Full Text of HB5257 95th General Assembly
HB5257ham003 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
Rep. Mike Fortner
Filed: 5/15/2008
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
|
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5257
| 2 |
| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5257 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 |
| "Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by | 5 |
| adding Section 1-92 as follows: | 6 |
| (20 ILCS 3855/1-92 new) | 7 |
| Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of electrical load by | 8 |
| municipalities and counties. | 9 |
| (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality or county | 10 |
| board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under which it may | 11 |
| aggregate in accordance with this
Section residential and small | 12 |
| commercial retail electrical loads located, respectively, | 13 |
| within the
municipality or the unincorporated areas of the | 14 |
| county and, for that purpose, may solicit bids and enter into | 15 |
| service
agreements to facilitate
for those
loads the sale and | 16 |
| purchase of electricity and related services and equipment. |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 2 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| The corporate authorities or county
board may also exercise | 2 |
| such authority jointly with any other municipality or county.
| 3 |
| Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of | 4 |
| both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation | 5 |
| by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as | 6 |
| required by this Section. | 7 |
| If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to | 8 |
| operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program for | 9 |
| residential and small commercial retail customers, then prior | 10 |
| to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to aggregation of | 11 |
| residential and small commercial retail electric loads, the | 12 |
| corporate authorities of a municipality or the county board of | 13 |
| a county shall submit a referendum to its residents to | 14 |
| determine whether or not the aggregation program shall operate | 15 |
| as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial | 16 |
| retail customers. | 17 |
| In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | 18 |
| general election law, notice of the referendum shall state | 19 |
| briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | 20 |
| the corporate authorities or the county board shall adopt an | 21 |
| opt-out aggregation program for residential and small | 22 |
| commercial retail customers shall be submitted to the electors | 23 |
| of the municipality or county board at a regular election and | 24 |
| approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. | 25 |
| The corporate authorities or county board must certify to the | 26 |
| proper election authority, which must submit the question at an |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 3 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| election in accordance with the Election Code. | 2 |
| The election authority must submit the question in | 3 |
| substantially the following form: | 4 |
| Shall the (municipality or county in which the question | 5 |
| is being voted upon) have the authority to arrange for the | 6 |
| supply of electricity for its residential and small | 7 |
| commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such | 8 |
| program? | 9 |
| The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | 10 |
| If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | 11 |
| in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities or county | 12 |
| board may implement an opt-out aggregation program for | 13 |
| residential and small commercial retail customers. | 14 |
| A referendum must pass in each particular municipality or | 15 |
| county that is engaged in the aggregation program. If the | 16 |
| referendum fails, then the corporate authorities or county | 17 |
| board shall operate the aggregation program as an opt-in | 18 |
| program for residential and small commercial retail customers. | 19 |
| An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the | 20 |
| aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each | 21 |
| person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric | 22 |
| load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
| 23 |
| however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are | 24 |
| served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as | 25 |
| defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads | 26 |
| served by a municipality that owns and operates its own |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 4 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect | 2 |
| unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate | 3 |
| authority or county board voting upon the ordinance.
| 4 |
| A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | 5 |
| public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier.
| 6 |
| (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | 7 |
| Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board, with | 8 |
| assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, shall develop a plan | 9 |
| of operation and
governance for the
aggregation program so | 10 |
| authorized. Before adopting a plan under this Section,
the
| 11 |
| corporate authorities or county board shall hold at least 2 | 12 |
| public hearings on
the plan.
Before the first hearing, the | 13 |
| corporate authorities or county board shall
publish notice of
| 14 |
| the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper | 15 |
| of general
circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall | 16 |
| summarize the plan and state the date,
time, and
location of | 17 |
| each hearing.
Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to | 18 |
| this Section shall: | 19 |
| (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | 20 |
| residential customers and equitable treatment of | 21 |
| applicable
residential customers; | 22 |
| (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | 23 |
| services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and | 24 |
| (3) meet any requirements established by law
| 25 |
| concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this | 26 |
| Section. |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 5 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and | 2 |
| other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the | 3 |
| purchase of electricity and other related services shall be | 4 |
| conducted in the following order: | 5 |
| (1) The corporate authorities or county board may | 6 |
| solicit bids for electricity and other related services. | 7 |
| (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public | 8 |
| Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | 9 |
| Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that | 10 |
| provides residential and small commercial retail electric | 11 |
| service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the | 12 |
| corporate authorities or the county board in the aggregate | 13 |
| area, submit to the requesting party, in an electronic | 14 |
| format, those names and addresses of residential and small | 15 |
| commercial retail customers in the aggregate area that are | 16 |
| reflected in the electric utility's records at the time of | 17 |
| the request. Any corporate authority or county board | 18 |
| receiving customer information from an electric utility | 19 |
| shall be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of | 20 |
| the information described in Section 16-122 of the Public | 21 |
| Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | 22 |
| Deceptive Business Practices Act, and an electric utility | 23 |
| shall not be held liable for any claims arising out of the | 24 |
| provision of information pursuant to this item (2). | 25 |
| (d) If the corporate authorities or county board operate | 26 |
| under an opt-in program for residential and small commercial |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 6 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| retail customers, then the corporate authorities or county | 2 |
| board shall comply with all of the following: | 3 |
| (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | 4 |
| corporate authorities or county board shall allow | 5 |
| residential and small commercial retail customers to | 6 |
| commit to the terms and conditions of a bid that has been | 7 |
| selected by the corporate authorities or county board. | 8 |
| (2) If (A) the corporate authorities or county board | 9 |
| award proposed agreements for the purchase of electricity | 10 |
| and other related services and (B) an agreement is reached | 11 |
| between the corporate authorities or county board for those | 12 |
| services, then customers committed to the terms and | 13 |
| conditions according to item (1) of this subsection (d) | 14 |
| shall be committed to the agreement. | 15 |
| (e) If the corporate authorities or county board operate as | 16 |
| an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail | 17 |
| customers, then it shall be the duty of the aggregated entity | 18 |
| to fully inform
residential and small commercial retail | 19 |
| customers in advance that they have the right to opt out of the | 20 |
| aggregation program.
The disclosure shall prominently state | 21 |
| all charges to be made and
shall include
full disclosure of the | 22 |
| cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103 of the Public | 23 |
| Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the fact that it is | 24 |
| available to them without penalty, if they are
currently | 25 |
| receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois Power Agency | 26 |
| shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
list of all |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 7 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| supply options available to them in a format that
allows
| 2 |
| comparison of prices and products. | 3 |
| The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to | 4 |
| municipalities, counties, or associations working with | 5 |
| municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding process. | 6 |
| This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties | 7 |
| from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate | 8 |
| residential and small commercial retail electric loads. | 9 |
| (f) Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that | 10 |
| may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head | 11 |
| under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to | 12 |
| make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions | 13 |
| of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, | 14 |
| however, the Governor believes that rules are necessary to | 15 |
| implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of | 16 |
| the 95th General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to | 17 |
| the General Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House | 18 |
| and the Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the | 19 |
| General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those | 20 |
| suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action | 21 |
| in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this | 22 |
| amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be | 23 |
| interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other | 24 |
| Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise | 25 |
| explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of | 26 |
| the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning |
|
|
|
09500HB5257ham003 |
- 8 - |
LRB095 19168 MJR 50984 a |
|
| 1 |
| contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative | 2 |
| Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the | 3 |
| meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois | 4 |
| Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such | 5 |
| definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the | 6 |
| jurisdiction of the Governor. | 7 |
| (220 ILCS 5/17-800 rep.)
| 8 |
| Section 10. The Public Utilities Act is amended by | 9 |
| repealing Section 17-800.".
|
|