102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2238

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-10 new

    Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Creates the Undergrounding Utility Facilities Division. Defines "underground" and "undergrounding". Provides that public utilities shall underground 138 kilowatt or greater 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 a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission line. Provides that a public utility shall record and defer costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of transmission lines 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.


LRB102 17205 AWJ 22663 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2238LRB102 17205 AWJ 22663 b

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
5adding Division 15.5 of Article 11 as follows:
 
6    (65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new)
7
DIVISION 15.5. UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY FACILITIES

 
8    (65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new)
9    Sec. 11-15.5-5. Definitions. As used in this Division and
10unless the context requires otherwise, "underground" or
11"undergrounding" means routing and constructing electric
12transmission lines and their associated components below
13ground, consistent with sound engineering and utility
14practices.
 
15    (65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-10 new)
16    Sec. 11-15.5-10. Undergrounding utility facilities.
17    (a) In the interest of public health and safety,
18reliability, and electric grid security, a public utility, as
19defined by Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, shall
20underground any 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
21line constructed after the effective date of this amendatory

 

 

SB2238- 2 -LRB102 17205 AWJ 22663 b

1Act of the 102nd General Assembly where:
2        (1) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
3    line or any portion of a 138 kilowatt or greater electric
4    transmission line is to be located within 26,000 feet of
5    an airport that is located in and owned by a municipality
6    with a population greater than 70,000 and less than 80,000
7    located in or contiguous to a county with a population in
8    excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants;
9        (2) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
10    line is to be located in 4 or more contiguous
11    municipalities with a population density of 1,000 per
12    square mile or more as of the most recent federal
13    decennial census; or
14        (3) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
15    line is to be located in close proximity to a public
16    recreational area such that it may pose a danger to the
17    activities conducted there.
18    (b) The costs for undergrounding a new transmission line
19shall not be allocated solely to the municipality or
20municipalities in which it is underground; instead, the
21Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to
22fully recover from all retail customers in its service
23territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs
24related to the undergrounding of transmission lines. The
25public utility shall record and defer these costs as a
26regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total

 

 

SB2238- 3 -LRB102 17205 AWJ 22663 b

1rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal
2to the expected life of the transmission line. These
3regulatory assets shall be collected from all ratepayers
4system-wide, and not only from ratepayers in the corporate
5limits of the municipality or municipalities within which the
6transmission line is constructed.
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.