Sen. Don Harmon
Filed: 3/15/2013
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1 | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2335
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2335 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Sections 19-105 and 19-111 as follows:
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6 | (220 ILCS 5/19-105)
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7 | Sec. 19-105. Definitions. For the purposes of this Article, | ||||||
8 | the following
terms shall be defined as set forth in this | ||||||
9 | Section.
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10 | "Alternative gas supplier" means every person, | ||||||
11 | cooperative, corporation,
municipal corporation, company, | ||||||
12 | association, joint stock company or
association, firm,
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13 | partnership, individual, or other entity, their lessees, | ||||||
14 | trustees, or receivers
appointed by
any court whatsoever, that | ||||||
15 | offers gas for sale, lease, or in exchange for other
value
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16 | received to one or more customers, or that engages in the |
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1 | furnishing of gas to
one or
more customers, and shall include | ||||||
2 | affiliated interests of a gas utility,
resellers,
aggregators | ||||||
3 | and marketers, but shall not include (i) gas utilities (or any
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4 | agent of the gas
utility to the extent the gas utility provides | ||||||
5 | tariffed services to customers
through an
agent); (ii) public | ||||||
6 | utilities that are owned and operated by any political
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7 | subdivision, public institution of higher education or | ||||||
8 | municipal corporation
of this State, or public utilities that | ||||||
9 | are owned by a political
subdivision, public institution of | ||||||
10 | higher education, or municipal corporation
and operated by any | ||||||
11 | of its lessees or operating agents; (iii)
natural gas | ||||||
12 | cooperatives that are not-for-profit corporations operated for
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13 | the purpose of administering, on a cooperative basis, the
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14 | furnishing of natural gas for the benefit of their members who
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15 | are
consumers of natural gas; and (iv) the ownership or | ||||||
16 | operation
of a facility that sells compressed natural gas at | ||||||
17 | retail to the public for use
only as a motor vehicle fuel and | ||||||
18 | the selling of compressed natural gas at
retail to the public | ||||||
19 | for use only as a motor vehicle fuel.
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20 | "Gas utility" means a public utility, as defined in Section | ||||||
21 | 3-105 of this
Act,
that
has a franchise, license, permit, or | ||||||
22 | right to furnish or sell gas
or transportation services to
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23 | customers within a service area.
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24 | "Non-tariffed service" means any service provided by an | ||||||
25 | alternative gas supplier to a residential customer or a small | ||||||
26 | commercial customer. |
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1 | "Residential customer" means a customer who receives gas | ||||||
2 | utility service for
household purposes distributed to a | ||||||
3 | dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is
billed under
a | ||||||
4 | residential rate or gas utility service for household purposes | ||||||
5 | distributed to
a dwelling
unit or units which is billed under a | ||||||
6 | residential rate and is registered by a
separate meter
for each | ||||||
7 | dwelling unit.
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8 | "Sales agent" means any employee, agent, independent | ||||||
9 | contractor, consultant, or other person that is engaged by the | ||||||
10 | alternative gas supplier to solicit customers to purchase, | ||||||
11 | enroll in, or contract for alternative gas service on behalf of | ||||||
12 | an alternative gas supplier. | ||||||
13 | "Service area" means (i) the geographic area within which a | ||||||
14 | gas utility was
lawfully entitled to provide gas to customers | ||||||
15 | as of the effective date
of this
amendatory
Act of the 92nd | ||||||
16 | General Assembly and includes (ii) the location of any
customer | ||||||
17 | to
which the gas utility was lawfully providing gas utility | ||||||
18 | services on such
effective date.
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19 | "Single billing" means the combined billing of the services | ||||||
20 | provided by both a natural gas utility and an alternative gas | ||||||
21 | supplier to any customer who has enrolled in a customer choice | ||||||
22 | program. | ||||||
23 | "Small commercial customer" means a nonresidential retail | ||||||
24 | customer of
a
natural gas utility
who consumed 5,000 or fewer | ||||||
25 | therms of natural gas
during the previous year; provided that | ||||||
26 | any alternative gas
supplier may remove the customer from |
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1 | designation as a "small
commercial customer" if the customer | ||||||
2 | consumes more than 5,000 therms
of natural gas in any calendar | ||||||
3 | year after becoming a customer of the
alternative gas supplier. | ||||||
4 | In determining whether a customer has consumed 5,000 or fewer | ||||||
5 | therms of natural gas during the previous year, usage by the | ||||||
6 | same commercial customer shall be aggregated to include usage | ||||||
7 | at the same premises even if measured by more than one meter, | ||||||
8 | and to include usage at multiple premises. Nothing in this | ||||||
9 | Section creates an affirmative obligation on a gas utility to | ||||||
10 | monitor or inform customers or alternative gas suppliers as to | ||||||
11 | a customer's status as a small commercial customer as that term | ||||||
12 | is defined herein. Nothing in this Section relieves a gas | ||||||
13 | utility from any obligation to provide information upon request | ||||||
14 | to a customer, alternative gas supplier, the Commission, or | ||||||
15 | others necessary to determine whether a customer meets the | ||||||
16 | classification of small commercial customers as that term is | ||||||
17 | defined herein.
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18 | "Tariffed service" means a service provided to customers by | ||||||
19 | a gas
utility as
defined by its rates on file with the | ||||||
20 | Commission pursuant to the provisions of
Article IX
of this | ||||||
21 | Act.
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22 | "Transportation services" means those services provided by | ||||||
23 | the gas utility
that
are necessary in order for the storage, | ||||||
24 | transmission and distribution systems
to
function so that
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25 | customers located in the gas utility's service area can receive | ||||||
26 | gas from
suppliers other
than the gas utility and shall |
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1 | include, without limitation, standard metering
and billing
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2 | services.
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3 | (Source: P.A. 95-1051, eff. 4-10-09; 96-435, eff. 1-1-10; | ||||||
4 | 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
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5 | (220 ILCS 5/19-111) | ||||||
6 | Sec. 19-111. Material changes in business. | ||||||
7 | (a) The provisions of this Section shall apply only to | ||||||
8 | alternative gas suppliers serving or seeking to serve | ||||||
9 | residential or small commercial customers and only to the | ||||||
10 | extent such alternative gas suppliers provide services to | ||||||
11 | residential or small commercial customers. | ||||||
12 | (b) Alternative gas suppliers shall file with the | ||||||
13 | Commission a notification of any material change to the | ||||||
14 | information supplied in a certification application within 30 | ||||||
15 | days of such material change. | ||||||
16 | (1) An alternative gas supplier shall file such notice | ||||||
17 | under the docket number assigned to the alternative gas | ||||||
18 | supplier's certification application, whichever is the | ||||||
19 | most recent. The supplier shall also serve such notice upon | ||||||
20 | the gas utility company serving customers in the service | ||||||
21 | area where the alternative gas supplier is certified to | ||||||
22 | provide service. | ||||||
23 | (2) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the | ||||||
24 | Commission may (i) suspend, rescind, or conditionally | ||||||
25 | rescind an alternative gas supplier's certificate if it |
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1 | determines that the material change will adversely affect | ||||||
2 | the alternative gas supplier's fitness or ability to | ||||||
3 | provide the services for which it is certified or (ii) | ||||||
4 | require the alternative gas supplier to provide reasonable | ||||||
5 | financial assurances sufficient to protect their customers | ||||||
6 | and gas utilities from default. | ||||||
7 | (c) Material changes to the information contained in or | ||||||
8 | supplied with a certification application include, but are not | ||||||
9 | limited to, the following: | ||||||
10 | (1) Any significant change in ownership (an ownership | ||||||
11 | interest of 5% or more) of the applicant or alternative gas | ||||||
12 | supplier. | ||||||
13 | (2) An affiliation with any gas utility or change of an | ||||||
14 | affiliation with a gas utility in this State. | ||||||
15 | (3) Retirement or other long-term changes to the | ||||||
16 | operational status of supply resources relied upon by the | ||||||
17 | alternative gas supplier to provide alternative gas | ||||||
18 | service. Changes in the volume of supply from any given | ||||||
19 | supply resource replaced by a comparable supply resource do | ||||||
20 | not need to be reported. | ||||||
21 | (4) Revocation, restriction, or termination of any | ||||||
22 | interconnection or service agreement with a pipeline | ||||||
23 | company or natural gas company relied upon by an | ||||||
24 | alternative gas supplier to provide alternative retail | ||||||
25 | natural gas service, but only if such revocation, | ||||||
26 | restriction, or termination creates a situation in which |
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1 | the alternative gas supplier does not meet the tariffed | ||||||
2 | capacity requirements of the relevant Illinois natural gas | ||||||
3 | utility or utilities. | ||||||
4 | (5) If the alternative gas supplier has a long-term | ||||||
5 | bond rating from Standard & Poor's or its successor, or | ||||||
6 | Fitch Ratings or its successor, or Moody's Investor Service | ||||||
7 | or its successor, and the alternative gas supplier's | ||||||
8 | long-term bond rating falls below BBB as reported by | ||||||
9 | Standard & Poor's or its successor or Fitch Ratings or its | ||||||
10 | successor or below Baa3 as reported by Moody's Investors | ||||||
11 | Service or its successor. | ||||||
12 | (6) The applicant or alternative gas supplier has or | ||||||
13 | intends to file for reorganization, protection from | ||||||
14 | creditors, or any other form of bankruptcy with any court. | ||||||
15 | (7) Any judgment, finding, or ruling by a court or | ||||||
16 | regulatory agency that could affect an alternative gas | ||||||
17 | supplier's fitness or ability to provide service in this | ||||||
18 | State. | ||||||
19 | (8) Any change in the alternative gas supplier's name | ||||||
20 | or logo, including without limitation any change in the | ||||||
21 | alternative gas supplier's legal name, fictitious names, | ||||||
22 | or assumed business names, except for logos and names the | ||||||
23 | alternative gas supplier provided as part of its original | ||||||
24 | certification process or that the alternative gas supplier | ||||||
25 | previously provided to the Commission under this Section.
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26 | (d) An alternative gas supplier shall provide annually to |
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1 | the Commission a list of all non-tariffed services available to | ||||||
2 | customers in a service area for publication on the Commission's | ||||||
3 | website. | ||||||
4 | (Source: P.A. 95-1051, eff. 4-10-09.)".
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