Full Text of SB1653 97th General Assembly
SB1653eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning public utilities.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 16-117 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/16-117)
| 7 | | Sec. 16-117. Commission consumer education program.
| 8 | | (a) The restructuring of the electricity industry will
| 9 | | create a new electricity market with new marketers and sellers
| 10 | | offering new goods and services, many of which the average
| 11 | | consumer will not be able to readily evaluate. It is the
intent | 12 | | of the General Assembly that (i) electricity consumers
be | 13 | | provided with sufficient and reliable information so that
they | 14 | | are able to compare and make informed selections of
products | 15 | | and services provided in the electricity market; and
(ii) | 16 | | mechanisms be provided to enable consumers to protect
| 17 | | themselves from marketing practices that are unfair or
abusive.
| 18 | | (b) The Commission shall implement and maintain a
consumer | 19 | | education program to provide residential and small
commercial | 20 | | retail customers with information to help them
understand their | 21 | | service options in a competitive electric
services market, and | 22 | | their rights and responsibilities.
| 23 | | (c) The Commission shall form a working group following
the |
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| 1 | | enactment of this amendatory Act of 1997. This group shall
| 2 | | consist of 5 representatives of the investor-owned electric
| 3 | | utilities in this State, 2 of which shall be appointed by
| 4 | | electric utilities serving over 1,000,000 retail customers
in | 5 | | this State; 2 representatives of alternative retail
electric | 6 | | suppliers; 3 representatives of organizations
representing the | 7 | | interests of residential and small commercial
retail | 8 | | customers; and the Commission.
| 9 | | (d) By March 1, 1999, with respect to educational materials | 10 | | for
small commercial customers and by November 1, 2001 with | 11 | | respect to educational
materials for residential customers, | 12 | | the working group appointed pursuant
to this Section shall | 13 | | develop a package of printed educational
materials which meet | 14 | | the requirements of subsection (e) and
shall submit such | 15 | | package to the Commission for approval,
along with | 16 | | recommendations for implementing this consumer
education | 17 | | program. Such materials shall consider the needs of
different | 18 | | types of consumers in this State, such as elderly,
low-income, | 19 | | multilingual, minority, rural and disabled
customers. The | 20 | | working group shall issue recommendations to
the Commission on | 21 | | how such education program can be
implemented through a variety | 22 | | of communication methods,
including specifically mass media, | 23 | | distribution of printed
material, public service | 24 | | announcements, and posting on the
Internet.
| 25 | | Not more than 90 days after the effective date of this | 26 | | amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the Commission |
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| 1 | | shall direct the Office of Retail Market Development to update | 2 | | the consumer education materials for residential consumers and | 3 | | small business consumers. The Commission may form another | 4 | | working group to prepare and review the consumer education | 5 | | materials prior to their adoption by the Commission. | 6 | | (e) At a minimum, the materials constituting the
consumer | 7 | | education program submitted to the Commission by the
working | 8 | | group shall include concise explanations or
descriptions of the | 9 | | following:
| 10 | | (1) the structure of the electric utility industry
| 11 | | following this amendatory Act of 1997 and a glossary of
| 12 | | basic terms;
| 13 | | (2) the choices available to consumers to take
electric | 14 | | service from an alternative retail electric
supplier or | 15 | | remain as a retail customer of an electric
utility;
| 16 | | (3) a customer's rights, risks and responsibilities
in | 17 | | receiving service from an alternative retail electric
| 18 | | supplier or remaining as a retail customer of an electric
| 19 | | utility;
| 20 | | (4) the legal obligations of alternative retail
| 21 | | electric suppliers;
| 22 | | (5) those services that may be offered on a
competitive | 23 | | basis in a deregulated electric services
market, including | 24 | | services that could be packaged with
the delivery of | 25 | | electric power and energy;
| 26 | | (6) services that an electric utility is required to
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| 1 | | provide pursuant to tariffed rates;
| 2 | | (7) the components of a bill that could be received
by | 3 | | a customer taking delivery services;
| 4 | | (8) the complaint procedures set forth in Section
| 5 | | 10-108 of this Act by which consumers may seek a redress
of | 6 | | grievances against an electric utility or an
alternative | 7 | | retail electric supplier and a list of phone
numbers of the | 8 | | Commission, the Attorney General or other
entities that can | 9 | | provide information and assistance to
customers; and
| 10 | | (9) additional information available from the
| 11 | | Commission upon request.
| 12 | | (f) Within 45 days following the submission required of
the | 13 | | working group by subsection (d) of this Section, the
Commission | 14 | | shall approve or disapprove the educational
materials and | 15 | | recommendations for program implementation. The
Commission | 16 | | shall be deemed to have approved the educational
program | 17 | | materials and recommendations unless the Commission
| 18 | | disapproves of any such material or recommendation within 45
| 19 | | days following the date of receipt.
| 20 | | (g) Once approved by the Commission, materials
comprising | 21 | | the consumer education program contemplated by this
Section | 22 | | shall be distributed as follows:
| 23 | | (1) Electric utilities shall mail printed
educational | 24 | | materials specified by the working group and
approved by | 25 | | the Commission (a) to all residential and
small commercial | 26 | | retail customers within a reasonable
period prior to the |
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| 1 | | date that such customers become
eligible to purchase power | 2 | | from alternative retail
electric suppliers, such | 3 | | "reasonable period" to be
determined by the Commission; and | 4 | | (b) once the applicable
customer class becomes eligible to | 5 | | receive delivery
services, to all new residential and small | 6 | | commercial
retail customers at the time that such customers | 7 | | begin
taking services from the electric utility.
| 8 | | (2) Alternative retail electric suppliers shall
| 9 | | include such materials with all initial mailings to
| 10 | | potential residential and small commercial retail
| 11 | | customers but in all circumstances prior to the time by
| 12 | | which an alternative retail electric supplier executes
any | 13 | | agreements or contracts with such customers for the
supply | 14 | | of electric services.
| 15 | | (3) Both electric utilities and alternative retail
| 16 | | electric suppliers shall provide such materials at no
| 17 | | charge to residential and small commercial retail
| 18 | | customers upon request.
| 19 | | (4) The Commission shall make available upon request
| 20 | | and at no charge, and shall make available to the public
on | 21 | | the Internet through the State of Illinois World Wide
Web | 22 | | Site:
| 23 | | (A) all printed educational materials developed
by | 24 | | the working group and approved by the Commission;
| 25 | | (B) a list of all certified alternative retail
| 26 | | electric suppliers serving residential and small
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| 1 | | commercial retail customers within the service
| 2 | | territory of each electric utility;
| 3 | | (C) a list of alternative retail electric
| 4 | | suppliers serving residential or small commercial
| 5 | | retail customers which have been found in the last
3 | 6 | | years by the Commission pursuant to Section
10-108 to | 7 | | have failed to provide service in
accordance with the | 8 | | terms of their contracts with
such retail customers; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | (D) guidelines to assist customers in
determining | 11 | | which energy supplier is most
appropriate for each | 12 | | customer.
| 13 | | (h) The Commission may also adopt a uniform disclosure
form | 14 | | which alternative retail electric suppliers would be
required | 15 | | to complete enabling consumers to compare prices,
terms and | 16 | | conditions offered by such suppliers.
| 17 | | (i) The Commission shall make available to the public
staff | 18 | | with the ability and knowledge to respond to consumer
| 19 | | inquiries.
| 20 | | (j) The costs of printing educational materials approved
by | 21 | | the Commission pursuant to this Section shall be payable
solely | 22 | | from funding as provided in this subsection.
| 23 | | Each year the General Assembly shall appropriate money to
| 24 | | the Commission from the General Revenue Fund for the expenses
| 25 | | of the Commission associated with this Section. The cost of
the | 26 | | consumer education program contemplated by this Section
shall |
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| 1 | | not exceed the amount of such appropriation. In no event
shall | 2 | | any electric utility, alternative retail electric
supplier or | 3 | | customer be liable for the costs of printing
consumer education | 4 | | program material in accordance with this
Section. The | 5 | | obligations associated with this consumer
education program | 6 | | shall not exceed the amounts appropriated
for this program | 7 | | pursuant to this Section.
| 8 | | (k) The Commission shall study the effectiveness of the
| 9 | | consumer education program. Such study shall include a notice
| 10 | | and an opportunity for participation and comment by all
| 11 | | interested and potentially affected parties. Such study shall
| 12 | | be completed by January 31st of each year during the mandatory
| 13 | | transition period and a summary thereof, together with any
| 14 | | legislative recommendations, shall be included in the
| 15 | | Commission's Annual Report due in accordance with Section
4-304 | 16 | | of this Act.
| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)
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