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HB5576 Engrossed |
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| AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing |
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| Section 16-125 as follows:
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| (220 ILCS 5/16-125)
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| Sec. 16-125. Transmission and distribution reliability
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| requirements.
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| (a) To assure the reliable delivery of electricity to all
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| customers in this State and the effective implementation of
the |
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| provisions of this Article, the Commission shall, within
180 |
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| days of the effective date of this Article, adopt rules
and |
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| regulations for assessing and assuring the reliability of
the |
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| transmission and distribution systems and facilities that
are |
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| under the Commission's jurisdiction.
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| (b) These rules and regulations shall require each electric |
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| utility or
alternative retail electric supplier owning, |
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| controlling, or operating
transmission and distribution |
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| facilities and equipment subject to the
Commission's |
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| jurisdiction, referred to in this Section as "jurisdictional
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| entities", to adopt and implement procedures for restoring |
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| transmission and
distribution services to customers after |
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| transmission or distribution outages
on a nondiscriminatory |
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LRB095 17514 MJR 43588 b |
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| basis without regard to whether a customer has chosen
the |
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| electric utility, an affiliate of the electric utility, or |
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| another entity
as its provider of electric power and energy. |
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| These rules and regulations
shall also, at a minimum, |
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| specifically require each jurisdictional entity to
submit |
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| annually to the Commission.
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| (1) the number and duration of planned and
unplanned |
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| outages during the prior year and their impacts
on |
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| customers;
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| (2) outages that were controllable and outages that
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| were exacerbated in scope or duration by the condition of
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| facilities, equipment or premises or by the actions or
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| inactions of operating personnel or agents;
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| (3) customer service interruptions that were due
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| solely to the actions or inactions of an alternative
retail |
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| electric supplier or a public utility in supplying
power or |
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| energy;
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| (4) a detailed report of the age, current
condition, |
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| reliability and performance of the
jurisdictional entity's |
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| existing transmission and
distribution facilities, which |
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| shall include, without
limitation, the following data:
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| (i) a summary of the jurisdictional entity's
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| outages and voltage variances reportable under the
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| Commission's rules;
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| (ii) the jurisdictional entity's expenditures
for |
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| transmission construction and maintenance, the
ratio |
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LRB095 17514 MJR 43588 b |
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| of those expenditures to the jurisdictional
entity's |
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| transmission investment, and the average
remaining |
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| depreciation lives of the entity's
transmission |
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| facilities, expressed as a percentage
of total |
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| depreciation lives;
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| (iii) the jurisdictional entity's expenditures
for |
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| distribution construction and maintenance, the
ratio |
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| of those expenditures to the jurisdictional
entity's |
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| distribution investment, and the average
remaining |
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| depreciation lives of the entity's
distribution |
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| facilities, expressed as a percentage
of total |
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| depreciation lives;
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| (iv) a customer satisfaction survey covering,
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| among other areas identified in Commission rules,
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| reliability, customer service, and understandability
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| of the jurisdictional entity's services and prices;
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| and
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| (v) the corresponding information, in the same
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| format, for the previous 3 years, if available;
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| (5) a plan for future investment and reliability
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| improvements for the jurisdictional entity's transmission
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| and distribution facilities that will ensure continued
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| reliable delivery of energy to customers and provide the
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| delivery reliability needed for fair and open competition; |
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| and
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| (6) a report of the jurisdictional entity's
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| implementation of its plan filed pursuant to subparagraph |
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| (5)
for the previous reporting period.
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| (c) The Commission rules shall set forth the criteria
that |
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| will be used to assess each jurisdictional entity's annual |
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| report and
evaluate its reliability performance. Such criteria
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| must take into account, at a minimum: the items required to be
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| reported in subsection (b); the relevant characteristics of
the |
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| area served; the age and condition of the system's
equipment |
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| and facilities; good engineering practices; the
costs of |
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| potential actions; and the benefits of avoiding the
risks of |
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| service disruption.
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| (d) At least every 3 years, beginning in the year
the |
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| Commission issues the rules required by subsection
(a) or the |
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| following year if the rules are issued after June
1, the |
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| Commission shall assess the annual report of each
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| jurisdictional entity and evaluate its reliability |
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| performance. The
Commission's evaluation shall
include |
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| specific identification of, and recommendations
concerning, |
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| any potential reliability problems that it has
identified as a |
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| result of its evaluation.
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| (e) In the event that more than either (i) 30,000 of the |
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| total customers or (ii) 0.8% of the total customers , whichever |
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| is less, of an electric
utility are subjected to a continuous |
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| power interruption of
4 hours or more that results in the |
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| transmission of power
at less than 50% of the standard voltage, |
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| or that results in
the total loss of power transmission, the |
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| utility shall be
responsible for compensating customers |
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| affected by that interruption for 4
hours or more for all
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| actual damages, which shall not include consequential
damages, |
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| suffered as a result of the power interruption.
The utility |
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| shall also reimburse the affected municipality,
county, or |
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| other unit of local government in which the power
interruption |
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| has taken place for all
emergency and contingency expenses |
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| incurred by the unit of
local government as a result of the |
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| interruption. A waiver
of the requirements of this subsection |
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| may be granted by the
Commission in instances in which the |
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| utility can show that
the power interruption was a result of |
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| any
one or more of the following causes:
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| (1) Unpreventable damage due to weather events or
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| conditions.
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| (2) Customer tampering.
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| (3) Unpreventable damage due to civil or
international |
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| unrest or animals.
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| (4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a |
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| party other
than the utility, its employees, agents, or
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| contractors.
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| Loss of revenue and expenses incurred in complying with this
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| subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers.
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| (f) In the event of a power surge or other fluctuation
that |
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| causes damage and affects more than either (i) 30,000 of the |
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| total customers or (ii) 0.8% of the total customers, whichever |
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| is less, the electric utility
shall pay to
affected customers |
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| the replacement value of all goods
damaged as a result of the |
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| power surge or other fluctuation
unless the utility can show |
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| that the power surge or other
fluctuation was due to one or |
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| more of the following causes:
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| (1) Unpreventable damage due to weather events or
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| conditions.
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| (2) Customer tampering.
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| (3) Unpreventable damage due to civil or
international |
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| unrest or animals.
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| (4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a |
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| party other
than the utility, its employees, agents, or
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| contractors.
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| Loss of revenue and expenses incurred in complying with this
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| subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers. Customers with |
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| respect to
whom a waiver has been granted by the Commission |
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| pursuant to subparagraphs
(1)-(4) of subsections (e) and (f) |
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| shall not count toward the either (i) 30,000 of the total |
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| customers or (ii) 0.8% of the total customers
required therein.
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| (g) Whenever an electric utility must perform
planned or |
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| routine maintenance or repairs on its equipment
that will |
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| result in transmission of power at less than 50%
of the |
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| standard voltage, loss of power, or power fluctuation
(as |
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| defined in subsection (f)), the utility shall make
reasonable |
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| efforts to notify potentially affected customers
no less than |
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| 24 hours in advance of performance of the
repairs or |
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| maintenance.
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LRB095 17514 MJR 43588 b |
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| (h) Remedies provided for under this Section may be
sought |
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| exclusively through the Illinois Commerce Commission
as |
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| provided under Section 10-109 of this Act. Damages
awarded |
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| under this Section for a power interruption shall be
limited to |
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| actual damages, which shall not include
consequential damages, |
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| and litigation costs. A utility's request for a waiver of this |
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| Section shall be timely if filed no later than 30 days after |
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| the date on which a claim is filed with the Commission seeking |
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| damages or expense reimbursement under this Section. No utility |
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| shall be liable under this Section while a request for waiver |
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| is pending. Damage awards
may not be paid out of utility rate |
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| funds.
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| (i) The provisions of this Section shall not in any way
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| diminish or replace other civil or administrative remedies
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| available to a customer or a class of customers.
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| (j) The Commission shall by rule require an electric
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| utility to maintain service records detailing
information on |
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| each instance of transmission of power at
less than 50% of the |
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| standard voltage, loss of power, or
power fluctuation (as |
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| defined in subsection (f)), that
affects 10 or more customers. |
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| Occurrences that are
momentary shall not be required to be |
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| recorded or reported.
The service record shall include, for |
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| each occurrence, the
following information:
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| (1) The date.
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| (2) The time of occurrence.
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| (3) The duration of the incident.
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| (4) The number of customers affected.
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| (5) A description of the cause.
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| (6) The geographic area affected.
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| (7) The specific equipment involved in the
fluctuation |
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| or interruption.
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| (8) A description of measures taken to restore
service.
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| (9) A description of measures taken to remedy the
cause |
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| of the power interruption or fluctuation.
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| (10) A description of measures taken to prevent
future |
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| occurrence.
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| (11) The amount of remuneration, if any, paid to
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| affected customers.
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| (12) A statement of whether the fixed charge was
waived |
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| for affected customers.
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| Copies of the records containing this information shall
be |
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| available for public inspection at the utility's offices,
and |
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| copies thereof may be obtained upon payment of a fee not
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| exceeding the reasonable cost of reproduction. A copy of
each |
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| record shall be filed with the Commission and shall be
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| available for public inspection. Copies of the records may
be |
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| obtained upon payment of a fee not exceeding the
reasonable |
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| cost of reproduction.
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| (k) The requirements of subsections (e) through (j) of
this |
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| Section shall apply only to an electric public utility
having |
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| 100,000 1,000,000 or more customers. |
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| (l) Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that |
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| may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head |
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| under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to |
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| make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions |
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| of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, |
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| however, the Governor believes that rules are necessary to |
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| implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of |
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| the 95th General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to |
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| the General Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House |
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| and the Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the |
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| General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those |
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| suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action |
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| in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this |
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| amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be |
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| interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other |
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| Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise |
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| explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of |
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| the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning |
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| contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative |
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| Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the |
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| meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois |
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| Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such |
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| definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the |
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| jurisdiction of the Governor.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
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| becoming law.
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