99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
HB6570
 
Introduced , by Rep. Fred Crespo
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 

 
65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.4 heading new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.4-1 new

     Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Defines "underground" and "undergrounding". Provides that public utilities shall underground specified electric transmission lines under certain conditions. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to recover from all retail customers in its service territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of such transmission lines. Provides that a public utility shall record and defer such costs as a regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the expected life of such transmission line. Effective immediately.
  


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
 
 
A BILL FOR
 

  
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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
  
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
3represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended  by adding 
5Division 15.4 as follows:
 
6    (65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.4 heading new)
7
DIVISION 15.4.
8
UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY FACILITIES  

 
9    (65 ILCS 5/11-15.4-1 new)
10    Sec. 11-15.4-1. Undergrounding utility facilities.
11    (a) As used in this Division and unless the context 
12requires otherwise, "underground" or "undergrounding" means 
13routing and constructing electric transmission lines and their 
14associated components below ground, consistent with sound 
15engineering and utility practices. 
16    (b) In the interest of public health and safety, 
17reliability, and electric grid security, a public utility, as 
18defined by Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, shall 
19underground any 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission 
20line constructed after the effective date of this amendatory 
21Act of the 99th General Assembly where:
22        (1) such transmission line or any portion thereof is to 
 
 
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1    be located within 26,000 feet of an airport that is located 
2    in and owned by a municipality with a population greater 
3    than 70,000 and less than 80,000 located in or contiguous 
4    to a county with a population in excess of 1,000,000 
5    inhabitants; or
6        (2) such transmission line is to be located in 4 or 
7    more contiguous municipalities with a population density 
8    of 1,000 per square mile or more as of the most recent 
9    federal decennial census. 
10    (c) The costs for undergrounding a new transmission line 
11shall not be allocated solely to the municipality or 
12municipalities in which it is underground; instead, the 
13Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to 
14fully recover from all retail customers in its service 
15territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs 
16related to the undergrounding of transmission lines.  The public 
17utility shall record and defer such costs as a regulatory asset 
18to be included in the public utility's total rate base and 
19amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the 
20expected life of the transmission line. Such regulatory assets 
21shall be collected from all ratepayers system-wide, and not 
22only from ratepayers in the corporate limits of the 
23municipality or municipalities within which the transmission 
24line is constructed. 
 
 
25    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
26becoming law.