Public Act 098-0429
 
HB2586 EnrolledLRB098 08124 KTG 38215 b


  
    AN ACT concerning public aid.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Energy Assistance Act is amended  by changing 
Section 13 as follows:
 


    (305 ILCS 20/13)




    (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2013)
    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 moneys from voluntary donations from individuals, 
foundations, corporations, and other sources, moneys received 
pursuant to Section 17, and, by statutory deposit, the moneys

collected pursuant to this Section. The Fund is also authorized 
to receive voluntary donations from individuals, foundations, 
corporations, and other sources, as well as contributions made 
in accordance with Section 507MM of the Illinois Income Tax 
Act.  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 Sections 4 and 18 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.   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) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential 
    electric service;


        (2) $0.48 per month on each account for
residential gas 
    service;


        (3) $4.80 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) $4.80 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) $360 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) $360 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. 
    The incremental change to such charges imposed by this 
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall not (i) be 
used for any purpose other than to directly assist customers 
and (ii) be applicable to utilities serving less than 100,000 
customers in Illinois on January 1, 2009.
    In addition, electric and gas utilities have committed, and 
shall contribute, a one-time payment of $22 million to the 
Fund, within 10 days after the effective date of the tariffs 
established pursuant to Sections 16-111.8 and 19-145 of the 
Public Utilities Act to be used for the Department's cost of 
implementing the programs described in Section 18 of this 
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, the Arrearage 
Reduction Program described in Section 18, and the programs 
described in Section 8-105 of the Public Utilities Act. If a 
utility elects not to file a rider within 90 days after the 
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General 
Assembly, then the contribution from such utility shall be made 
no later than February 1, 2010. 

    (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) Within 30 days after the effective date of this 
amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, 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, 
which shall become effective no later than the beginning of the 
first billing cycle following such filing.

    (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; provided, however, that a utility offering an 
Arrearage Reduction Program pursuant to Section 18 of this Act 
shall be entitled to net those amounts necessary to fund and 
recover the costs of such Program as authorized by that Section 
that is no more than the incremental change in such Energy 
Assistance Charge authorized by this amendatory Act of the 96th 
General Assembly.  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; provided, however, that the amounts remitted by each 
utility shall be used to provide assistance to that utility's 
customers.  The utilities shall coordinate with the Department 
to establish an equitable and practical methodology for 
implementing this subsection (g) beginning with the 2010 
program year.

    (h) 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 Economic Opportunity

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, 2018 2013


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. 95-48, eff. 8-10-07; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-33, 
eff. 7-10-09; 96-154, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)


 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.