HB5243ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.

Filed: 4/15/2024

10300HB5243ham001 LRB103 38720 CES 72183 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5243

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5243 as follows:

by replacing line 17, on page 67, through line 6, on page 68, with the following:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in all competitive procurements conducted by the Agency after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly for procurement of utility-scale energy storage resources, the Agency, in ranking the bids for evaluation and selection, shall apply a downward bid price adjustment equal to the bid adjustment described in Section 5.4.3 of the Agency's 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, as approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, to any bid submitted by an owner or owners of existing or retired fossil-fueled power plants for any project that is located or proposed to be located at a site connecting to existing utility infrastructure at a switchyard that is located within the property boundaries or within a 2-mile radius of the property boundaries of a fossil fuel power plant in this State that was retired subsequent to December 31, 2015, or that is an electric generating unit or large greenhouse gas-emitting unit that is subject to subsection (i) of Section 9.15 of the Environmental Protection Act, and that (i) is located or proposed to be located in or within 2 miles of an equity investment eligible community, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to this Act; (ii) is"; and

by replacing line 12, on page 176, through line 6, on page 177, with the following:

"(b) Within 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, the Agency shall develop an energy storage procurement plan in accordance with this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The energy storage procurement plan shall further require that, in order to qualify, the owner of the energy storage resources must have entered, or commit to enter, into a project labor agreement for the construction of the energy storage resource and certify that not less than the prevailing wage, as determined by the Prevailing Wage Act, was or will be paid to employees who are engaged in construction activities associated with the energy storage resource. Additionally, if the owner or owners of the energy storage resources own existing or retired fossil fuel power plants, the owner or owners shall commit to (1) coordinate with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to develop and provide an additional job training and education program to existing and former employees of fossil fuel power plants who are or were members of a labor union to provide the requisite skills, knowledge, and training required to operate and maintain energy storage resources; and (2) create employment opportunities for persons who graduate from that job training and education program. In the alternative to (1) and (2), for existing employees of a fossil-fueled power plant in Illinois who are members of a labor union, the owner shall commit to providing opportunities for such employees to seek job training or education opportunities at the expense of the employer for up to a stated amount, employer-paid outplacement services, and opportunities to apply for other positions with the employer, and for the development and operation of energy storage resources at the former or to be retired fossil fuel power plant site, the owner shall use, to the extent possible, labor union, State of Illinois, or other job and workforce training programs established to support the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy and energy storage resources in Illinois.

Within 120 days after the Commission's approval of the owner's energy storage contract, the owner shall submit to the Commission a diversity, equity, and inclusion plan consistent with paragraph (11) of subsection (c-5) of Section 1-75.".