HB5555eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5555 Engrossed LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 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 Water and Sewer Utility Customer Service Act.

Section 5. Application of Public Utilities Act to water and sewer utilities. Except to the extent modified or supplemented by the specific provisions of this Act, the Sections of the Public Utilities Act pertaining to public utilities, public utility rates, and services, and the regulation thereof, are fully and equally applicable to water and sewer rates and services and the regulation thereof, except where the context clearly renders such provisions inapplicable.

Section 10. Definitions. The definitions contained in the Public Utilities Act apply to terms used in this Act, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Section 15. Customer rights.

(a) Within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission shall hold public hearings concerning and establish a water bill of rights for customers of public utilities providing water or sewer service. The water bill of rights must detail what rights a customer has in each of the following situations:

(1) The customer's water meter is replaced.

(2) The customer's bill increases by more than 20% within one billing period.

(3) The customer's water service is terminated.

(4) The customer wishes to appeal a termination of service notice.

(5) The customer is unable to make payment on a billing statement.

(6) A surcharge or annual reconciliation is filed that will increase the amount billed to the customer.

(7) The customer is billed for services provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement.

(8) The customer is due to receive a credit. The water bill of rights must also include information concerning the service obligations of the utility and informing the customer about unfair and unethical collection practices and remedies that the customer may pursue for a violation of the customer's rights. The Commission shall also determine the penalties that shall be imposed on the utility for noncompliance with the customer's water bill of rights.

(b) No water or sewer public utility may terminate the service of any customer without first providing at least 7 days' advance written notice to the customer. The written notice must include a copy of the water bill of rights created under this Section and must notify the customer of the customer's right to appeal the termination. The Commission shall establish, by rule, a minimum payment schedule that must be followed by the customer and the public utility of a customer is disputing an amount billed to the customer or appealing a termination of service and sanctions that may be imposed against any public utility that terminates service to any customer who adheres to the minimum payment schedule established by the Commission. No water or sewer public utility shall terminate service to any customer appealing a termination of service or disputing a billed amount so long as the customer adheres to the minimum payment schedule required by the Commission.

A customer must be at least 60 days in arrears before a shutoff notice can be issued. The Commission shall establish procedures to set aside a shutoff notice if it affects the safety and welfare of the community. The procedures shall be published and provided to the municipality or townships served by the utility.

(c) Each water or sewer public utility must provide written notice to each affected customer of any annual reconciliation rate adjustment and when it will go into effect.

(d) Each water or sewer public utility must disclose on each billing statement any amount billed that is for service provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement. The disclosure must include the dates for which the prior service is being billed. Each billing statement that includes an amount billed for service provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement must disclose the dates for which that amount is billed and must include a copy of the water bill of rights and a statement of current Commission rules concerning back-billing. The Commission must verify any annual reconciliation in the number of gallons that have been back-billed by a water or sewer public utility and the utility must credit the customer with those gallons, calculated in dollars, with interest at the prime rate.

(e) The Commission shall establish by rule an informal complaint process for processing complaints about water and sewer public utilities and shall respond to each complaint by providing the consumer with a copy of the utilities response to the complaint and a copy of the Commission's review of the complaint and its findings. The Commission must provide the consumer with all available options for recourse.

(f) Any refund on the billing statement of a customer of a water or sewer public utility must be itemized and state the purpose of the refund.

Section 20. Water service for building construction purposes. At the request of any municipality or township within the service area of a public utility that provides water service to customers within the municipality or township, a public utility must (i) require all water service used for building construction purposes to be measured by meter and subject to approved rates and charges for metered water service and (ii) prohibit the unauthorized use of water taken from hydrants or service lines installed at construction sites.

Section 25. Water and sewer or public utilities; subcontractors. The Commission shall adopt rules to direct for-profit water and sewer public utilities to conform to standards that protect consumers from irresponsible subcontractors contracted by a for-profit water or sewer public utility. The rules must provide for notice to the consumer of the proper kind of identification that the subcontractor must present to the customer, prohibit the subcontractor from soliciting or receiving payment of any kind for any service provided by the water or sewer public utility, and establish sanctions for violations.

Section 30. Water and sewer public utilities; annual reconciliation charges. The Commission must establish by rule a formula for determining (i) the amount of unmetered water that a unit of local government and customers can expect to pay for in order to protect the public and (ii) the percentage of unmetered water that reflects environmental waste that is the result of a water or sewer public utility's management inefficiencies and neglect. The formula and the utility's compliance with existing conservation agreements must be considered as part of all rate cases and annual reconciliations associated with that utility. The Commission shall establish sanctions for violations of any conservation agreements.

Section 35. Meter malfunction; testing.

(a) If a public utility furnishing water to any customer determines that a meter owned by the public utility has malfunctioned, then the public utility is prohibited from charging the customer during the malfunction unless the customer intentionally caused the malfunction.

(b) If requested by the Commission or by the customer whose use is measured by the meter, a public utility furnishing water to any customer must conduct a test to determine the accuracy of the meter. Upon receipt of the written request of the Commission or the customer, the utility must use a company authorized by the Commission to conduct the test. The utility shall charge the customer for the conduct of the test in the amount authorized by the Commission by rule.

(c) The Commission may establish by rule a minimum schedule for testing of water meters and any tests conducted thereunder must be conducted at the utility's expense.

Section 40. Rate increases; public forums. When any public utility providing water or sewer service proposes a rate increase, prior to the date set for the hearing, a public forum on the increase must be conducted in a location within 45 minutes drive time of the location where the increase will take effect and the public utility must provide 30 days' advance notice of each public forum to the governing body of those units of local government affected by the increases. The day and time of the forum shall be selected so as to encourage the greatest public participation. Reports and comments made during or as a result of the public forum must be made available to the hearing officials and reviewed as part of the hearing for the rate case.

Section 45. Water and sewer utilities; low usage. Each public utility that provides water and sewer service must establish a unit rate, subject to review by the Commission, that applies only to those customers who use less than 100 gallons of water in any billing period.

Section 50. Water and sewer utilities; separate meters. Each public utility that provides water and sewer service must offer separate rates for water and sewer service to any commercial or residential customer who uses separate meters to measure each of those services. In order for the separate rate to apply, a combination of meters must be used to measure the amount of water that reaches the sewer system and the amount of water that does not reach the sewer system.

Section 905. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing Section 9-223 as follows:

(220 ILCS 5/9-223) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 9-223)

Sec. 9-223. Fire protection charge.

(a) The Commission may authorize any public utility engaged in the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or furnishing of water to impose a fire protection charge, in addition to any rate authorized by this Act, sufficient to cover a reasonable portion of the cost of providing the capacity, facilities and the water necessary to meet the fire protection needs of any municipality or public fire protection district. Such fire protection charge shall be in the form of a fixed amount per bill and shall be shown separately on the utility bill of each customer of the municipality or fire protection district. Any filing by a public utility to impose such a fire protection charge or to modify a charge shall be made pursuant to Section 9-201 of this Act. Any fire protection charge imposed shall reflect the costs associated with providing fire protection service for each municipality or fire protection district. No such charge shall be imposed directly on any municipality or fire protection district for a reasonable level of fire protection services unless provided for in a separate agreement between the municipality or the fire protection district and the utility.

(b) Within one year after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission shall conduct at least 3 public forums to evaluate the purpose and use of each fire protection charge imposed under this Section. At least one forum must be held in northern Illinois, at least one forum must be held in central Illinois, and at least one forum must be held in southern Illinois. The Commission must invite a representative from each municipality and fire protection district affected by a fire protection charge under this Section to attend a public forum. The Commission shall report its findings concerning recommendations concerning the purpose and use of each fire protection charge to the General Assembly no later than the last day of the veto session in 2006.

(Source: P.A. 84-617.)

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