Sen. Sue Rezin

Filed: 2/28/2023

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 76

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 76 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
5changing Section 8-406 as follows:
 
6    (220 ILCS 5/8-406)  (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
7    Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
8necessity.
9    (a) No public utility not owning any city or village
10franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
11furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
12July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
13convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
14Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission, or the
15Public Utilities Commission, at the time Public Act 84-617
16goes into effect (January 1, 1986), shall transact any

 

 

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1business in this State until it shall have obtained a
2certificate from the Commission that public convenience and
3necessity require the transaction of such business. A
4certificate of public convenience and necessity requiring the
5transaction of public utility business in any area of this
6State shall include authorization to the public utility
7receiving the certificate of public convenience and necessity
8to construct such plant, equipment, property, or facility as
9is provided for under the terms and conditions of its tariff
10and as is necessary to provide utility service and carry out
11the transaction of public utility business by the public
12utility in the designated area.
13    (b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
14new plant, equipment, property, or facility which is not in
15substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property, or
16facility, or any extension or alteration thereof or in
17addition thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from
18the Commission a certificate that public convenience and
19necessity require such construction. Whenever after a hearing
20the Commission determines that any new construction or the
21transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
22the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
23the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
24necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
25construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
26only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed

 

 

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1construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
2efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
3of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
4proposed construction will promote the development of an
5effectively competitive electricity market that operates
6efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
7cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the
8utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
9construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
10adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
11and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
12construction without significant adverse financial
13consequences for the utility or its customers.
14    (b-5) As used in this subsection (b-5):
15    "Qualifying direct current applicant" means an entity that
16seeks to provide direct current bulk transmission service for
17the purpose of transporting electric energy in interstate
18commerce.
19    "Qualifying direct current project" means a high voltage
20direct current electric service line that crosses at least one
21Illinois border, the Illinois portion of which is physically
22located within the region of the Midcontinent Independent
23System Operator, Inc., or its successor organization, and runs
24through the counties of Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin,
25Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland, and Clark, is
26capable of transmitting electricity at voltages of 345

 

 

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1kilovolts or above, and may also include associated
2interconnected alternating current interconnection facilities
3in this State that are part of the proposed project and
4reasonably necessary to connect the project with other
5portions of the grid.
6    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a
7qualifying direct current applicant that does not own,
8control, operate, or manage, within this State, any plant,
9equipment, or property used or to be used for the transmission
10of electricity at the time of its application or of the
11Commission's order may file an application on or before
12December 31, 2023 with the Commission pursuant to this Section
13or Section 8-406.1 for, and the Commission may grant, a
14certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct,
15operate, and maintain a qualifying direct current project. The
16qualifying direct current applicant may also include in the
17application requests for authority under Section 8-503. The
18Commission shall grant the application for a certificate of
19public convenience and necessity and requests for authority
20under Section 8-503 if it finds that the qualifying direct
21current applicant and the proposed qualifying direct current
22project satisfy the requirements of this subsection and
23otherwise satisfy the criteria of this Section or Section
248-406.1 and the criteria of Section 8-503, as applicable to
25the application and to the extent such criteria are not
26superseded by the provisions of this subsection. The

 

 

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1Commission's order on the application for the certificate of
2public convenience and necessity shall also include the
3Commission's findings and determinations on the request or
4requests for authority pursuant to Section 8-503. Prior to
5filing its application under either this Section or Section
68-406.1, the qualifying direct current applicant shall conduct
73 public meetings in accordance with subsection (h) of this
8Section. If the qualifying direct current applicant
9demonstrates in its application that the proposed qualifying
10direct current project is designed to deliver electricity to a
11point or points on the electric transmission grid in either or
12both the PJM Interconnection, LLC or the Midcontinent
13Independent System Operator, Inc., or their respective
14successor organizations, the proposed qualifying direct
15current project shall be deemed to be, and the Commission
16shall find it to be, for public use. If the qualifying direct
17current applicant further demonstrates in its application that
18the proposed transmission project has a capacity of 1,000
19megawatts or larger and a voltage level of 345 kilovolts or
20greater, the proposed transmission project shall be deemed to
21satisfy, and the Commission shall find that it satisfies, the
22criteria stated in item (1) of subsection (b) of this Section
23or in paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 8-406.1, as
24applicable to the application, without the taking of
25additional evidence on these criteria. Prior to the transfer
26of functional control of any transmission assets to a regional

 

 

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1transmission organization, a qualifying direct current
2applicant shall request Commission approval to join a regional
3transmission organization in an application filed pursuant to
4this subsection (b-5) or separately pursuant to Section 7-102
5of this Act. The Commission may grant permission to a
6qualifying direct current applicant to join a regional
7transmission organization if it finds that the membership, and
8associated transfer of functional control of transmission
9assets, benefits Illinois customers in light of the attendant
10costs and is otherwise in the public interest. Nothing in this
11subsection (b-5) requires a qualifying direct current
12applicant to join a regional transmission organization.
13Nothing in this subsection (b-5) requires the owner or
14operator of a high voltage direct current transmission line
15that is not a qualifying direct current project to obtain a
16certificate of public convenience and necessity to the extent
17it is not otherwise required by this Section 8-406 or any other
18provision of this Act.
19    (c) (Blank). After September 11, 1987 (the effective date
20of Public Act 85-377), no construction shall commence on any
21new nuclear power plant to be located within this State, and no
22certificate of public convenience and necessity or other
23authorization shall be issued therefor by the Commission,
24until the Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection
25Agency finds that the United States Government, through its
26authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable

 

 

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1technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear
2waste, or until such construction has been specifically
3approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly.
4    As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
5those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
6cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
7concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or
8equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
9fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
10reprocessing.
11    (d) In making its determination under subsection (b) of
12this Section, the Commission shall attach primary weight to
13the cost or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
14Commission may consider any or all factors which will or may
15affect such cost or cost savings, including the public
16utility's engineering judgment regarding the materials used
17for construction.
18    (e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
19shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
20emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
21serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
22the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
23by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
24temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
25certificate will not be required in the public interest.
26    A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may

 

 

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1apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
2necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
3as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
4Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
5authorization or order granted a public utility by the
6Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
7deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the
8same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
9and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
10    No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
11party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
12appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
13Section for authorization of power plant construction and as
14to matters as to which a remedy is available under the Electric
15Supplier Act.
16    (f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
17Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the
18person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
19period of 2 years from the grant thereof, authority conferred
20by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
21Commission shall be null and void.
22    No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall
23be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
24immunity or franchise.
25    (g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
26described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or

 

 

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1that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
2Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
3this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
4apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of
5this Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an
6electric line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For
7purposes of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of
8the following:
9        (1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
10    electric service line and related facilities,
11    notwithstanding its length;
12        (2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
13    service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
14    length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
15    roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or
16        (3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
17    related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a
18    single customer's premises or to provide a generator
19    interconnection to the public utility's transmission
20    system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
21    by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
22    premises for which the customer or generator has secured
23    the necessary right of way.
24    (h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
25electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
26show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public

 

 

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1meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
2each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
36 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
4public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
5of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
6general circulation within the affected county once a week for
73 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior
8to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
9contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
10line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
11proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
12transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
13other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
14meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
15mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements
16regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
17Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
18Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
19county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
20the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
21meeting.
22    (i) For applications filed after August 18, 2015 (the
23effective date of Public Act 99-399), the Commission shall, by
24certified mail, notify each owner of record of land, as
25identified in the records of the relevant county tax assessor,
26included in the right-of-way over which the utility seeks in

 

 

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1its application to construct a high-voltage electric line of
2the time and place scheduled for the initial hearing on the
3public utility's application. The utility shall reimburse the
4Commission for the cost of the postage and supplies incurred
5for mailing the notice.
6(Source: P.A. 102-609, eff. 8-27-21; 102-662, eff. 9-15-21;
7102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-931, eff. 5-27-22.)
 
8    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9becoming law.".