Full Text of HB5555 94th General Assembly
HB5555enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
|
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 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 adding | 5 |
| Section 8-306 and by changing Section 9-223 as follows: | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/8-306 new)
| 7 |
| Sec. 8-306. Special provisions relating to water and sewer | 8 |
| utilities. | 9 |
| (a) No later than 120 days after the effective date of this | 10 |
| amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission | 11 |
| shall prepare, make available to customers upon request, and | 12 |
| post on its Internet web site information concerning the | 13 |
| service obligations of water and sewer utilities and remedies | 14 |
| that a customer may pursue for a violation of the customer's | 15 |
| rights. The information shall specifically address the rights | 16 |
| of a customer of a water or sewer utility in the following | 17 |
| situations: | 18 |
| (1) The customer's water meter is replaced. | 19 |
| (2) The customer's bill increases by more than 50% | 20 |
| within one billing period. | 21 |
| (3) The customer's water service is terminated. | 22 |
| (4) The customer wishes to complain after receiving a | 23 |
| termination of service notice. | 24 |
| (5) The customer is unable to make payment on a billing | 25 |
| statement. | 26 |
| (6) A rate is filed, including without limitation a | 27 |
| surcharge or annual reconciliation filing, that will | 28 |
| increase the amount billed to the customer. | 29 |
| (7) The customer is billed for services provided prior | 30 |
| to the date covered by the billing statement. | 31 |
| (8) The customer is due to receive a credit. | 32 |
| Each billing statement issued by a water or sewer utility |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 2 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| shall include an Internet web site address where the customer | 2 |
| can view the information required under this subsection (a) and | 3 |
| a telephone number that the customer may call to request a copy | 4 |
| of the information.
| 5 |
| (b) A water or sewer utility may discontinue service only | 6 |
| after it has mailed or delivered by other means a written | 7 |
| notice of discontinuance substantially in the form of Appendix | 8 |
| A of 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280. The notice must include the | 9 |
| Internet web site address where the customer can view the | 10 |
| information required under subsection (a) and a telephone | 11 |
| number that the customer may call to request a copy of the | 12 |
| information. Any notice required to be delivered or mailed to a | 13 |
| customer prior to discontinuance of service shall be delivered | 14 |
| or mailed separately from any bill. Service shall not be | 15 |
| discontinued until at least 5 days after delivery or 8 days | 16 |
| after the mailing of this notice. Service shall not be | 17 |
| discontinued and shall be restored if discontinued for the | 18 |
| reason which is the subject of a dispute or complaint during | 19 |
| the pendency of informal or formal complaint procedures of the | 20 |
| Illinois Commerce Commission under 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.160 or | 21 |
| 280.170, where the customer has complied with those rules. | 22 |
| Service shall not be discontinued and shall be restored if | 23 |
| discontinued where a customer has established a deferred | 24 |
| payment agreement pursuant to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.110 and has | 25 |
| not defaulted on such agreement. Residential customers who are | 26 |
| indebted to a utility for past due utility service shall have | 27 |
| the opportunity to make arrangements with the utility to retire | 28 |
| the debt by periodic payments, referred to as a deferred | 29 |
| payment agreement, unless this customer has failed to make | 30 |
| payment under such a plan during the past 12 months. The terms | 31 |
| and conditions of a reasonable deferred payment agreement shall | 32 |
| be determined by the utility after consideration of the | 33 |
| following factors, based upon information available from | 34 |
| current utility records or provided by the customer or | 35 |
| applicant: | 36 |
| (1) size of the past due account; |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 3 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| (2) customer or applicant's ability to pay; | 2 |
| (3) customer or applicant's payment history; | 3 |
| (4) reason for the outstanding indebtedness; and | 4 |
| (5) any other relevant factors relating to the | 5 |
| circumstances of the customer or applicant's service.
| 6 |
| A residential customer shall pay a maximum of one-fourth of the | 7 |
| amount past due and owing at the time of entering into the | 8 |
| deferred payment agreement, and the water or sewer utility | 9 |
| shall allow a minimum of 2 months from the date of the | 10 |
| agreement and a maximum of 12 months for payment to be made | 11 |
| under a deferred payment agreement. Late payment charges may be | 12 |
| assessed against the amount owing that is the subject of a | 13 |
| deferred payment agreement. | 14 |
| (c) A water or sewer utility shall provide notice as | 15 |
| required by subsection (a) of Section 9-201 after the filing of | 16 |
| each information sheet under a purchased water surcharge, | 17 |
| purchased sewage treatment surcharge, or qualifying | 18 |
| infrastructure plant surcharge. The utility also shall post | 19 |
| notice of the filing in accordance with the requirements of 83 | 20 |
| Ill. Adm. Code 255. Unless filed as part of a general rate | 21 |
| increase, notice of the filing of a purchased water surcharge | 22 |
| rider, purchased sewage treatment surcharge rider, or | 23 |
| qualifying infrastructure plant surcharge rider also shall be | 24 |
| given in the manner required by this subsection (c) for the | 25 |
| filing of information sheets. | 26 |
| (d) Commission rules pertaining to formal and informal | 27 |
| complaints against public utilities shall apply with full and | 28 |
| equal force to water and sewer utilities and their customers, | 29 |
| including provisions of 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.170, and the | 30 |
| Commission shall respond to each complaint by providing the | 31 |
| consumer with a copy of the utility's response to the complaint | 32 |
| and a copy of the Commission's review of the complaint and its | 33 |
| findings. The Commission shall also provide the consumer with | 34 |
| all available options for recourse. | 35 |
| (e) Any refund shown on the billing statement of a customer | 36 |
| of a water or sewer utility must be itemized and must state if |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 4 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| the refund is an adjustment or credit. | 2 |
| (f) Water service for building construction purposes. At | 3 |
| the request of any municipality or township within the service | 4 |
| area of a public utility that provides water service to | 5 |
| customers within the municipality or township, a public utility | 6 |
| must (1) require all water service used for building | 7 |
| construction purposes to be measured by meter and subject to | 8 |
| approved rates and charges for metered water service and (2) | 9 |
| prohibit the unauthorized use of water taken from hydrants or | 10 |
| service lines installed at construction sites. | 11 |
| (g) Water meters. | 12 |
| (1) Periodic testing. Unless otherwise approved by the | 13 |
| Commission, each service water meter shall be periodically | 14 |
| inspected and tested in accordance with the schedule | 15 |
| specified in 83 Ill. Adm. Code 600.340, or more frequently | 16 |
| as the results may warrant, to insure that the meter | 17 |
| accuracy is maintained within the limits set out in 83 Ill. | 18 |
| Adm. Code 600.310. | 19 |
| (2) Meter tests requested by customer. | 20 |
| (A) Each utility furnishing metered water service | 21 |
| shall, without charge, test the accuracy of any meter | 22 |
| upon request by the customer served by such meter, | 23 |
| provided that the meter in question has not been tested | 24 |
| by the utility or by the Commission within 2 years | 25 |
| previous to such request. The customer or his or her | 26 |
| representatives shall have the privilege of witnessing | 27 |
| the test at the option of the customer. A written | 28 |
| report, giving the results of the test, shall be made | 29 |
| to the customer. | 30 |
| (B) When a meter that has been in service less than | 31 |
| 2 years since its last test is found to be accurate | 32 |
| within the limits specified in 83 Ill. Adm. Code | 33 |
| 600.310, the customer shall pay a fee to the utility | 34 |
| not to exceed the amounts specified in 83 Ill. Adm. | 35 |
| Code 600.350(b). Fees for testing meters not included | 36 |
| in this Section or so located that the cost will be out |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 5 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| of proportion to the fee specified will be determined | 2 |
| by the Commission upon receipt of a complete | 3 |
| description of the case. | 4 |
| (3) Commission referee tests. Upon written application | 5 |
| to the Commission by any customer, a test will be made of | 6 |
| the customer's meter by a representative of the Commission. | 7 |
| For such a test, a fee as provided for in subsection (g)(2) | 8 |
| shall accompany the application. If the meter is found to | 9 |
| be registering more than 1.5% fast on the average when | 10 |
| tested as prescribed in 83 Ill. Adm. Code 600.310, the | 11 |
| utility shall refund to the customer the amount of the fee. | 12 |
| The utility shall in no way disturb the meter after a | 13 |
| customer has made an application for a referee test until | 14 |
| authority to do so is given by the Commission or the | 15 |
| customer in writing. | 16 |
| (h) Water and sewer utilities; low usage. Each public | 17 |
| utility that provides water and sewer service must establish a | 18 |
| unit sewer rate, subject to review by the Commission, that | 19 |
| applies only to those customers who use less than 1,000 gallons | 20 |
| of water in any billing period. | 21 |
| (i) Water and sewer utilities; separate meters. Each public | 22 |
| utility that provides water and sewer service must offer | 23 |
| separate rates for water and sewer service to any commercial or | 24 |
| residential customer who uses separate meters to measure each | 25 |
| of those services. In order for the separate rate to apply, a | 26 |
| combination of meters must be used to measure the amount of | 27 |
| water that reaches the sewer system and the amount of water | 28 |
| that does not reach the sewer system. | 29 |
| (j) Each water or sewer public utility must disclose on | 30 |
| each billing statement any amount billed that is for service | 31 |
| provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement. | 32 |
| The disclosure must include the dates for which the prior | 33 |
| service is being billed. Each billing statement that includes | 34 |
| an amount billed for service provided prior to the date covered | 35 |
| by the billing statement must disclose the dates for which that | 36 |
| amount is billed and must include a copy of the document |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 6 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| created under subsection (a) and a statement of current | 2 |
| Commission rules concerning unbilled or misbilled service. | 3 |
| (k) When the customer is due a refund resulting from | 4 |
| payment of an overcharge, the utility shall credit the customer | 5 |
| in the amount of overpayment with interest from the date of | 6 |
| overpayment by the customer. The rate for interest shall be at | 7 |
| the appropriate rate determined by the Commission under 83 Ill. | 8 |
| Adm. Code 280.70. | 9 |
| (l) Water and sewer public utilities; subcontractors. The | 10 |
| Commission shall adopt rules for water and sewer public | 11 |
| utilities to provide notice to the customers of the proper kind | 12 |
| of identification that a subcontractor must present to the | 13 |
| customer, to prohibit a subcontractor from soliciting or | 14 |
| receiving payment of any kind for any service provided by the | 15 |
| water or sewer public utility or the subcontractor, and to | 16 |
| establish sanctions for violations. | 17 |
| (m) Water and sewer public utilities; unaccounted-for | 18 |
| water. By December 31, 2006, each water public utility shall | 19 |
| file tariffs with the Commission to establish the maximum | 20 |
| percentage of unaccounted-for water that would be considered in | 21 |
| the determination of any rates or surcharges. The rates or | 22 |
| surcharges approved for a water public utility shall not | 23 |
| include charges for unaccounted-for water in excess of this | 24 |
| maximum percentage without well-documented support and | 25 |
| justification for the Commission to consider in any request to | 26 |
| recover charges in excess of the tariffed maximum percentage. | 27 |
| (n) Rate increases; public forums. When any public utility | 28 |
| providing water or sewer service proposes a general rate | 29 |
| increase, in addition to other notice requirements, the water | 30 |
| or sewer public utility must notify its customers of their | 31 |
| right to request a public forum. A customer or group of | 32 |
| customers must make written request to the Commission for a | 33 |
| public forum and must also provide written notification of the | 34 |
| request to the customer's municipal or, for unincorporated | 35 |
| areas, township government. The Commission, at its discretion, | 36 |
| may schedule the public forum. If it is determined that public |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 7 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| forums are required for multiple municipalities or townships, | 2 |
| the Commission shall schedule these public forums, in locations | 3 |
| within approximately 45 minutes drive time of the | 4 |
| municipalities or townships for which the public forums have | 5 |
| been scheduled. The public utility must provide advance notice | 6 |
| of 30 days for each public forum to the governing bodies of | 7 |
| those units of local government affected by the increase. The | 8 |
| day of each public forum shall be selected so as to encourage | 9 |
| the greatest public participation. Each public forum will begin | 10 |
| at 7:00 p.m. Reports and comments made during or as a result of | 11 |
| each public forum must be made available to the hearing | 12 |
| officials and reviewed when drafting a recommended or tentative | 13 |
| decision, finding or order pursuant to Section 10-111 of this | 14 |
| Act.
| 15 |
| (220 ILCS 5/9-223) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 9-223)
| 16 |
| Sec. 9-223. Fire protection charge.
| 17 |
| (a) The Commission may authorize any public utility engaged | 18 |
| in
the production, storage, transmission, sale, delivery or | 19 |
| furnishing of water
to impose a fire protection charge, in | 20 |
| addition to any rate authorized by
this Act, sufficient to | 21 |
| cover a reasonable portion of the cost of providing
the | 22 |
| capacity, facilities and the water necessary to meet the fire | 23 |
| protection
needs of any municipality or public fire protection | 24 |
| district. Such fire
protection charge shall be in the form of a | 25 |
| fixed amount per bill and shall
be shown separately on the | 26 |
| utility bill of each customer of the municipality
or fire | 27 |
| protection district. Any filing by a public utility to impose | 28 |
| such a
fire protection charge or to modify a charge shall be | 29 |
| made pursuant to Section
9-201 of this Act. Any fire protection | 30 |
| charge imposed shall reflect the
costs associated with | 31 |
| providing fire protection service for each municipality
or fire | 32 |
| protection district. No such charge shall be imposed directly | 33 |
| on
any municipality or fire protection district for a | 34 |
| reasonable level of fire
protection services unless provided | 35 |
| for in a separate agreement between the
municipality or the |
|
|
|
HB5555 Enrolled |
- 8 - |
LRB094 19388 MKM 55053 b |
|
| 1 |
| fire protection district and the utility.
| 2 |
| (b) By December 31, 2007, the Commission shall conduct at | 3 |
| least 3 public forums to evaluate the purpose and use of each | 4 |
| fire protection charge imposed under this Section. At least one | 5 |
| forum must be held in northern Illinois, at least one forum | 6 |
| must be held in central Illinois, and at least one forum must | 7 |
| be held in southern Illinois. The Commission must invite a | 8 |
| representative from each municipality and fire protection | 9 |
| district affected by a fire protection charge under this | 10 |
| Section to attend a public forum. The Commission shall report | 11 |
| its findings concerning recommendations concerning the purpose | 12 |
| and use of each fire protection charge to the General Assembly | 13 |
| no later than the last day of the veto session in 2008.
| 14 |
| (Source: P.A. 84-617.)
| 15 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 16 |
| becoming law. |
|