Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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65 ILCS 5/11-21.5-5

(65 ILCS 5/11-21.5-5)

Sec. 11-21.5-5.

Local emergency energy plans.

(a) Any municipality, including a home rule municipality, may, by ordinance,
require any electric utility (i) that serves more than 1,000,000 customers in
Illinois and (ii) that is operating within the corporate limits of the
municipality to adopt and to provide the municipality with a local emergency
energy plan.  For the purposes of this Section, (i) "local emergency energy
plan" or "plan" means a planned course of action developed by the electric
utility that is implemented when the demand for electricity exceeds, or is at
significant risk of exceeding, the supply of electricity
available to the electric utility and (ii) "local emergency energy plan
ordinance" means an ordinance adopted by the corporate authorities of the
municipality under this Section that requires local emergency energy plans.

(b) A local emergency energy plan must include the following information:

(1) the circumstances that would require the

implementation of the plan;

(2) the levels or stages of the plan;

(3) the approximate geographic limits of each outage

area provided for in the plan;

(4) the approximate number of customers within each

outage area provided for in the plan;

(5) any police facilities, fire stations, hospitals,

nursing homes, schools, day care centers, senior citizens centers, community health centers, blood banks, dialysis centers, community mental health centers, correctional facilities, stormwater and wastewater treatment or pumping facilities, water-pumping stations, buildings in excess of 80 feet in height that have been identified by the municipality, and persons on life support systems that are known to the electric utility that could be affected by controlled rotating interruptions of electric service under the plan; and

(6) the anticipated sequence and duration of

intentional interruptions of electric service to each outage area under the plan.

(c) A local emergency energy plan ordinance may require that,  when an
electric utility determines it is necessary to implement a controlled rotating
interruption of electric service because the demand for electricity exceeds,
or is at significant risk of exceeding, the supply of electricity available
to the electric utility, the electric utility notify a designated municipal
officer that the electric utility will be implementing its local emergency
energy plan.  The notification shall be made pursuant to a procedure approved
by the municipality after consultation with the electric utility.

(d) After providing the  notice required in subsection (c), an electric
utility shall reasonably and separately advise designated municipal officials
before it implements each level or stage of the plan, which shall include (i)
a request for emergency help from neighboring utilities, (ii) a declaration of
a control area emergency, and (iii) a public appeal for voluntary curtailment
of electricity use.

(e) The electric utility must give a separate notice to a designated
municipal official immediately after it determines that there will be a
controlled rotating interruption of electric service under the local emergency
energy plan.  The notification must include (i) the areas in which service will
be interrupted, (ii) the sequence and estimated duration of the service outage
for each area, (iii) the affected feeders, and (iv) the number of affected
customers in each area.  Whenever practical, the notification shall be made at
least 2 hours before the time of the outages.  If the electric utility is aware
that controlled rotating interruptions may be required, the notification may
not be made less than 30 minutes before the outages.

(f) A local emergency energy plan ordinance may provide civil penalties for
violations of its provisions.  The penalties must be permitted under the
Illinois Municipal
Code.

(g) The notifications required by this Section are in addition to the
notification requirements of any applicable franchise agreement or ordinance
and to the notification requirements of any applicable federal or State law,
rule, and regulation.

(h) Except for any penalties or remedies that may be provided in a local
emergency energy plan ordinance, in this Act, or in rules adopted by the
Illinois Commerce Commission, nothing in this Section shall be construed to
impose liability for  or prevent a utility from taking any actions that are
necessary at any time, in any order, and with or without notice that are
required to preserve the integrity of the electric utility's electrical system
and interconnected network.

(i) Nothing in this Section, a local emergency energy plan ordinance, or a
local emergency energy plan creates any duty of a municipality to any person or
entity.  No municipality may be subject to any claim or cause of action
arising, directly or indirectly, from its decision to adopt or to refrain from
adopting a local emergency energy plan ordinance.  No municipality may be
subject to any claim or cause of action arising, directly or indirectly, from
any act or omission under the terms of or information provided in a local
emergency energy plan filed under a local emergency energy plan ordinance.

(Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02; 93-293, eff. 7-22-03.)