Sen. Laura M. Murphy
Filed: 3/8/2019
 
 

 

 

 
10100SB0581sam001LRB101 04343 AWJ 56743 a



1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 581 




2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 581 by replacing 
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:


 
 
4    "Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended  by 
5adding Division 15.5 as follows:
 
6    (65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new)
7
DIVISION 15.5.
8
UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY FACILITIES  

 
9    (65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-1 new)
10    Sec. 11-15.5-1. Undergrounding utility facilities.
11    (a) As used in this Division and unless the context 
12requires otherwise, "underground" or "undergrounding" means 
13routing and constructing electric transmission lines and their 
14associated components below ground, consistent with sound 
15engineering and utility practices. 
 
 
10100SB0581sam001- 2 -LRB101 04343 AWJ 56743 a

1    (b) In the interest of public health and safety, 
2reliability, and electric grid security, a public utility, as 
3defined by Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, shall 
4underground any 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission 
5line constructed after the effective date of this amendatory 
6Act of the 101st General Assembly where:
7        (1) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission 
8    line or any portion of a 138 kilowatt or greater electric 
9    transmission line is to be located within 26,000 feet of an 
10    airport that is located in and owned by a municipality with 
11    a population greater than 70,000 and less than 80,000 
12    located in or contiguous to a county with a population in 
13    excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants; or
14        (2) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission 
15    line is to be located in 4 or more contiguous 
16    municipalities with a population density of 1,000 per 
17    square mile or more as of the most recent federal decennial 
18    census. 
19    (c) The costs for undergrounding a new transmission line 
20shall not be allocated solely to the municipality or 
21municipalities in which it is underground; instead, the 
22Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to 
23fully recover from all retail customers in its service 
24territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs 
25related to the undergrounding of transmission lines.  The public 
26utility shall record and defer these costs as a regulatory 
 
 
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1asset to be included in the public utility's total rate base 
2and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the 
3expected life of the transmission line. These regulatory assets 
4shall be collected from all ratepayers system-wide, and not 
5only from ratepayers in the corporate limits of the 
6municipality or municipalities within which the transmission 
7line is constructed. 
 
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
9becoming law.".