average
monthly maximum electrical demand on the electric utility's
system of one megawatt or more, and (A) for which there
exists data on the customer's usage during the 3 years
preceding the date that the customer became eligible to take
delivery services, or (B) for which there does not exist data
on the customer's usage during the 3 years preceding the date
that the customer became eligible to take delivery services,
if in the electric utility's reasonable judgment there exists
comparable usage information or a sufficient basis to develop
such information, and further provided that the electric
utility can require customers for which an individual
calculation is made to sign contracts that set forth the
transition charges to be paid by the customer to the electric
utility pursuant to the tariff.
(h) An electric utility shall also be entitled to file
tariffs that allow it to collect transition charges from
retail customers in the electric utility's service area that
do not take delivery services but that take electric power or
energy from an alternative retail electric supplier or from
an electric utility other than the electric utility in whose
service area the customer is located. Such charges shall be
calculated, in accordance with the definition of transition
charges in Section 16-102, for the period of time that the
customer would be obligated to pay transition charges if it
were taking delivery services, except that no deduction for
delivery services revenues shall be made in such calculation,
and usage data from the customer's class shall be used where
historical usage data is not available for the individual
customer. The customer shall be obligated to pay such
charges on a lump sum basis on or before the date on which
the customer commences to take service from the alternative
retail electric supplier or other electric utility, provided,
that the electric utility in whose service area the customer
is located shall offer the customer the option of signing a
contract pursuant to which the customer pays such charges
ratably over the period in which the charges would otherwise
have applied.
(i) An electric utility shall be entitled to add to the
bills of delivery services customers charges pursuant to
Sections 9-221, 9-222 (except as provided in Section
9-222.1), and Section 16-114 of this Act, Section 5-5 of the
Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law, Section 6-5
of the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Coal
Resources Development Law of 1997, and Section 13 of the
Energy Assistance Act of 1989.
(j) If a retail customer that obtains electric power and
energy from cogeneration or self-generation facilities
installed for its own use on or before January 1, 1997,
subsequently takes service from an alternative retail
electric supplier or an electric utility other than the
electric utility in whose service area the customer is
located for any portion of the customer's electric power and
energy requirements formerly obtained from those facilities
(including that amount purchased from the utility in lieu of
such generation and not as standby power purchases, under a
cogeneration displacement tariff in effect as of the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997), the
transition charges otherwise applicable pursuant to
subsections (f), (g), or (h) of this Section shall not be
applicable in any year to that portion of the customer's
electric power and energy requirements formerly obtained from
those facilities, provided, that for purposes of this
subsection (j), such portion shall not exceed the average
number of kilowatt-hours per year obtained from the
cogeneration or self-generation facilities during the 3 years
prior to the date on which the customer became eligible for
delivery services, except as provided in subsection (f) of
Section 16-110.
(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 91-50, eff. 6-30-99.)
(220 ILCS 5/16-111)
Sec. 16-111. Rates and restructuring transactions during
mandatory transition period.
(a) During the mandatory transition period,
notwithstanding any provision of Article IX of this Act, and
except as provided in subsections (b), (d), (e), and (f) of
this Section, the Commission shall not (i) initiate,
authorize or order any change by way of increase (other than
in connection with a request for rate increase which was
filed after September 1, 1997 but prior to October 15, 1997,
by an electric utility serving less than 12,500 customers in
this State), (ii) initiate or, unless requested by the
electric utility, authorize or order any change by way of
decrease, restructuring or unbundling (except as provided in
Section 16-109A), in the rates of any electric utility that
were in effect on October 1, 1996, or (iii) in any order
approving any application for a merger pursuant to Section
7-204 that was pending as of May 16, 1997, impose any
condition requiring any filing for an increase, decrease, or
change in, or other review of, an electric utility's rates or
enforce any such condition of any such order; provided,
however, that this subsection shall not prohibit the
Commission from:
(1) approving the application of an electric
utility to implement an alternative to rate of return
regulation or a regulatory mechanism that rewards or
penalizes the electric utility through adjustment of
rates based on utility performance, pursuant to Section
9-244;
(2) authorizing an electric utility to eliminate
its fuel adjustment clause and adjust its base rate
tariffs in accordance with subsection (b), (d), or (f) of
Section 9-220 of this Act, to fix its fuel adjustment
factor in accordance with subsection (c) of Section 9-220
of this Act, or to eliminate its fuel adjustment clause
in accordance with subsection (e) of Section 9-220 of
this Act;
(3) ordering into effect tariffs for delivery
services and transition charges in accordance with
Sections 16-104 and 16-108, for real-time pricing in
accordance with Section 16-107, or the options required
by Section 16-110 and subsection (n) of 16-112, allowing
a billing experiment in accordance with Section 16-106,
or modifying delivery services tariffs in accordance with
Section 16-109; or
(4) ordering or allowing into effect any tariff to
recover charges pursuant to Sections 9-201.5, 9-220.1,
9-221, 9-222 (except as provided in Section 9-222.1),
16-108, and 16-114 of this Act, Section 5-5 of the
Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law, Section
6-5 of the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Coal
Resources Development Law of 1997, and Section 13 of the
Energy Assistance Act of 1989.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a),
each Illinois electric utility serving more than 12,500
customers in Illinois shall file tariffs (i) reducing,
effective August 1, 1998, each component of its base rates to
residential retail customers by 15% from the base rates in
effect immediately prior to January 1, 1998 and (ii) if the
public utility provides electric service to (A) more than
500,000 customers but less than 1,000,000 customers in this
State on January 1, 1999, reducing, effective May 1, 2002,
each component of its base rates to residential retail
customers by an additional 5% from the base rates in effect
immediately prior to January 1, 1998, or (B) at least
1,000,000 customers in this State on January 1, 1999,
reducing, effective October 1, 2001, each component of its
base rates to residential retail customers by an additional
5% from the base rates in effect immediately prior to January
1, 1998. Provided, however, that (A) if an electric utility's
average residential retail rate is less than or equal to the
average residential retail rate for a group of Midwest
Utilities (consisting of all investor-owned electric
utilities with annual system peaks in excess of 1000
megawatts in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin), based on data
reported on Form 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission for calendar year 1995, then it shall only be
required to file tariffs (i) reducing, effective August 1,
1998, each component of its base rates to residential retail
customers by 5% from the base rates in effect immediately
prior to January 1, 1998, (ii) reducing, effective October 1,
2000, each component of its base rates to residential retail
customers by the lesser of 5% of the base rates in effect
immediately prior to January 1, 1998 or the percentage by
which the electric utility's average residential retail rate
exceeds the average residential retail rate of the Midwest
Utilities, based on data reported on Form 1 to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission for calendar year 1999, and
(iii) reducing, effective October 1, 2002, each component of
its base rates to residential retail customers by an
additional amount equal to the lesser of 5% of the base rates
in effect immediately prior to January 1, 1998 or the
percentage by which the electric utility's average
residential retail rate exceeds the average residential
retail rate of the Midwest Utilities, based on data reported
on Form 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for
calendar year 2001; and (B) if the average residential retail
rate of an electric utility serving between 150,000 and
250,000 retail customers in this State on January 1, 1995 is
less than or equal to 90% of the average residential retail
rate for the Midwest Utilities, based on data reported on
Form 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for
calendar year 1995, then it shall only be required to file
tariffs (i) reducing, effective August 1, 1998, each
component of its base rates to residential retail customers
by 2% from the base rates in effect immediately prior to
January 1, 1998; (ii) reducing, effective October 1, 2000,
each component of its base rates to residential retail
customers by 2% from the base rate in effect immediately
prior to January 1, 1998; and (iii) reducing, effective
October 1, 2002, each component of its base rates to
residential retail customers by 1% from the base rates in
effect immediately prior to January 1, 1998. Provided,
further, that any electric utility for which a decrease in
base rates has been or is placed into effect between October
1, 1996 and the dates specified in the preceding sentences of
this subsection, other than pursuant to the requirements of
this subsection, shall be entitled to reduce the amount of
any reduction or reductions in its base rates required by
this subsection by the amount of such other decrease. The
tariffs required under this subsection shall be filed 45 days
in advance of the effective date. Notwithstanding anything to
the contrary in Section 9-220 of this Act, no restatement of
base rates in conjunction with the elimination of a fuel
adjustment clause under that Section shall result in a lesser
decrease in base rates than customers would otherwise receive
under this subsection had the electric utility's fuel
adjustment clause not been eliminated.
(c) Any utility reducing its base rates by 15% on August
1, 1998 pursuant to subsection (b) shall include the
following statement on its bills for residential customers
from August 1 through December 31, 1998: "Effective August 1,
1998, your rates have been reduced by 15% by the Electric
Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by
the Illinois General Assembly.". Any utility reducing its
base rates by 5% on August 1, 1998, pursuant to subsection
(b) shall include the following statement on its bills for
residential customers from August 1 through December 31,
1998: "Effective August 1, 1998, your rates have been
reduced by 5% by the Electric Service Customer Choice and
Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by the Illinois General
Assembly.".
Any utility reducing its base rates by 2% on August 1,
1998 pursuant to subsection (b) shall include the following
statement on its bills for residential customers from August
1 through December 31, 1998: "Effective August 1, 1998, your
rates have been reduced by 2% by the Electric Service
Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by the
Illinois General Assembly.".
(d) During the mandatory transition period, but not
before January 1, 2000, and notwithstanding the provisions
of subsection (a), an electric utility may request an
increase in its base rates if the electric utility
demonstrates that the 2-year average of its earned rate of
return on common equity, calculated as its net income
applicable to common stock divided by the average of its
beginning and ending balances of common equity using data
reported in the electric utility's Form 1 report to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission but adjusted to remove
the effects of accelerated depreciation or amortization or
other transition or mitigation measures implemented by the
electric utility pursuant to subsection (g) of this Section
and the effect of any refund paid pursuant to subsection (e)
of this Section, is below the 2-year average for the same 2
years of the monthly average yields of 30-year U.S. Treasury
bonds published by the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System in its weekly H.15 Statistical Release or
successor publication. The Commission shall review the
electric utility's request, and may review the justness and
reasonableness of all rates for tariffed services, in
accordance with the provisions of Article IX of this Act,
provided that the Commission shall consider any special or
negotiated adjustments to the revenue requirement agreed to
between the electric utility and the other parties to the
proceeding. In setting rates under this Section, the
Commission shall exclude the costs and revenues that are
associated with competitive services and any billing or
pricing experiments conducted under Section 16-106.
(e) For the purposes of this subsection (e) all
calculations and comparisons shall be performed for the
Illinois operations of multijurisdictional utilities. During
the mandatory transition period, notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection (a), if the 2-year average of an
electric utility's earned rate of return on common equity,
calculated as its net income applicable to common stock
divided by the average of its beginning and ending balances
of common equity using data reported in the electric
utility's Form 1 report to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission but adjusted to remove the effect of any refund
paid under this subsection (e), and further adjusted to
include the annual amortization of any difference between the
consideration received by an affiliated interest of the
electric utility in the sale of an asset which had been sold
or transferred by the electric utility to the affiliated
interest subsequent to the effective date of this amendatory
Act of 1997 and the consideration for which such asset had
been sold or transferred to the affiliated interest, with
such difference to be amortized ratably from the date of the
sale by the affiliated interest to December 31, 2006, exceeds
the 2-year average of the Index for the same 2 years by 1.5
or more percentage points, the electric utility shall make
refunds to customers beginning the first billing day of April
in the following year in the manner described in paragraph
(3) of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection (e),
the "Index" shall be the sum of (A) the average for the 12
months ended September 30 of the monthly average yields of
30-year U.S. Treasury bonds published by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System in its weekly H.15
Statistical Release or successor publication for each year
1998 through 2004, and (B) (i) 4.00 percentage points for
each of the 12-month periods ending September 30, 1998
through September 30, 1999 or 8.00 percentage points if the
electric utility's average residential retail rate is less
than or equal to 90% of the average residential retail rate
for the "Midwest Utilities", as that term is defined in
subsection (b) of this Section, based on data reported on
Form 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for
calendar year 1995, and the electric utility served between
150,000 and 250,000 retail customers on January 1, 1995, (ii)
7.00 percentage points for each of the 12-month periods
ending September 30, 2000 through September 30, 2004 if the
electric utility was providing service to at least 1,000,000
customers in this State on January 1, 1999, or 9.00
percentage points if the electric utility's average
residential retail rate is less than or equal to 90% of the
average residential retail rate for the "Midwest Utilities",
as that term is defined in subsection (b) of this Section,
based on data reported on Form 1 to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission for calendar year 1995 and the electric
utility served between 150,000 and 250,000 retail customers
in this State on January 1, 1995, (iii) 11.00 percentage
points for each of the 12-month periods ending September 30,
2000 through September 30, 2004, but only if the electric
utility's average residential retail rate is less than or
equal to 90% of the average residential retail rate for the
"Midwest Utilities", as that term is defined in subsection
(b) of this Section, based on data reported on Form 1 to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for calendar year 1995,
the electric utility served between 150,000 and 250,000
retail customers in this State on January 1, 1995, and the
electric utility offers delivery services on or before June
1, 2000 to retail customers whose annual electric energy use
comprises 33% of the kilowatt hour sales to that group of
retail customers that are classified under Division D, Groups
20 through 39 of the Standard Industrial Classifications set
forth in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual
published by the United States Office of Management and
Budget, excluding the kilowatt hour sales to those customers
that are eligible for delivery services pursuant to Section
16-104(a)(1)(i), and offers delivery services to its
remaining retail customers classified under Division D,
Groups 20 through 39 on or before October 1, 2000, and,
provided further, that the electric utility commits not to
petition pursuant to Section 16-108(f) for entry of an order
by the Commission authorizing the electric utility to
implement transition charges for an additional period after
December 31, 2006, or (iv) 5.00 percentage points for each of
the 12-month periods ending September 30, 2000 through
September 30, 2004 for all other electric utilities or 7.00
percentage points for such utilities for each of the 12-month
periods ending September 30, 2000 through September 30, 2004
for any such utility that commits not to petition pursuant to
Section 16-108(f) for entry of an order by the Commission
authorizing the electric utility to implement transition
charges for an additional period after December 31, 2006.
(1) For purposes of this subsection (e), "excess
earnings" means the difference between (A) the 2-year
average of the electric utility's earned rate of return
on common equity, less (B) the 2-year average of the sum
of (i) the Index applicable to each of the 2 years and
(ii) 1.5 percentage points; provided, that "excess
earnings" shall never be less than zero.
(2) On or before March 31 of each year 2000 through
2005 each electric utility shall file a report with the
Commission showing its earned rate of return on common
equity, calculated in accordance with this subsection,
for the preceding calendar year and the average for the
preceding 2 calendar years.
(3) If an electric utility has excess earnings,
determined in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of
this subsection, the refunds which the electric utility
shall pay to its customers beginning the first billing
day of April in the following year shall be calculated
and applied as follows:
(i) The electric utility's excess earnings
shall be multiplied by the average of the beginning
and ending balances of the electric utility's common
equity for the 2-year period in which excess
earnings occurred.
(ii) The result of the calculation in (i)
shall be multiplied by 0.50 and then divided by a
number equal to 1 minus the electric utility's
composite federal and State income tax rate.
(iii) The result of the calculation in (ii)
shall be divided by the sum of the electric
utility's projected total kilowatt-hour sales to
retail customers plus projected kilowatt-hours to be
delivered to delivery services customers over a one
year period beginning with the first billing date in
April in the succeeding year to determine a cents
per kilowatt-hour refund factor.
(iv) The cents per kilowatt-hour refund factor
calculated in (iii) shall be credited to the
electric utility's customers by applying the factor
on the customer's monthly bills to each
kilowatt-hour sold or delivered until the total
amount calculated in (ii) has been paid to
customers.
(f) During the mandatory transition period, an electric
utility may file revised tariffs reducing the price of any
tariffed service offered by the electric utility for all
customers taking that tariffed service, which shall be
effective 7 days after filing.
(g) During the mandatory transition period, an electric
utility may, without obtaining any approval of the Commission
other than that provided for in this subsection and
notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any rule
or regulation of the Commission that would require such
approval:
(1) implement a reorganization, other than a merger
of 2 or more public utilities as defined in Section 3-105
or their holding companies;
(2) retire generating plants from service;
(3) sell, assign, lease or otherwise transfer
assets to an affiliated or unaffiliated entity and as
part of such transaction enter into service agreements,
power purchase agreements, or other agreements with the
transferee; provided, however, that the prices, terms and
conditions of any power purchase agreement must be
approved or allowed into effect by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission; or
(4) use any accelerated cost recovery method
including accelerated depreciation, accelerated
amortization or other capital recovery methods, or record
reductions to the original cost of its assets.
In order to implement a reorganization, retire generating
plants from service, or sell, assign, lease or otherwise
transfer assets pursuant to this Section, the electric
utility shall comply with subsections (c) and (d) of Section
16-128, if applicable, and subsection (k) of this Section, if
applicable, and provide the Commission with at least 30 days
notice of the proposed reorganization or transaction, which
notice shall include the following information:
(i) a complete statement of the entries that
the electric utility will make on its books and
records of account to implement the proposed
reorganization or transaction together with a
certification from an independent certified public
accountant that such entries are in accord with
generally accepted accounting principles and, if the
Commission has previously approved guidelines for
cost allocations between the utility and its
affiliates, a certification from the chief
accounting officer of the utility that such entries
are in accord with those cost allocation guidelines;
(ii) a description of how the electric utility
will use proceeds of any sale, assignment, lease or
transfer to retire debt or otherwise reduce or
recover the costs of services provided by such
electric utility;
(iii) a list of all federal approvals or
approvals required from departments and agencies of
this State, other than the Commission, that the
electric utility has or will obtain before
implementing the reorganization or transaction;
(iv) an irrevocable commitment by the electric
utility that it will not, as a result of the
transaction, impose any stranded cost charges that
it might otherwise be allowed to charge retail
customers under federal law or increase the
transition charges that it is otherwise entitled to
collect under this Article XVI; and
(v) if the electric utility proposes to sell,
assign, lease or otherwise transfer a generating
plant that brings the amount of net dependable
generating capacity transferred pursuant to this
subsection to an amount equal to or greater than 15%
of the electric utility's net dependable capacity as
of the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1997, and enters into a power purchase agreement
with the entity to which such generating plant is
sold, assigned, leased, or otherwise transferred,
the electric utility also agrees, if its fuel
adjustment clause has not already been eliminated,
to eliminate its fuel adjustment clause in
accordance with subsection (b) of Section 9-220 for
a period of time equal to the length of any such
power purchase agreement or successor agreement, or
until January 1, 2005, whichever is longer; if the
capacity of the generating plant so transferred and
related power purchase agreement does not result in
the elimination of the fuel adjustment clause under
this subsection, and the fuel adjustment clause has
not already been eliminated, the electric utility
shall agree that the costs associated with the
transferred plant that are included in the
calculation of the rate per kilowatt-hour to be
applied pursuant to the electric utility's fuel
adjustment clause during such period shall not
exceed the per kilowatt-hour cost associated with
such generating plant included in the electric
utility's fuel adjustment clause during the full
calendar year preceding the transfer, with such
limit to be adjusted each year thereafter by the
Gross Domestic Product Implicit Price Deflator.
(vi) In addition, if the electric utility
proposes to sell, assign, or lease, (A) either (1)
an amount of generating plant that brings the amount
of net dependable generating capacity transferred
pursuant to this subsection to an amount equal to or
greater than 15% of its net dependable capacity on
the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997,
or (2) one or more generating plants with a total
net dependable capacity of 1100 megawatts, or (B)
transmission and distribution facilities that either
(1) bring the amount of transmission and
distribution facilities transferred pursuant to this
subsection to an amount equal to or greater than 15%
of the electric utility's total depreciated original
cost investment in such facilities, or (2) represent
an investment of $25,000,000 in terms of total
depreciated original cost, the electric utility
shall provide, in addition to the information listed
in subparagraphs (i) through (v), the following
information: (A) a description of how the electric
utility will meet its service obligations under this
Act in a safe and reliable manner and (B) the
electric utility's projected earned rate of return
on common equity, calculated in accordance with
subsection (d) of this Section, for each year from
the date of the notice through December 31, 2004
both with and without the proposed transaction. If
the Commission has not issued an order initiating a
hearing on the proposed transaction within 30 days
after the date the electric utility's notice is
filed, the transaction shall be deemed approved.
The Commission may, after notice and hearing,
prohibit the proposed transaction if it makes either
or both of the following findings: (1) that the
proposed transaction will render the electric
utility unable to provide its tariffed services in a
safe and reliable manner, or (2) that there is a
strong likelihood that consummation of the proposed
transaction will result in the electric utility
being entitled to request an increase in its base
rates during the mandatory transition period
pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section. Any
hearing initiated by the Commission into the
proposed transaction shall be completed, and the
Commission's final order approving or prohibiting
the proposed transaction shall be entered, within 90
days after the date the electric utility's notice
was filed. Provided, however, that a sale,
assignment, or lease of transmission facilities to
an independent system operator that meets the
requirements of Section 16-126 shall not be subject
to Commission approval under this Section.
In any proceeding conducted by the Commission
pursuant to this subparagraph (vi), intervention
shall be limited to parties with a direct interest
in the transaction which is the subject of the
hearing and any statutory consumer protection agency
as defined in subsection (d) of Section 9-102.1.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 10-113 of
this Act, any application seeking rehearing of an
order issued under this subparagraph (vi), whether
filed by the electric utility or by an intervening
party, shall be filed within 10 days after service
of the order.
The Commission shall not in any subsequent proceeding or
otherwise, review such a reorganization or other transaction
authorized by this Section, but shall retain the authority to
allocate costs as stated in Section 16-111(i). An entity to
which an electric utility sells, assigns, leases or transfers
assets pursuant to this subsection (g) shall not, as a result
of the transactions specified in this subsection (g), be
deemed a public utility as defined in Section 3-105. Nothing
in this subsection (g) shall change any requirement under the
jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety
including, but not limited to, the payment of fees. Nothing
in this subsection (g) shall exempt a utility from obtaining
a certificate pursuant to Section 8-406 of this Act for the
construction of a new electric generating facility. Nothing
in this subsection (g) is intended to exempt the transactions
hereunder from the operation of the federal or State
antitrust laws. Nothing in this subsection (g) shall require
an electric utility to use the procedures specified in this
subsection for any of the transactions specified herein. Any
other procedure available under this Act may, at the electric
utility's election, be used for any such transaction.
(h) During the mandatory transition period, the
Commission shall not establish or use any rates of
depreciation, which for purposes of this subsection shall
include amortization, for any electric utility other than
those established pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 5-104
of this Act or utilized pursuant to subsection (g) of this
Section. Provided, however, that in any proceeding to review
an electric utility's rates for tariffed services pursuant to
Section 9-201, 9-202, 9-250 or 16-111(d) of this Act, the
Commission may establish new rates of depreciation for the
electric utility in the same manner provided in subsection
(d) of Section 5-104 of this Act. An electric utility
implementing an accelerated cost recovery method including
accelerated depreciation, accelerated amortization or other
capital recovery methods, or recording reductions to the
original cost of its assets, pursuant to subsection (g) of
this Section, shall file a statement with the Commission
describing the accelerated cost recovery method to be
implemented or the reduction in the original cost of its
assets to be recorded. Upon the filing of such statement,
the accelerated cost recovery method or the reduction in the
original cost of assets shall be deemed to be approved by the
Commission as though an order had been entered by the
Commission.
(i) Subsequent to the mandatory transition period, the
Commission, in any proceeding to establish rates and charges
for tariffed services offered by an electric utility, shall
consider only (1) the then current or projected revenues,
costs, investments and cost of capital directly or indirectly
associated with the provision of such tariffed services; (2)
collection of transition charges in accordance with Sections
16-102 and 16-108 of this Act; (3) recovery of any employee
transition costs as described in Section 16-128 which the
electric utility is continuing to incur, including recovery
of any unamortized portion of such costs previously incurred
or committed, with such costs to be equitably allocated among
bundled services, delivery services, and contracts with
alternative retail electric suppliers; and (4) recovery of
the costs associated with the electric utility's compliance
with decommissioning funding requirements; and shall not
consider any other revenues, costs, investments or cost of
capital of either the electric utility or of any affiliate of
the electric utility that are not associated with the
provision of tariffed services. In setting rates for
tariffed services, the Commission shall equitably allocate
joint and common costs and investments between the electric
utility's competitive and tariffed services. In determining
the justness and reasonableness of the electric power and
energy component of an electric utility's rates for tariffed
services subsequent to the mandatory transition period and
prior to the time that the provision of such electric power
and energy is declared competitive, the Commission shall
consider the extent to which the electric utility's tariffed
rates for such component for each customer class exceed the
market value determined pursuant to Section 16-112, and, if
the electric power and energy component of such tariffed rate
exceeds the market value by more than 10% for any customer
class, may establish such electric power and energy component
at a rate equal to the market value plus 10%. In any such
case, the Commission may also elect to extend the provisions
of Section 16-111(e) for any period in which the electric
utility is collecting transition charges, using information
applicable to such period.
(j) During the mandatory transition period, an electric
utility may elect to transfer to a non-operating income
account under the Commission's Uniform System of Accounts
either or both of (i) an amount of unamortized investment tax
credit that is in addition to the ratable amount which is
credited to the electric utility's operating income account
for the year in accordance with Section 46(f)(2) of the
federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect prior to
P.L. 101-508, or (ii) "excess tax reserves", as that term is
defined in Section 203(e)(2)(A) of the federal Tax Reform Act
of 1986, provided that (A) the amount transferred may not
exceed the amount of the electric utility's assets that were
created pursuant to Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards No. 71 which the electric utility has written off
during the mandatory transition period, and (B) the transfer
shall not be effective until approved by the Internal Revenue
Service. An electric utility electing to make such a
transfer shall file a statement with the Commission stating
the amount and timing of the transfer for which it intends to
request approval of the Internal Revenue Service, along with
a copy of its proposed request to the Internal Revenue
Service for a ruling. The Commission shall issue an order
within 14 days after the electric utility's filing approving,
subject to receipt of approval from the Internal Revenue
Service, the proposed transfer.
(k) If an electric utility is selling or transferring to
a single buyer 5 or more generating plants located in this
State with a total net dependable capacity of 5000 megawatts
or more pursuant to subsection (g) of this Section and has
obtained a sale price or consideration that exceeds 200% of
the book value of such plants, the electric utility must
provide to the Governor, the President of the Illinois
Senate, the Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate, the
Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, and the
Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives no
later than 15 days after filing its notice under subsection
(g) of this Section or 5 days after the date on which this
subsection (k) becomes law, whichever is later, a written
commitment in which such electric utility agrees to expend $2
billion outside the corporate limits of any municipality with
1,000,000 or more inhabitants within such electric utility's
service area, over a 6-year period beginning with the
calendar year in which the notice is filed, on projects,
programs, and improvements within its service area relating
to transmission and distribution including, without
limitation, infrastructure expansion, repair and replacement,
capital investments, operations and maintenance, and
vegetation management.
(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 90-563, eff. 12-16-97;
91-50, eff. 6-30-99.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance
305 ILCS 20/1 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1401
305 ILCS 20/2 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1402
305 ILCS 20/4 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1404
305 ILCS 20/5 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1405
305 ILCS 20/6 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406
305 ILCS 20/7 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1407
305 ILCS 20/8 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1408
305 ILCS 20/13
305 ILCS 20/7.1 rep.
305 ILCS 20/9 rep.
305 ILCS 20/12 rep.
305 ILCS 20/14 rep.
20 ILCS 687/6-5
220 ILCS 5/8-207 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-207
220 ILCS 5/16-108
220 ILCS 5/16-111
Passed in the General Assembly May 29, 2002.
Approved July 18, 2002.
Effective July 18, 2002.
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