HB3399eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3399 Engrossed LRB104 10086 AAS 20158 b

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Geothermal Homes and Businesses Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Geothermal heating and cooling systems leverage the year-round stability of the earth's underground temperature, which creates renewable energy potential, in order to provide a zero-cost base temperature for space heating or cooling and water heating.

(2) The Geothermal Homes and Businesses Program would promote innovation in, and production and use of, geothermal heating and cooling systems that (i) significantly reduce ratepayer impacts and spur economic development in the State, (ii) expand job opportunities for State trade-based labor and manufacturing in the United States, (iii) bolster resiliency and support State infrastructure, and (iv) mitigate local pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions.

(3) Incentives generated through the use of State-sited geothermal heating and cooling systems under this Act will promote innovation and investment in geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Agency" means the Illinois Power Agency.

"Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.

"Geothermal heating and cooling system" means a system located in this State that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) exchanges thermal energy from groundwater or a shallow ground source to generate thermal energy through an electric geothermal heat pump or a system of electric geothermal heat pumps interconnected with any geothermal extraction facility that is (i) a closed loop or a series of closed loop systems in which fluid is permanently confined within a pipe or tubing and does not come in contact with the outside environment or (ii) an open loop system in which ground or surface water is circulated in an environmentally safe manner directly into the facility and returned to the same aquifer or surface water source;

(2) meets or exceeds the current federal Energy Star product specification standards;

(3) replaces or displaces less efficient space or water heating systems, regardless of fuel type;

(4) replaces or displaces less efficient space cooling systems, when applicable;

(5) does not feed electricity back to the grid, as defined at the level of the geothermal heat pump; and

(6) became operational on or after June 1, 2017.

"Program" means the Geothermal Homes and Businesses Program.

Section 15. Program establishment. Beginning January 1, 2026, the long-term renewable resources procurement plan developed by the Agency shall include a Geothermal Homes and Businesses Program for the procurement of geothermal renewable energy credits. The Program shall be designed to provide for the steady, predictable, and sustainable growth of new geothermal heating and cooling system deployment in the State. The Program shall function as a separate and distinct procurement program that does not draw from other sources that allocate and fund renewable energy credits.

Section 20. Categorization. Qualifying systems for the Program shall be organized into 3 categories based on structural features and use-cases: (i) Residential, (ii) Commercial, and (iii) Public or Environmental Justice. These categories shall be defined at the discretion of the Agency.

Section 25. Geothermal heating and cooling system calculation methodology. Energy derived from a geothermal heating and cooling system shall be eligible for inclusion in meeting the requirements of the Program. Eligible geothermal renewable energy credits shall be created by calculating the difference between the energy load used by the geothermal heating and cooling system and the energy load used by a less efficient baseline system for the equivalent space heating and cooling or water heating load required by the building. Geothermal renewable energy credits shall be expressed in megawatt-hour units. To make this calculation, the Agency shall identify an appropriate formula supported by a geothermal industry trade organization. This formula shall generally reflect calculation methodologies already in use for other State renewable portfolio standards. The Agency shall determine the form and manner in which such geothermal renewable energy credits are verified, in accordance with national best practices.

Section 30. Program block allocation.

(a) As used in this Section, "period" means each Program delivery year through a specified delivery year.

(b) The Program shall include the following for eligible projects for each delivery year:

(1) a block of geothermal renewable energy credit volumes;

(2) a price for geothermal renewable energy credits within the identified block; and

(3) the terms and conditions for securing a spot on a waitlist once the block is fully committed or reserved.

The Agency shall strive to issue blocks sized to provide for stability and market growth.

(c) The Agency shall propose a block for each Program delivery year through the delivery year beginning in 2035. Before the close of the period in 2035, the Agency shall propose blocks for each Program delivery year for the next period, beginning in 2036 and ending at the discretion of the Agency. The Agency shall continue to establish subsequent periods.

(d) The waitlist of projects in a given year shall carry over to apply to the subsequent year when another block is opened. For each category for a delivery year, the Agency shall determine the amount of geothermal renewable energy credit volumes available in each block and the purchase price for each block, if the purchase price provided and the total geothermal renewable energy credit volume in all blocks for all categories shall be sufficient to meet Program goals.

(e) Systems in any of the categories listed in Section 20 may reserve volumes in the annual block. However, at least 33% of each annual block shall be reserved by systems that meet the Agency's definition of "residential". At the Agency's discretion, certain volumes of an annual block may be reserved for the Public or Environmental Justice category at a price that makes it feasible and affordable for buildings such as public schools, military bases, military hospitals, and low-income housing to install geothermal heating and cooling systems on premises. Additional allocation of geothermal renewable energy credit volumes per block per structural category may be defined at the discretion of the Agency.

(f) The Agency shall establish Program eligibility requirements that ensure that systems that enter the Program are sufficiently mature to indicate a demonstrable path to completion. The Agency may periodically review its prior decisions establishing the amount of geothermal renewable energy credit volumes in each annual block and the purchase price for each block and may propose, on an expedited basis, changes to the previously set values, including, but not limited to, redistributing the amounts and the available funds as necessary and appropriate, subject to Commission approval. The Agency may define different block sizes, purchase prices, or other distinct terms and conditions for projects located in different utility service territories if the Agency deems it necessary.

(g) The Program shall be designed to ensure that geothermal renewable energy credits are procured from projects in diverse locations and are not concentrated in a few regional areas.

Section 35. Program block pricing. The Program shall provide a transparent annual schedule of geothermal renewable energy credit prices and quantities to enable the geothermal heating and cooling market to scale up and for geothermal renewable energy credit prices to adjust at a predictable rate over time. Geothermal renewable energy credit prices set by the Agency for the Program shall be reflected as a set value or the product of a formula.

Section 40. Approved vendors requirement.

(a) Property owners participating in the Program shall be required to work with an approved vendor for Program registration and application, geothermal renewable energy credit generation, geothermal renewable energy credit verification, geothermal renewable energy credit delivery, as well as Program contract fulfillment and payment.

(b) The Agency shall establish a registration process for entities seeking to qualify for Program-administered incentive funding and establish baseline qualifications for vendor approval. The Agency shall maintain a list of approved entities on the Program's website, and may revoke a vendor's ability to receive Program-administered incentive funding status upon a determination that the vendor failed to comply with contract terms, the law, or other Program requirements.

(c) The Agency shall establish Program requirements and minimum contract terms to ensure projects are properly installed and operate to the level of expected benefits. Program requirements may include on-site inspections and photo documentation of projects under construction. The Agency may require repairs, alterations, or additions to remedy any enforcement actions taken in response to those complaints.

Section 45. Contract terms; advanced capital; contract length; transfer of geothermal heating and cooling system ownership.

(a) The Agency shall propose a payment structure for Program contracts upon a demonstration of qualification or need and applicant firms shall have advanced capital disbursed before geothermal renewable energy credits are first generated. The amount or percentage of capital advanced for residential systems shall be at the discretion of the Agency but not be less than 40% of the total contract. The amount or percentage of capital advanced for commercial, public, or environmental justice systems shall be at the discretion of the Agency.

(b) The amount or percentage of advanced capital may vary by year, or inter-year, by structure category, block, and other factors as deemed applicable by the Agency and by an applicant's demonstration of need.

(c) Contracts featuring capital advanced prior to system operation shall feature provisions to ensure both the successful development of applicant projects and the delivery of geothermal renewable energy credits for the full term of the contract, including ongoing collateral requirements and other provisions deemed necessary by the Agency. The percentage or amount of capital advanced prior to system operation shall not increase the overall contract value, except that contracts executed under this Section may feature geothermal renewable energy credits higher than those offered to similar projects participating in other categories.

(d) The capital which is not advanced shall be disbursed upon delivery of geothermal renewable energy credits as per contract fulfillment over the delivery term, not to exceed, during each delivery year, the contract price multiplied by the estimated annual geothermal renewable energy credit generation amount.

(e) For geothermal renewable energy credits that qualify and are procured under the Program, geothermal renewable energy credits delivery contract length shall be 15 years.

(f) If generation of geothermal renewable energy credits during a delivery year exceeds the estimated annual generation amount, the excess geothermal renewable energy credits shall be carried forward to future delivery years and shall not expire during the delivery term. If geothermal renewable energy credit generation during a delivery year, including carried forward excess geothermal renewable energy credits, if any, is less than the estimated annual generation amount, payments during such delivery year shall not exceed the quantity generated plus the quantity carried forward multiplied by the contract price. The electric utility shall receive all geothermal renewable energy credits generated by the project during the first 25 years of operation and retire all geothermal renewable energy credits paid for under this item and return at the end of the delivery term all geothermal renewable energy credits that were not paid for.

(g) Geothermal renewable energy credits generated by the project thereafter shall not be transferred under the geothermal renewable energy credit delivery contract with the counterparty electric utility. Subscription of 90% of total geothermal renewable energy credit volumes or greater shall be deemed to be fully subscribed.

(h) Each project shall be subject to the Prevailing Wage Act. The Agency shall require verification that, for all construction for a project that was performed by a renewable energy credit delivery contract holder, its contractors, or its subcontractors, the construction employees received an amount for the work equal to or greater than the general prevailing rate as provided for in Section 3 of the Prevailing Wage Act.

(i) Geothermal renewable energy credits for any single geothermal heating and cooling project that is 285 tons or larger and is procured after the effective date of this Act shall only be generated by a project built by general contractors who entered into a project labor agreement, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency Act, prior to construction. The project labor agreement shall be filed with the Director in accordance with procedures established by the Agency through its long-term renewable resources procurement plan. Any information submitted to the Agency pursuant to this subsection shall be considered commercially sensitive information. The project labor agreement shall provide the names, addresses, and occupations of the owner of the plant and the individuals representing the labor organization employees that participate in the project labor agreement. The project labor agreement shall also specify terms and conditions as provided in this Act.

Section 50. Contract terms; collateral and counterparties.

(a) Each contract shall include provisions to ensure the delivery of the estimated quantity of geothermal renewable energy credits, including the requirement of a bid security deposit in an amount deemed appropriate by the Agency.

(b) An obligated utility shall be the counterparty to the contracts executed under this Act that are approved by the Commission. No contract shall be executed for an amount that is less than one geothermal renewable energy credit per year.

(c) Nothing in this Act shall require the utility to advance any payment or pay any amounts that exceed the actual amount of revenues anticipated to be collected by the utility inclusive of eligible funds collected in prior years and alternative compliance payments for use by the utility.

(d) Contracts may be assignable, but only to entities first deemed by the Agency to have met Program terms and requirements applicable to direct Program participation. In developing contracts for the delivery of geothermal renewable energy credits, the Agency may establish fees applicable to each contract assignment.

Section 55. Utility cost recovery. The electric utility shall be entitled to recover all of its costs associated with the procurement of geothermal renewable energy credits under the Program. These costs shall include associated reasonable expenses for implementing the procurement Programs, including, but not limited to, the costs of administering and evaluating the Program through an automatic adjustment clause tariff.

Section 60. Extenuating circumstances. If, at any time, approved applications for the Program exceed funds collected by the electric utility or would cause the Agency to exceed the limitation on the amount of renewable energy resources that may be procured, then the Agency may consider future uncommitted funds to be reserved for these contracts on a first-come, first-served basis.

Notwithstanding other requirements of this Act, no modification shall be required to Program contracts if they were already executed prior to the establishment, approval, and implementation of new contract forms as a result of this Act.

Section 65. Illinois Power Agency administration.

(a) The Agency shall strive to minimize administrative expenses in the implementation of the Program. The Agency may use any existing program administrator and any applicable subcontractors to develop, administer, implement, operate, and evaluate the Program.

(b) If the Agency becomes aware of a circumstance that would warrant consideration of a mid-year renewable energy credit price adjustment, it shall conduct modeling of renewable energy credit pricing dynamics, in order to provide notice to stakeholders, and conduct a stakeholder feedback process before finalizing any changes. In line with the Illinois Power Agency Act, Program modifications to any block price that does not deviate from the Commission's approved value by more than 10% shall take effect immediately and are not subject to Commission review and approval. Program modifications to any block price that deviate more than 10% from the Commission's approved value shall be approved by the Commission as a long-term plan amendment under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.

(c) In addition to covering the costs of Program administration, the Agency, in conjunction with its Program Administrator, may also use the proceeds of such fees charged to participating firms to support public education, labor training, and ongoing regional and national coordination with nonprofit organizations, public bodies, and others engaged in the implementation of geothermal heating and cooling system incentive Programs or similar initiatives. This work may include developing papers and reports, hosting regional and national conferences, and other work deemed necessary by the Agency to position the State as a national leader in renewable energy incentive Program development and administration.

(d) The Agency and its consultant or consultants shall monitor block activity, share Program activity with stakeholders, and conduct quarterly meetings to discuss Program activity and market conditions. If necessary, the Agency may make prospective administrative adjustments to Program design, such as making adjustments to purchase prices as necessary to achieve the goals of this Act. Program modifications to any block price that do not deviate from the Commission's approved value by more than 10% shall take effect immediately and are not subject to Commission review and approval. Program modifications to any block price that deviate more than 10% from the Commission's approved value shall be approved by the Commission as a long-term plan amendment. The Agency shall consider stakeholder feedback when making adjustments to Program design and shall notify stakeholders in advance of any planned changes.

(e) The Agency shall schedule regular meetings with representatives of the Attorney General, the Commission, consumer protection groups, and other interested stakeholders to share relevant information about consumer protection, project compliance, and complaints received.

(f) To the extent that complaints received implicate the jurisdiction of the Attorney General, the Commission, or local, State, or federal law enforcement, the Agency shall also refer complaints to those entities as appropriate.

Section 70. Prohibition of double claiming geothermal renewable energy credits. Geothermal renewable energy credits retired by obligated utilities for compliance with the Program are only valid for compliance if those geothermal renewable energy credits have not been previously retired by another entity that is not the obligated utility on any tracking system, carbon registry, or other accounting mechanism at any time. Additionally, geothermal renewable energy credits retired by obligated utilities for compliance with the Program are only valid for compliance if those geothermal renewable energy credits have not been used to substantiate a public emissions or energy usage claim by any other another entity that is not the obligated utility, of any type and at any time, whether or not such geothermal renewable energy credits were actually retired on a tracking system, registry, or other accounting mechanism at the time of the public emissions-based claim. To that end, geothermal renewable energy credits generated for compliance with the Program are valid only if retired once, and claimed once, by the obligated utility.

Section 75. Cost recovery of generating units. In order to promote the competitive development of geothermal heating and cooling systems in furtherance of this State's interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, renewable energy credits from geothermal heating and cooling systems shall not be eligible for purchase under this Act if the credits are sourced from a geothermal heating and cooling system for which costs are being recovered on or after the effective date of this Act through rates regulated by this State or any other state.

Section 900. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by changing Section 1-10 as follows:

(20 ILCS 3855/1-10)

Sec. 1-10. Definitions.

"Agency" means the Illinois Power Agency.

"Agency loan agreement" means any agreement pursuant to which the Illinois Finance Authority agrees to loan the proceeds of revenue bonds issued with respect to a project to the Agency upon terms providing for loan repayment installments at least sufficient to pay when due all principal of, interest and premium, if any, on those revenue bonds, and providing for maintenance, insurance, and other matters in respect of the project.

"Authority" means the Illinois Finance Authority.

"Brownfield site photovoltaic project" means photovoltaics that are either:

(1) interconnected to an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section, a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act and located at a site that is regulated by any of the following entities under the following programs:

(A) the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended;

(B) the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Corrective Action Program of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended;

(C) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency under the Illinois Site Remediation Program; or

(D) the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency under the Illinois Solid Waste Program; or

(2) located at the site of a coal mine that has permanently ceased coal production, permanently halted any re-mining operations, and is no longer accepting any coal combustion residues; has both completed all clean-up and remediation obligations under the federal Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1977 and all applicable Illinois rules and any other clean-up, remediation, or ongoing monitoring to safeguard the health and well-being of the people of the State of Illinois, as well as demonstrated compliance with all applicable federal and State environmental rules and regulations, including, but not limited, to 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 845 and any rules for historic fill of coal combustion residuals, including any rules finalized in Subdocket A of Illinois Pollution Control Board docket R2020-019.

"Clean coal facility" means an electric generating facility that uses primarily coal as a feedstock and that captures and sequesters carbon dioxide emissions at the following levels: at least 50% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation before 2016, at least 70% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation during 2016 or 2017, and at least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit if, at the time construction commences, the facility is scheduled to commence operation after 2017. The power block of the clean coal facility shall not exceed allowable emission rates for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulates and mercury for a natural gas-fired combined-cycle facility the same size as and in the same location as the clean coal facility at the time the clean coal facility obtains an approved air permit. All coal used by a clean coal facility shall have high volatile bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content, unless the clean coal facility does not use gasification technology and was operating as a conventional coal-fired electric generating facility on June 1, 2009 (the effective date of Public Act 95-1027).

"Clean coal SNG brownfield facility" means a facility that (1) has commenced construction by July 1, 2015 on an urban brownfield site in a municipality with at least 1,000,000 residents; (2) uses a gasification process to produce substitute natural gas; (3) uses coal as at least 50% of the total feedstock over the term of any sourcing agreement with a utility and the remainder of the feedstock may be either petroleum coke or coal, with all such coal having a high bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content unless the facility reasonably determines that it is necessary to use additional petroleum coke to deliver additional consumer savings, in which case the facility shall use coal for at least 35% of the total feedstock over the term of any sourcing agreement; and (4) captures and sequesters at least 85% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit.

"Clean coal SNG facility" means a facility that uses a gasification process to produce substitute natural gas, that sequesters at least 90% of the total carbon dioxide emissions that the facility would otherwise emit, that uses at least 90% coal as a feedstock, with all such coal having a high bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million Btu content, and that has a valid and effective permit to construct emission sources and air pollution control equipment and approval with respect to the federal regulations for Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD) for the plant pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act; provided, however, a clean coal SNG brownfield facility shall not be a clean coal SNG facility.

"Clean energy" means energy generation that is 90% or greater free of carbon dioxide emissions.

"Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.

"Community renewable generation project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) is powered by wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams;

(2) is interconnected at the distribution system level of an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or operates electric distribution facilities, a public utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, or an electric cooperative, as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act;

(3) credits the value of electricity generated by the facility to the subscribers of the facility; and

(4) is limited in nameplate capacity to less than or equal to 5,000 kilowatts.

"Costs incurred in connection with the development and construction of a facility" means:

(1) the cost of acquisition of all real property, fixtures, and improvements in connection therewith and equipment, personal property, and other property, rights, and easements acquired that are deemed necessary for the operation and maintenance of the facility;

(2) financing costs with respect to bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness of the Agency;

(3) all origination, commitment, utilization, facility, placement, underwriting, syndication, credit enhancement, and rating agency fees;

(4) engineering, design, procurement, consulting, legal, accounting, title insurance, survey, appraisal, escrow, trustee, collateral agency, interest rate hedging, interest rate swap, capitalized interest, contingency, as required by lenders, and other financing costs, and other expenses for professional services; and

(5) the costs of plans, specifications, site study and investigation, installation, surveys, other Agency costs and estimates of costs, and other expenses necessary or incidental to determining the feasibility of any project, together with such other expenses as may be necessary or incidental to the financing, insuring, acquisition, and construction of a specific project and starting up, commissioning, and placing that project in operation.

"Delivery services" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Delivery year" means the consecutive 12-month period beginning June 1 of a given year and ending May 31 of the following year.

"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Director" means the Director of the Illinois Power Agency.

"Demand-response" means measures that decrease peak electricity demand or shift demand from peak to off-peak periods.

"Distributed renewable energy generation device" means a device that is:

(1) powered by wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells or panels, biodiesel, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, tree waste, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams, waste heat to power systems, or qualified combined heat and power systems;

(2) interconnected at the distribution system level of either an electric utility as defined in this Section, a municipal utility as defined in this Section that owns or operates electric distribution facilities, or a rural electric cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public Utilities Act;

(3) located on the customer side of the customer's electric meter and is primarily used to offset that customer's electricity load; and

(4) (blank).

"Energy efficiency" means measures that reduce the amount of electricity or natural gas consumed in order to achieve a given end use. "Energy efficiency" includes voltage optimization measures that optimize the voltage at points on the electric distribution voltage system and thereby reduce electricity consumption by electric customers' end use devices. "Energy efficiency" also includes measures that reduce the total Btus of electricity, natural gas, and other fuels needed to meet the end use or uses.

"Electric utility" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Equity investment eligible community" or "eligible community" are synonymous and mean the geographic areas throughout Illinois which would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination. Specifically, the eligible communities shall be defined as the following areas:

(1) R3 Areas as established pursuant to Section 10-40 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, where residents have historically been excluded from economic opportunities, including opportunities in the energy sector; and

(2) environmental justice communities, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to the Illinois Power Agency Act, where residents have historically been subject to disproportionate burdens of pollution, including pollution from the energy sector.

"Equity eligible persons" or "eligible persons" means persons who would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination, specifically:

(1) persons who graduate from or are current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the Illinois Climate Works Preapprenticeship Program, Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section 16-208.12 of the Public Utilities Act;

(2) persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system;

(3) persons who were formerly incarcerated;

(4) persons whose primary residence is in an equity investment eligible community.

"Equity eligible contractor" means a business that is majority-owned by eligible persons, or a nonprofit or cooperative that is majority-governed by eligible persons, or is a natural person that is an eligible person offering personal services as an independent contractor.

"Facility" means an electric generating unit or a co-generating unit that produces electricity along with related equipment necessary to connect the facility to an electric transmission or distribution system.

"General contractor" means the entity or organization with main responsibility for the building of a construction project and who is the party signing the prime construction contract for the project.

"Governmental aggregator" means one or more units of local government that individually or collectively procure electricity to serve residential retail electrical loads located within its or their jurisdiction.

"High voltage direct current converter station" means the collection of equipment that converts direct current energy from a high voltage direct current transmission line into alternating current using Voltage Source Conversion technology and that is interconnected with transmission or distribution assets located in Illinois.

"High voltage direct current renewable energy credit" means a renewable energy credit associated with a renewable energy resource where the renewable energy resource has entered into a contract to transmit the energy associated with such renewable energy credit over high voltage direct current transmission facilities.

"High voltage direct current transmission facilities" means the collection of installed equipment that converts alternating current energy in one location to direct current and transmits that direct current energy to a high voltage direct current converter station using Voltage Source Conversion technology. "High voltage direct current transmission facilities" includes the high voltage direct current converter station itself and associated high voltage direct current transmission lines. Notwithstanding the preceding, after September 15, 2021 (the effective date of Public Act 102-662), an otherwise qualifying collection of equipment does not qualify as high voltage direct current transmission facilities unless its developer entered into a project labor agreement, is capable of transmitting electricity at 525kv with an Illinois converter station located and interconnected in the region of the PJM Interconnection, LLC, and the system does not operate as a public utility, as that term is defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Hydropower" means any method of electricity generation or storage that results from the flow of water, including impoundment facilities, diversion facilities, and pumped storage facilities.

"Index price" means the real-time energy settlement price at the applicable Illinois trading hub, such as PJM-NIHUB or MISO-IL, for a given settlement period.

"Indexed renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource, the price of which shall be calculated by subtracting the strike price offered by a new utility-scale wind project or a new utility-scale photovoltaic project from the index price in a given settlement period.

"Indexed renewable energy credit counterparty" has the same meaning as "public utility" as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Local government" means a unit of local government as defined in Section 1 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.

"Modernized" or "retooled" means the construction, repair, maintenance, or significant expansion of turbines and existing hydropower dams.

"Municipality" means a city, village, or incorporated town.

"Municipal utility" means a public utility owned and operated by any subdivision or municipal corporation of this State.

"Nameplate capacity" means the aggregate inverter nameplate capacity in kilowatts AC.

"Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation, either domestic or foreign, company, association, limited liability company, joint stock company, or association and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or personal representative thereof.

"Project" means the planning, bidding, and construction of a facility.

"Project labor agreement" means a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that covers all terms and conditions of employment on a specific construction project and must include the following:

(1) provisions establishing the minimum hourly wage for each class of labor organization employee;

(2) provisions establishing the benefits and other compensation for each class of labor organization employee;

(3) provisions establishing that no strike or disputes will be engaged in by the labor organization employees;

(4) provisions establishing that no lockout or disputes will be engaged in by the general contractor building the project; and

(5) provisions for minorities and women, as defined under the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act, setting forth goals for apprenticeship hours to be performed by minorities and women and setting forth goals for total hours to be performed by underrepresented minorities and women.

A labor organization and the general contractor building the project shall have the authority to include other terms and conditions as they deem necessary.

"Public utility" has the same definition as found in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Qualified combined heat and power systems" means systems that, either simultaneously or sequentially, produce electricity and useful thermal energy from a single fuel source. Such systems are eligible for "renewable energy credits" in an amount equal to its total energy output where a renewable fuel is consumed or in an amount equal to the net reduction in nonrenewable fuel consumed on a total energy output basis.

"Real property" means any interest in land together with all structures, fixtures, and improvements thereon, including lands under water and riparian rights, any easements, covenants, licenses, leases, rights-of-way, uses, and other interests, together with any liens, judgments, mortgages, or other claims or security interests related to real property.

"Renewable energy credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a renewable energy resource.

"Renewable energy resources" includes energy and its associated renewable energy credit or renewable energy credits from wind, solar thermal energy, photovoltaic cells and panels, biodiesel, anaerobic digestion, crops and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, and hydropower that does not involve new construction of dams, waste heat to power systems, or qualified combined heat and power systems, or geothermal heating and cooling systems as defined in the Geothermal Homes and Businesses Act. For purposes of this Act, landfill gas produced in the State is considered a renewable energy resource. "Renewable energy resources" does not include the incineration or burning of tires, garbage, general household, institutional, and commercial waste, industrial lunchroom or office waste, landscape waste, railroad crossties, utility poles, or construction or demolition debris, other than untreated and unadulterated waste wood. "Renewable energy resources" also includes high voltage direct current renewable energy credits and the associated energy converted to alternating current by a high voltage direct current converter station to the extent that: (1) the generator of such renewable energy resource contracted with a third party to transmit the energy over the high voltage direct current transmission facilities, and (2) the third-party contracting for delivery of renewable energy resources over the high voltage direct current transmission facilities have ownership rights over the unretired associated high voltage direct current renewable energy credit.

"Retail customer" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Revenue bond" means any bond, note, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the Authority, the principal and interest of which is payable solely from revenues or income derived from any project or activity of the Agency.

"Sequester" means permanent storage of carbon dioxide by injecting it into a saline aquifer, a depleted gas reservoir, or an oil reservoir, directly or through an enhanced oil recovery process that may involve intermediate storage, regardless of whether these activities are conducted by a clean coal facility, a clean coal SNG facility, a clean coal SNG brownfield facility, or a party with which a clean coal facility, clean coal SNG facility, or clean coal SNG brownfield facility has contracted for such purposes.

"Service area" has the same definition as found in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Settlement period" means the period of time utilized by MISO and PJM and their successor organizations as the basis for settlement calculations in the real-time energy market.

"Sourcing agreement" means (i) in the case of an electric utility, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal facility and such electric utility, which agreement shall have terms and conditions meeting the requirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (d) of Section 1-75, (ii) in the case of an alternative retail electric supplier, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal facility and such alternative retail electric supplier, which agreement shall have terms and conditions meeting the requirements of Section 16-115(d)(5) of the Public Utilities Act, and (iii) in case of a gas utility, an agreement between the owner of a clean coal SNG brownfield facility and the gas utility, which agreement shall have the terms and conditions meeting the requirements of subsection (h-1) of Section 9-220 of the Public Utilities Act.

"Strike price" means a contract price for energy and renewable energy credits from a new utility-scale wind project or a new utility-scale photovoltaic project.

"Subscriber" means a person who (i) takes delivery service from an electric utility, and (ii) has a subscription of no less than 200 watts to a community renewable generation project that is located in the electric utility's service area. No subscriber's subscriptions may total more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an individual community renewable generation project. Entities that are affiliated by virtue of a common parent shall not represent multiple subscriptions that total more than 40% of the nameplate capacity of an individual community renewable generation project.

"Subscription" means an interest in a community renewable generation project expressed in kilowatts, which is sized primarily to offset part or all of the subscriber's electricity usage.

"Substitute natural gas" or "SNG" means a gas manufactured by gasification of hydrocarbon feedstock, which is substantially interchangeable in use and distribution with conventional natural gas.

"Total resource cost test" or "TRC test" means a standard that is met if, for an investment in energy efficiency or demand-response measures, the benefit-cost ratio is greater than one. The benefit-cost ratio is the ratio of the net present value of the total benefits of the program to the net present value of the total costs as calculated over the lifetime of the measures. A total resource cost test compares the sum of avoided electric utility costs, representing the benefits that accrue to the system and the participant in the delivery of those efficiency measures and including avoided costs associated with reduced use of natural gas or other fuels, avoided costs associated with reduced water consumption, and avoided costs associated with reduced operation and maintenance costs, as well as other quantifiable societal benefits, to the sum of all incremental costs of end-use measures that are implemented due to the program (including both utility and participant contributions), plus costs to administer, deliver, and evaluate each demand-side program, to quantify the net savings obtained by substituting the demand-side program for supply resources. In calculating avoided costs of power and energy that an electric utility would otherwise have had to acquire, reasonable estimates shall be included of financial costs likely to be imposed by future regulations and legislation on emissions of greenhouse gases. In discounting future societal costs and benefits for the purpose of calculating net present values, a societal discount rate based on actual, long-term Treasury bond yields should be used. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the TRC test shall not include or take into account a calculation of market price suppression effects or demand reduction induced price effects.

"Utility-scale solar project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) generates electricity using photovoltaic cells; and

(2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than 5,000 kilowatts.

"Utility-scale wind project" means an electric generating facility that:

(1) generates electricity using wind; and

(2) has a nameplate capacity that is greater than 5,000 kilowatts.

"Waste Heat to Power Systems" means systems that capture and generate electricity from energy that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere without the use of additional fuel.

"Zero emission credit" means a tradable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt hour of energy produced from a zero emission facility.

"Zero emission facility" means a facility that: (1) is fueled by nuclear power; and (2) is interconnected with PJM Interconnection, LLC or the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., or their successors.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 103-154, eff. 6-28-23; 103-380, eff. 1-1-24.)

Section 905. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Sections 16-108 and 16-111.5 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/16-108)

Sec. 16-108. Recovery of costs associated with the provision of delivery and other 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.

(i-5) An electric utility required to impose the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge provided for in subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall add such charge to the bills of its delivery services customers pursuant to the terms of a tariff conforming to the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-5) and filed with and approved by the Commission. The electric utility shall file its proposed tariff with the Commission on or before July 1, 2022 to be effective, after review and approval or modification by the Commission, beginning January 1, 2023. On or before December 1, 2022, the Commission shall review the electric utility's proposed tariff, including by conducting a docketed proceeding if deemed necessary by the Commission, and shall approve the proposed tariff or direct the electric utility to make modifications the Commission finds necessary for the tariff to conform to the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection (i-5). The electric utility's tariff shall provide for imposition of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge on a per-kilowatthour basis to all kilowatthours delivered by the electric utility to its delivery services customers. The tariff shall provide for the calculation of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge to be in effect for the year beginning January 1, 2023 and each year beginning January 1 thereafter, sufficient to collect the electric utility's estimated payment obligations for the delivery year beginning the following June 1 under contracts for purchase of renewable energy credits entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and the obligations of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or any successor department or agency, which for purposes of this subsection (i-5) shall be referred to as the Department, to make grant payments during such delivery year from the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and using the electric utility's kilowatthour deliveries to its delivery services customers during the delivery year ended May 31 of the preceding calendar year. On or before November 1 of each year beginning November 1, 2022, the Department shall notify the electric utilities of the amount of the Department's estimated obligations for grant payments during the delivery year beginning the following June 1 pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act; and each electric utility shall incorporate in the calculation of its Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge the fractional portion of the Department's estimated obligations equal to the electric utility's kilowatthour deliveries to its delivery services customers in the delivery year ended the preceding May 31 divided by the aggregate deliveries of both electric utilities to delivery services customers in such delivery year. The electric utility shall remit on a monthly basis to the State Treasurer, for deposit in the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund provided for in subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, the electric utility's collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge estimated to be needed by the Department for grant payments pursuant to grant contracts entered into pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The initial charge under the electric utility's tariff shall be effective for kilowatthours delivered beginning January 1, 2023, and thereafter shall be revised to be effective January 1, 2024 and each January 1 thereafter, based on the payment obligations for the delivery year beginning the following June 1. The tariff shall provide for the electric utility to make an annual filing with the Commission on or before November 15 of each year, beginning in 2023, setting forth the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge to be in effect for the year beginning the following January 1. The electric utility's tariff shall also provide that the electric utility shall make a filing with the Commission on or before August 1 of each year beginning in 2024 setting forth a reconciliation, for the delivery year ended the preceding May 31, of the electric utility's collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge against actual payments for renewable energy credits pursuant to contracts entered into, and the actual grant payments by the Department pursuant to grant contracts entered into, pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The tariff shall provide that any excess or shortfall of collections to payments shall be deducted from or added to, on a per-kilowatthour basis, the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge, over the 6-month period beginning October 1 of that calendar year.

(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.

(k) The electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all of the costs associated with the purchase of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities to meet the requirements of subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and all of the costs associated with the purchase of carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources to meet the requirements of subsection (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Such costs shall include the costs of procuring the zero emission credits and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources, as well as the reasonable costs that the utility incurs as part of the procurement processes and to implement and comply with plans and processes approved by the Commission under subsections (d-5) and (d-10). The costs shall be allocated across all retail customers through a single, uniform cents per kilowatt-hour charge applicable to all retail customers, which shall appear as a separate line item on each customer's bill. Beginning June 1, 2017, the electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all of the costs associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources to meet the renewable energy resource standards of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, under procurement plans as approved in accordance with that Section and Section 16-111.5 of this Act. Such costs shall include the costs of procuring the renewable energy resources, as well as the reasonable costs that the utility incurs as part of the procurement processes and to implement and comply with plans and processes approved by the Commission under such Sections. The costs associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources shall be allocated across all retail customers in proportion to the amount of renewable energy resources the utility procures for such customers through a single, uniform cents per kilowatt-hour charge applicable to such retail customers, which shall appear as a separate line item on each such customer's bill. The credits, costs, and penalties associated with the self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance program described in subparagraph (R) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall be allocated to approved eligible self-direct customers by the utility in a cents per kilowatt-hour credit, cost, or penalty, which shall appear as a separate line item on each such customer's bill.

Notwithstanding whether the Commission has approved the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan as of June 1, 2017, an electric utility shall place new tariffed charges into effect beginning with the June 2017 monthly billing period, to the extent practicable, to begin recovering the costs of procuring renewable energy resources, as those charges are calculated under the limitations described in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Notwithstanding the date on which the utility places such new tariffed charges into effect, the utility shall be permitted to collect the charges under such tariff as if the tariff had been in effect beginning with the first day of the June 2017 monthly billing period. For the delivery years commencing June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018, June 1, 2019, and each delivery year thereafter, the electric utility shall deposit into a separate interest bearing account of a financial institution the monies collected under the tariffed charges. Money collected from customers for the procurement of renewable energy resources in a given delivery year may be spent by the utility for the procurement of renewable resources over any of the following 5 delivery years, after which unspent money shall be credited back to retail customers. The electric utility shall spend all money collected in earlier delivery years that has not yet been returned to customers, first, before spending money collected in later delivery years. Any interest earned shall be credited back to retail customers under the reconciliation proceeding provided for in this subsection (k), provided that the electric utility shall first be reimbursed from the interest for the administrative costs that it incurs to administer and manage the account. Any taxes due on the funds in the account, or interest earned on it, will be paid from the account or, if insufficient monies are available in the account, from the monies collected under the tariffed charges to recover the costs of procuring renewable energy resources. Monies deposited in the account shall be subject to the review, reconciliation, and true-up process described in this subsection (k) that is applicable to the funds collected and costs incurred for the procurement of renewable energy resources.

The electric utility shall be entitled to recover all of the costs identified in this subsection (k) through automatic adjustment clause tariffs applicable to all of the utility's retail customers that allow the electric utility to adjust its tariffed charges consistent with this subsection (k). The determination as to whether any excess funds were collected during a given delivery year for the purchase of renewable energy resources, and the crediting of any excess funds back to retail customers, shall not be made until after the close of the delivery year, which will ensure that the maximum amount of funds is available to implement the approved long-term renewable resources procurement plan during a given delivery year. The amount of excess funds eligible to be credited back to retail customers shall be reduced by an amount equal to the payment obligations required by any contracts entered into by an electric utility under contracts described in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, even if such payments have not yet been made and regardless of the delivery year in which those payment obligations were incurred. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, including in tariffs authorized by this subsection (k) in effect before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, all unspent funds as of May 31, 2021, excluding any funds credited to customers during any utility billing cycle that commences prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, shall remain in the utility account and shall on a first in, first out basis be used toward utility payment obligations under contracts described in subsection (b) of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The electric utility's collections under such automatic adjustment clause tariffs to recover the costs of renewable energy resources, zero emission credits from zero emission facilities, and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources shall be subject to separate annual review, reconciliation, and true-up against actual costs by the Commission under a procedure that shall be specified in the electric utility's automatic adjustment clause tariffs and that shall be approved by the Commission in connection with its approval of such tariffs. The procedure shall provide that any difference between the electric utility's collections for zero emission credits and carbon mitigation credits under the automatic adjustment charges for an annual period and the electric utility's actual costs of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities and carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources for that same annual period shall be refunded to or collected from, as applicable, the electric utility's retail customers in subsequent periods.

Nothing in this subsection (k) is intended to affect, limit, or change the right of the electric utility to recover the costs associated with the procurement of renewable energy resources for periods commencing before, on, or after June 1, 2017, as otherwise provided in the Illinois Power Agency Act.

The funding available under this subsection (k), if any, for the programs described under subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall not reduce the amount of funding for the programs described in subparagraph (O) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. If funding is available under this subsection (k) for programs described under subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, then the long-term renewable resources plan shall provide for the Agency to procure contracts in an amount that does not exceed the funding, and the contracts approved by the Commission shall be executed by the applicable utility or utilities.

(k-5) An electric utility shall be entitled to recover through tariffed charges all costs associated with the purchase of geothermal renewable energy credits pursuant to the Geothermal Homes and Businesses Act. Such costs shall include: (i) the cost of procuring geothermal renewable energy credits, (ii) reasonable costs that the utility incurs as part of the procurement process, and (iii) costs incurred to implement and comply with any plan or process that is approved by the Commission.

(l) A utility that has terminated any contract executed under subsection (d-5) or (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act shall be entitled to recover any remaining balance associated with the purchase of zero emission credits prior to such termination, and such utility shall also apply a credit to its retail customer bills in the event of any over-collection.

(m)(1) An electric utility that recovers its costs of procuring zero emission credits from zero emission facilities through a cents-per-kilowatthour charge under subsection (k) of this Section shall be subject to the requirements of this subsection (m). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, such electric utility shall, beginning on April 30, 2018, and each April 30 thereafter until April 30, 2026, calculate whether any reduction must be applied to such cents-per-kilowatthour charge that is paid by retail customers of the electric utility that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B. Such charge shall be reduced for such customers for the next delivery year commencing on June 1 based on the amount necessary, if any, to limit the annual estimated average net increase for the prior calendar year due to the future energy investment costs to no more than 1.3% of 5.98 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is the average amount paid per kilowatthour for electric service during the year ending December 31, 2015 by Illinois industrial retail customers, as reported to the Edison Electric Institute.

The calculations required by this subsection (m) shall be made only once for each year, and no subsequent rate impact determinations shall be made.

(2) For purposes of this Section, "future energy investment costs" shall be calculated by subtracting the cents-per-kilowatthour charge identified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (2) from the sum of the cents-per-kilowatthour charges identified in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (2):

(A) The cents-per-kilowatthour charge identified in the electric utility's tariff placed into effect under Section 8-103 of the Public Utilities Act that, on December 1, 2016, was applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B.

(B) The sum of the following cents-per-kilowatthour charges applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B, provided that if one or more of the following charges has been in effect and applied to such customers for more than one calendar year, then each charge shall be equal to the average of the charges applied over a period that commences with the calendar year ending December 31, 2017 and ends with the most recently completed calendar year prior to the calculation required by this subsection (m):

(i) the cents-per-kilowatthour charge to recover the costs incurred by the utility under subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, adjusted for any reductions required under this subsection (m); and

(ii) the cents-per-kilowatthour charge to recover the costs incurred by the utility under Section 16-107.6 of the Public Utilities Act.

If no charge was applied for a given calendar year under item (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph (B), then the value of the charge for that year shall be zero.

(3) If a reduction is required by the calculation performed under this subsection (m), then the amount of the reduction shall be multiplied by the number of years reflected in the averages calculated under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of this subsection (m). Such reduction shall be applied to the cents-per-kilowatthour charge that is applicable to those retail customers that have opted out of subsections (a) through (j) of Section 8-103B of this Act under subsection (l) of Section 8-103B beginning with the next delivery year commencing after the date of the calculation required by this subsection (m).

(4) The electric utility shall file a notice with the Commission on May 1 of 2018 and each May 1 thereafter until May 1, 2026 containing the reduction, if any, which must be applied for the delivery year which begins in the year of the filing. The notice shall contain the calculations made pursuant to this Section. By October 1 of each year beginning in 2018, each electric utility shall notify the Commission if it appears, based on an estimate of the calculation required in this subsection (m), that a reduction will be required in the next year.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)

(220 ILCS 5/16-111.5)

Sec. 16-111.5. Provisions relating to procurement.

(a) An electric utility that on December 31, 2005 served at least 100,000 customers in Illinois shall procure power and energy for its eligible retail customers in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2017, such electric utility shall also procure zero emission credits from zero emission facilities in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and, for years beginning on or after June 1, 2017, the utility shall procure renewable energy resources in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2022, an electric utility serving over 3,000,000 customers shall also procure carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free energy resources in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. Beginning with the delivery year commencing on June 1, 2026, such electric utility shall also procure geothermal renewable energy credits in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in the Geothermal Homes and Businesses Act. A small multi-jurisdictional electric utility that on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois may elect to procure power and energy for all or a portion of its eligible Illinois retail customers in accordance with the applicable provisions set forth in this Section and Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. This Section shall not apply to a small multi-jurisdictional utility until such time as a small multi-jurisdictional utility requests the Illinois Power Agency to prepare a procurement plan for its eligible retail customers. "Eligible retail customers" for the purposes of this Section means those retail customers that purchase power and energy from the electric utility under fixed-price bundled service tariffs, other than those retail customers whose service is declared or deemed competitive under Section 16-113 and those other customer groups specified in this Section, including self-generating customers, customers electing hourly pricing, or those customers who are otherwise ineligible for fixed-price bundled tariff service. For those customers that are excluded from the procurement plan's electric supply service requirements, and the utility shall procure any supply requirements, including capacity, ancillary services, and hourly priced energy, in the applicable markets as needed to serve those customers, provided that the utility may include in its procurement plan load requirements for the load that is associated with those retail customers whose service has been declared or deemed competitive pursuant to Section 16-113 of this Act to the extent that those customers are purchasing power and energy during one of the transition periods identified in subsection (b) of Section 16-113 of this Act.

(b) A procurement plan shall be prepared for each electric utility consistent with the applicable requirements of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section. For purposes of this Section, Illinois electric utilities that are affiliated by virtue of a common parent company are considered to be a single electric utility. Small multi-jurisdictional utilities may request a procurement plan for a portion of or all of its Illinois load. Each procurement plan shall analyze the projected balance of supply and demand for those retail customers to be included in the plan's electric supply service requirements over a 5-year period, with the first planning year beginning on June 1 of the year following the year in which the plan is filed. The plan shall specifically identify the wholesale products to be procured following plan approval, and shall follow all the requirements set forth in the Public Utilities Act and all applicable State and federal laws, statutes, rules, or regulations, as well as Commission orders. Nothing in this Section precludes consideration of contracts longer than 5 years and related forecast data. Unless specified otherwise in this Section, in the procurement plan or in the implementing tariff, any procurement occurring in accordance with this plan shall be competitively bid through a request for proposals process. Approval and implementation of the procurement plan shall be subject to review and approval by the Commission according to the provisions set forth in this Section. A procurement plan shall include each of the following components:

(1) Hourly load analysis. This analysis shall include:

(i) multi-year historical analysis of hourly loads;

(ii) switching trends and competitive retail market analysis;

(iii) known or projected changes to future loads; and

(iv) growth forecasts by customer class.

(2) Analysis of the impact of any demand side and renewable energy initiatives. This analysis shall include:

(i) the impact of demand response programs and energy efficiency programs, both current and projected; for small multi-jurisdictional utilities, the impact of demand response and energy efficiency programs approved pursuant to Section 8-408 of this Act, both current and projected; and

(ii) supply side needs that are projected to be offset by purchases of renewable energy resources, if any.

(3) A plan for meeting the expected load requirements that will not be met through preexisting contracts. This plan shall include:

(i) definitions of the different Illinois retail customer classes for which supply is being purchased;

(ii) the proposed mix of demand-response products for which contracts will be executed during the next year. For small multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 served fewer than 100,000 customers in Illinois, these shall be defined as demand-response products offered in an energy efficiency plan approved pursuant to Section 8-408 of this Act. The cost-effective demand-response measures shall be procured whenever the cost is lower than procuring comparable capacity products, provided that such products shall:

(A) be procured by a demand-response provider from those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements;

(B) at least satisfy the demand-response requirements of the regional transmission organization market in which the utility's service territory is located, including, but not limited to, any applicable capacity or dispatch requirements;

(C) provide for customers' participation in the stream of benefits produced by the demand-response products;

(D) provide for reimbursement by the demand-response provider of the utility for any costs incurred as a result of the failure of the supplier of such products to perform its obligations thereunder; and

(E) meet the same credit requirements as apply to suppliers of capacity, in the applicable regional transmission organization market;

(iii) monthly forecasted system supply requirements, including expected minimum, maximum, and average values for the planning period;

(iv) the proposed mix and selection of standard wholesale products for which contracts will be executed during the next year, separately or in combination, to meet that portion of its load requirements not met through pre-existing contracts, including but not limited to monthly 5 x 16 peak period block energy, monthly off-peak wrap energy, monthly 7 x 24 energy, annual 5 x 16 energy, other standardized energy or capacity products designed to provide eligible retail customer benefits from commercially deployed advanced technologies including but not limited to high voltage direct current converter stations, as such term is defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, whether or not such product is currently available in wholesale markets, annual off-peak wrap energy, annual 7 x 24 energy, monthly capacity, annual capacity, peak load capacity obligations, capacity purchase plan, and ancillary services;

(v) proposed term structures for each wholesale product type included in the proposed procurement plan portfolio of products; and

(vi) an assessment of the price risk, load uncertainty, and other factors that are associated with the proposed procurement plan; this assessment, to the extent possible, shall include an analysis of the following factors: contract terms, time frames for securing products or services, fuel costs, weather patterns, transmission costs, market conditions, and the governmental regulatory environment; the proposed procurement plan shall also identify alternatives for those portfolio measures that are identified as having significant price risk and mitigation in the form of additional retail customer and ratepayer price, reliability, and environmental benefits from standardized energy products delivered from commercially deployed advanced technologies, including, but not limited to, high voltage direct current converter stations, as such term is defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, whether or not such product is currently available in wholesale markets.

(4) Proposed procedures for balancing loads. The procurement plan shall include, for load requirements included in the procurement plan, the process for (i) hourly balancing of supply and demand and (ii) the criteria for portfolio re-balancing in the event of significant shifts in load.

(5) Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. The Agency shall prepare a long-term renewable resources procurement plan for the procurement of renewable energy credits under Sections 1-56 and 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act for delivery beginning in the 2017 delivery year.

(i) The initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions shall be subject to review and approval by the Commission. For the purposes of this Section, "delivery year" has the same meaning as in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. For purposes of this Section, "Agency" shall mean the Illinois Power Agency.

(ii) The long-term renewable resources planning process shall be conducted as follows:

(A) Electric utilities shall provide a range of load forecasts to the Illinois Power Agency within 45 days of the Agency's request for forecasts, which request shall specify the length and conditions for the forecasts including, but not limited to, the quantity of distributed generation expected to be interconnected for each year.

(B) The Agency shall publish for comment the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan no later than 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly and shall review, and may revise, the plan at least every 2 years thereafter. To the extent practicable, the Agency shall review and propose any revisions to the long-term renewable energy resources procurement plan in conjunction with the Agency's other planning and approval processes conducted under this Section. The initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall:

(aa) Identify the procurement programs and competitive procurement events consistent with the applicable requirements of the Illinois Power Agency Act and shall be designed to achieve the goals set forth in subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of that Act.

(bb) Include a schedule for procurements for renewable energy credits from utility-scale wind projects, utility-scale solar projects, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects consistent with subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(cc) Identify the process whereby the Agency will submit to the Commission for review and approval the proposed contracts to implement the programs required by such plan.

Copies of the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's and Commission's websites, and copies shall also be provided to each affected electric utility. An affected utility and other interested parties shall have 45 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and all subsequent revisions. All comments submitted to the Agency shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses, and, if objecting to all or a portion of the procurement plan, accompanied by specific alternative wording or proposals. All comments shall be posted on the Agency's and Commission's websites. During this 45-day comment period, the Agency shall hold at least one public hearing within each utility's service area that is subject to the requirements of this paragraph (5) for the purpose of receiving public comment. Within 21 days following the end of the 45-day review period, the Agency may revise the long-term renewable resources procurement plan based on the comments received and shall file the plan with the Commission for review and approval.

(C) Within 14 days after the filing of the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan or any subsequent revisions, any person objecting to the plan may file an objection with the Commission. Within 21 days after the filing of the plan, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. The Commission shall enter its order confirming or modifying the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan or any subsequent revisions within 120 days after the filing of the plan by the Illinois Power Agency.

(D) The Commission shall approve the initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan and any subsequent revisions, including expressly the forecast used in the plan and taking into account that funding will be limited to the amount of revenues actually collected by the utilities, if the Commission determines that the plan will reasonably and prudently accomplish the requirements of Section 1-56 and subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The Commission shall also approve the process for the submission, review, and approval of the proposed contracts to procure renewable energy credits or implement the programs authorized by the Commission pursuant to a long-term renewable resources procurement plan approved under this Section.

In approving any long-term renewable resources procurement plan after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Commission shall approve or modify the Agency's proposal for minimum equity standards pursuant to subsection (c-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The Commission shall consider any analysis performed by the Agency in developing its proposal, including past performance, availability of equity eligible contractors, and availability of equity eligible persons at the time the long-term renewable resources procurement plan is approved.

(iii) The Agency or third parties contracted by the Agency shall implement all programs authorized by the Commission in an approved long-term renewable resources procurement plan without further review and approval by the Commission. Third parties shall not begin implementing any programs or receive any payment under this Section until the Commission has approved the contract or contracts under the process authorized by the Commission in item (D) of subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (5) of this subsection (b) and the third party and the Agency or utility, as applicable, have executed the contract. For those renewable energy credits subject to procurement through a competitive bid process under the plan or under the initial forward procurements for wind and solar resources described in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, the Agency shall follow the procurement process specified in the provisions relating to electricity procurement in subsections (e) through (i) of this Section.

(iv) An electric utility shall recover its costs associated with the procurement of renewable energy credits under this Section and pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act through an automatic adjustment clause tariff under subsection (k) or a tariff pursuant to subsection (i-5), as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act. A utility shall not be required to advance any payment or pay any amounts under this Section that exceed the actual amount of revenues collected by the utility under paragraph (6) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and subsection (k) or subsection (i-5), as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act, and contracts executed under this Section shall expressly incorporate this limitation.

(v) For the public interest, safety, and welfare, the Agency and the Commission may adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section on an emergency basis immediately following the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly.

(vi) On or before July 1 of each year, the Commission shall hold an informal hearing for the purpose of receiving comments on the prior year's procurement process and any recommendations for change.

(b-5) An electric utility that as of January 1, 2019 served more than 300,000 retail customers in this State shall purchase renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities constructed at or adjacent to the sites of coal-fueled electric generating facilities in this State in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Except as expressly provided in this Section, the plans and procedures for such procurements shall not be included in the procurement plans provided for in this Section, but rather shall be conducted and implemented solely in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(c) The provisions of this subsection (c) shall not apply to procurements conducted pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. However, the Agency may retain a procurement administrator to assist the Agency in planning and carrying out the procurement events and implementing the other requirements specified in such subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, with the costs incurred by the Agency for the procurement administrator to be recovered through fees charged to applicants for selection to sell and deliver renewable energy credits to electric utilities pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The procurement process set forth in Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and subsection (e) of this Section shall be administered by a procurement administrator and monitored by a procurement monitor.

(1) The procurement administrator shall:

(i) design the final procurement process in accordance with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and subsection (e) of this Section following Commission approval of the procurement plan;

(ii) develop benchmarks in accordance with subsection (e)(3) to be used to evaluate bids; these benchmarks shall be submitted to the Commission for review and approval on a confidential basis prior to the procurement event;

(iii) serve as the interface between the electric utility and suppliers;

(iv) manage the bidder pre-qualification and registration process;

(v) obtain the electric utilities' agreement to the final form of all supply contracts and credit collateral agreements;

(vi) administer the request for proposals process;

(vii) have the discretion to negotiate to determine whether bidders are willing to lower the price of bids that meet the benchmarks approved by the Commission; any post-bid negotiations with bidders shall be limited to price only and shall be completed within 24 hours after opening the sealed bids and shall be conducted in a fair and unbiased manner; in conducting the negotiations, there shall be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals submitted by competing bidders; if information is disclosed to any bidder, it shall be provided to all competing bidders;

(viii) maintain confidentiality of supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs;

(ix) submit a confidential report to the Commission recommending acceptance or rejection of bids;

(x) notify the utility of contract counterparties and contract specifics; and

(xi) administer related contingency procurement events.

(2) The procurement monitor, who shall be retained by the Commission, shall:

(i) monitor interactions among the procurement administrator, suppliers, and utility;

(ii) monitor and report to the Commission on the progress of the procurement process;

(iii) provide an independent confidential report to the Commission regarding the results of the procurement event;

(iv) assess compliance with the procurement plans approved by the Commission for each utility that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois and for each small multi-jurisdictional utility that on December 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois;

(v) preserve the confidentiality of supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs;

(vi) provide expert advice to the Commission and consult with the procurement administrator regarding issues related to procurement process design, rules, protocols, and policy-related matters; and

(vii) consult with the procurement administrator regarding the development and use of benchmark criteria, standard form contracts, credit policies, and bid documents.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (j), the planning process shall be conducted as follows:

(1) Beginning in 2008, each Illinois utility procuring power pursuant to this Section shall annually provide a range of load forecasts to the Illinois Power Agency by July 15 of each year, or such other date as may be required by the Commission or Agency. The load forecasts shall cover the 5-year procurement planning period for the next procurement plan and shall include hourly data representing a high-load, low-load, and expected-load scenario for the load of those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. The utility shall provide supporting data and assumptions for each of the scenarios.

(2) Beginning in 2008, the Illinois Power Agency shall prepare a procurement plan by August 15th of each year, or such other date as may be required by the Commission. The procurement plan shall identify the portfolio of demand-response and power and energy products to be procured. Cost-effective demand-response measures shall be procured as set forth in item (iii) of subsection (b) of this Section. Copies of the procurement plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Agency's and Commission's websites, and copies shall also be provided to each affected electric utility. An affected utility shall have 30 days following the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on the procurement plan. Other interested entities also may comment on the procurement plan. All comments submitted to the Agency shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses, and, if objecting to all or a portion of the procurement plan, accompanied by specific alternative wording or proposals. All comments shall be posted on the Agency's and Commission's websites. During this 30-day comment period, the Agency shall hold at least one public hearing within each utility's service area for the purpose of receiving public comment on the procurement plan. Within 14 days following the end of the 30-day review period, the Agency shall revise the procurement plan as necessary based on the comments received and file the procurement plan with the Commission and post the procurement plan on the websites.

(3) Within 5 days after the filing of the procurement plan, any person objecting to the procurement plan shall file an objection with the Commission. Within 10 days after the filing, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. The Commission shall enter its order confirming or modifying the procurement plan within 90 days after the filing of the procurement plan by the Illinois Power Agency.

(4) The Commission shall approve the procurement plan, including expressly the forecast used in the procurement plan, if the Commission determines that it will ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(4.5) The Commission shall review the Agency's recommendations for the selection of applicants to enter into long-term contracts for the sale and delivery of renewable energy credits from new renewable energy facilities to be constructed at or adjacent to the sites of coal-fueled electric generating facilities in this State in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and shall approve the Agency's recommendations if the Commission determines that the applicants recommended by the Agency for selection, the proposed new renewable energy facilities to be constructed, the amounts of renewable energy credits to be delivered pursuant to the contracts, and the other terms of the contracts, are consistent with the requirements of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.

(e) The procurement process shall include each of the following components:

(1) Solicitation, pre-qualification, and registration of bidders. The procurement administrator shall disseminate information to potential bidders to promote a procurement event, notify potential bidders that the procurement administrator may enter into a post-bid price negotiation with bidders that meet the applicable benchmarks, provide supply requirements, and otherwise explain the competitive procurement process. In addition to such other publication as the procurement administrator determines is appropriate, this information shall be posted on the Illinois Power Agency's and the Commission's websites. The procurement administrator shall also administer the prequalification process, including evaluation of credit worthiness, compliance with procurement rules, and agreement to the standard form contract developed pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection (e). The procurement administrator shall then identify and register bidders to participate in the procurement event.

(2) Standard contract forms and credit terms and instruments. The procurement administrator, in consultation with the utilities, the Commission, and other interested parties and subject to Commission oversight, shall develop and provide standard contract forms for the supplier contracts that meet generally accepted industry practices. Standard credit terms and instruments that meet generally accepted industry practices shall be similarly developed. The procurement administrator shall make available to the Commission all written comments it receives on the contract forms, credit terms, or instruments. If the procurement administrator cannot reach agreement with the applicable electric utility as to the contract terms and conditions, the procurement administrator must notify the Commission of any disputed terms and the Commission shall resolve the dispute. The terms of the contracts shall not be subject to negotiation by winning bidders, and the bidders must agree to the terms of the contract in advance so that winning bids are selected solely on the basis of price.

(3) Establishment of a market-based price benchmark. As part of the development of the procurement process, the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor, shall establish benchmarks for evaluating the final prices in the contracts for each of the products that will be procured through the procurement process. The benchmarks shall be based on price data for similar products for the same delivery period and same delivery hub, or other delivery hubs after adjusting for that difference. The price benchmarks may also be adjusted to take into account differences between the information reflected in the underlying data sources and the specific products and procurement process being used to procure power for the Illinois utilities. The benchmarks shall be confidential but shall be provided to, and will be subject to Commission review and approval, prior to a procurement event.

(4) Request for proposals competitive procurement process. The procurement administrator shall design and issue a request for proposals to supply electricity in accordance with each utility's procurement plan, as approved by the Commission. The request for proposals shall set forth a procedure for sealed, binding commitment bidding with pay-as-bid settlement, and provision for selection of bids on the basis of price.

(5) A plan for implementing contingencies in the event of supplier default or failure of the procurement process to fully meet the expected load requirement due to insufficient supplier participation, Commission rejection of results, or any other cause.

(i) Event of supplier default: In the event of supplier default, the utility shall review the contract of the defaulting supplier to determine if the amount of supply is 200 megawatts or greater, and if there are more than 60 days remaining of the contract term. If both of these conditions are met, and the default results in termination of the contract, the utility shall immediately notify the Illinois Power Agency that a request for proposals must be issued to procure replacement power, and the procurement administrator shall run an additional procurement event. If the contracted supply of the defaulting supplier is less than 200 megawatts or there are less than 60 days remaining of the contract term, the utility shall procure power and energy from the applicable regional transmission organization market, including ancillary services, capacity, and day-ahead or real time energy, or both, for the duration of the contract term to replace the contracted supply; provided, however, that if a needed product is not available through the regional transmission organization market it shall be purchased from the wholesale market.

(ii) Failure of the procurement process to fully meet the expected load requirement: If the procurement process fails to fully meet the expected load requirement due to insufficient supplier participation or due to a Commission rejection of the procurement results, the procurement administrator, the procurement monitor, and the Commission staff shall meet within 10 days to analyze potential causes of low supplier interest or causes for the Commission decision. If changes are identified that would likely result in increased supplier participation, or that would address concerns causing the Commission to reject the results of the prior procurement event, the procurement administrator may implement those changes and rerun the request for proposals process according to a schedule determined by those parties and consistent with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this subsection. In any event, a new request for proposals process shall be implemented by the procurement administrator within 90 days after the determination that the procurement process has failed to fully meet the expected load requirement.

(iii) In all cases where there is insufficient supply provided under contracts awarded through the procurement process to fully meet the electric utility's load requirement, the utility shall meet the load requirement by procuring power and energy from the applicable regional transmission organization market, including ancillary services, capacity, and day-ahead or real time energy, or both; provided, however, that if a needed product is not available through the regional transmission organization market it shall be purchased from the wholesale market.

(6) The procurement processes described in this subsection and in subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act are exempt from the requirements of the Illinois Procurement Code, pursuant to Section 20-10 of that Code.

(f) Within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids, the procurement administrator shall submit a confidential report to the Commission. The report shall contain the results of the bidding for each of the products along with the procurement administrator's recommendation for the acceptance and rejection of bids based on the price benchmark criteria and other factors observed in the process. The procurement monitor also shall submit a confidential report to the Commission within 2 business days after opening the sealed bids. The report shall contain the procurement monitor's assessment of bidder behavior in the process as well as an assessment of the procurement administrator's compliance with the procurement process and rules. The Commission shall review the confidential reports submitted by the procurement administrator and procurement monitor, and shall accept or reject the recommendations of the procurement administrator within 2 business days after receipt of the reports.

(g) Within 3 business days after the Commission decision approving the results of a procurement event, the utility shall enter into binding contractual arrangements with the winning suppliers using the standard form contracts; except that the utility shall not be required either directly or indirectly to execute the contracts if a tariff that is consistent with subsection (l) of this Section has not been approved and placed into effect for that utility.

(h) For the procurement of standard wholesale products, the names of the successful bidders and the load weighted average of the winning bid prices for each contract type and for each contract term shall be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event. For procurements conducted to meet the requirements of subsection (b) of Section 1-56 or subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act governed by the provisions of this Section, the address and nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility proposed by a winning bidder shall also be made available to the public at the time of Commission approval of a procurement event, along with the business address and contact information for any winning bidder. An estimate or approximation of the nameplate capacity of the new renewable energy generating facility may be disclosed if necessary to protect the confidentiality of individual bid prices.

The Commission, the procurement monitor, the procurement administrator, the Illinois Power Agency, and all participants in the procurement process shall maintain the confidentiality of all other supplier and bidding information in a manner consistent with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and tariffs. Confidential information, including the confidential reports submitted by the procurement administrator and procurement monitor pursuant to subsection (f) of this Section, shall not be made publicly available and shall not be discoverable by any party in any proceeding, absent a compelling demonstration of need, nor shall those reports be admissible in any proceeding other than one for law enforcement purposes.

(i) Within 2 business days after a Commission decision approving the results of a procurement event or such other date as may be required by the Commission from time to time, the utility shall file for informational purposes with the Commission its actual or estimated retail supply charges, as applicable, by customer supply group reflecting the costs associated with the procurement and computed in accordance with the tariffs filed pursuant to subsection (l) of this Section and approved by the Commission.

(j) Within 60 days following August 28, 2007 (the effective date of Public Act 95-481), each electric utility that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois shall prepare and file with the Commission an initial procurement plan, which shall conform in all material respects to the requirements of the procurement plan set forth in subsection (b); provided, however, that the Illinois Power Agency Act shall not apply to the initial procurement plan prepared pursuant to this subsection. The initial procurement plan shall identify the portfolio of power and energy products to be procured and delivered for the period June 2008 through May 2009, and shall identify the proposed procurement administrator, who shall have the same experience and expertise as is required of a procurement administrator hired pursuant to Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. Copies of the procurement plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the Commission's website. The initial procurement plan may include contracts for renewable resources that extend beyond May 2009.

(i) Within 14 days following filing of the initial procurement plan, any person may file a detailed objection with the Commission contesting the procurement plan submitted by the electric utility. All objections to the electric utility's plan shall be specific, supported by data or other detailed analyses. The electric utility may file a response to any objections to its procurement plan within 7 days after the date objections are due to be filed. Within 7 days after the date the utility's response is due, the Commission shall determine whether a hearing is necessary. If it determines that a hearing is necessary, it shall require the hearing to be completed and issue an order on the procurement plan within 60 days after the filing of the procurement plan by the electric utility.

(ii) The order shall approve or modify the procurement plan, approve an independent procurement administrator, and approve or modify the electric utility's tariffs that are proposed with the initial procurement plan. The Commission shall approve the procurement plan if the Commission determines that it will ensure adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over time, taking into account any benefits of price stability.

(k) (Blank).

(k-5) (Blank).

(l) An electric utility shall recover its costs incurred under this Section and subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, including, but not limited to, the costs of procuring power and energy demand-response resources under this Section and its costs for purchasing renewable energy credits pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act. The utility shall file with the initial procurement plan its proposed tariffs through which its costs of procuring power that are incurred pursuant to a Commission-approved procurement plan and those other costs identified in this subsection (l), will be recovered. The tariffs shall include a formula rate or charge designed to pass through both the costs incurred by the utility in procuring a supply of electric power and energy for the applicable customer classes with no mark-up or return on the price paid by the utility for that supply, plus any just and reasonable costs that the utility incurs in arranging and providing for the supply of electric power and energy. The formula rate or charge shall also contain provisions that ensure that its application does not result in over or under recovery due to changes in customer usage and demand patterns, and that provide for the correction, on at least an annual basis, of any accounting errors that may occur. A utility shall recover through the tariff all reasonable costs incurred to implement or comply with any procurement plan that is developed and put into effect pursuant to Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section, and for the procurement of renewable energy credits pursuant to subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, including any fees assessed by the Illinois Power Agency, costs associated with load balancing, and contingency plan costs. The electric utility shall also recover its full costs of procuring electric supply for which it contracted before the effective date of this Section in conjunction with the provision of full requirements service under fixed-price bundled service tariffs subsequent to December 31, 2006. All such costs shall be deemed to have been prudently incurred. The pass-through tariffs that are filed and approved pursuant to this Section shall not be subject to review under, or in any way limited by, Section 16-111(i) of this Act. All of the costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of zero emission credits in accordance with subsection (d-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, all costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of carbon mitigation credits in accordance with subsection (d-10) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and, beginning June 1, 2017, all of the costs incurred by the electric utility associated with the purchase of renewable energy resources in accordance with Sections 1-56 and 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, and all of the costs incurred by the electric utility in purchasing renewable energy credits in accordance with subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act, shall be recovered through the electric utility's tariffed charges applicable to all of its retail customers, as specified in subsection (k) or subsection (i-5), as applicable, of Section 16-108 of this Act, and shall not be recovered through the electric utility's tariffed charges for electric power and energy supply to its eligible retail customers.

(m) The Commission has the authority to adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section. For the public interest, safety, and welfare, the Commission also has authority to adopt rules to carry out the provisions of this Section on an emergency basis immediately following August 28, 2007 (the effective date of Public Act 95-481).

(n) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any affiliated electric utilities that submit a single procurement plan covering their combined needs may procure for those combined needs in conjunction with that plan, and may enter jointly into power supply contracts, purchases, and other procurement arrangements, and allocate capacity and energy and cost responsibility therefor among themselves in proportion to their requirements.

(o) On or before June 1 of each year, the Commission shall hold an informal hearing for the purpose of receiving comments on the prior year's procurement process and any recommendations for change.

(p) An electric utility subject to this Section may propose to invest, lease, own, or operate an electric generation facility as part of its procurement plan, provided the utility demonstrates that such facility is the least-cost option to provide electric service to those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. If the facility is shown to be the least-cost option and is included in a procurement plan prepared in accordance with Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and this Section, then the electric utility shall make a filing pursuant to Section 8-406 of this Act, and may request of the Commission any statutory relief required thereunder. If the Commission grants all of the necessary approvals for the proposed facility, such supply shall thereafter be considered as a pre-existing contract under subsection (b) of this Section. The Commission shall in any order approving a proposal under this subsection specify how the utility will recover the prudently incurred costs of investing in, leasing, owning, or operating such generation facility through just and reasonable rates charged to those retail customers included in the plan's electric supply service requirements. Cost recovery for facilities included in the utility's procurement plan pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to review under or in any way limited by the provisions of Section 16-111(i) of this Act. Nothing in this Section is intended to prohibit a utility from filing for a fuel adjustment clause as is otherwise permitted under Section 9-220 of this Act.

(q) If the Illinois Power Agency filed with the Commission, under Section 16-111.5 of this Act, its proposed procurement plan for the period commencing June 1, 2017, and the Commission has not yet entered its final order approving the plan on or before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, then the Illinois Power Agency shall file a notice of withdrawal with the Commission, after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, to withdraw the proposed procurement of renewable energy resources to be approved under the plan, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices using funds previously collected from electric utilities' retail customers that take service pursuant to electric utilities' hourly pricing tariff or tariffs and, for an electric utility that serves less than 100,000 retail customers in the State, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices. Upon receipt of the notice, the Commission shall enter an order that approves the withdrawal of the proposed procurement of renewable energy resources from the plan. The initially proposed procurement of renewable energy resources shall not be approved or be the subject of any further hearing, investigation, proceeding, or order of any kind.

This amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly preempts and supersedes any order entered by the Commission that approved the Illinois Power Agency's procurement plan for the period commencing June 1, 2017, to the extent it is inconsistent with the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly. To the extent any previously entered order approved the procurement of renewable energy resources, the portion of that order approving the procurement shall be void, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits from distributed renewable energy generation devices using funds previously collected from electric utilities' retail customers that take service under electric utilities' hourly pricing tariff or tariffs and, for an electric utility that serves less than 100,000 retail customers in the State, other than the procurement of renewable energy credits for distributed renewable energy generation devices.

(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.)

Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.