Full Text of HB0796 96th General Assembly
HB0796eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning energy assistance.
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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 Illinois Economic Opportunity Act is amended | 5 |
| by changing Section 2 as follows:
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| (20 ILCS 625/2) (from Ch. 127, par. 2602)
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| Sec. 2. (a) The Director of Commerce and Economic | 8 |
| Opportunity is authorized to administer the federal community | 9 |
| services
block program, emergency community services homeless | 10 |
| grant program, low-income energy assistance program, | 11 |
| weatherization assistance program, supplemental low-income | 12 |
| energy assistance fund,
and other federal programs that require | 13 |
| or give preference to community
action agencies for local | 14 |
| administration in accordance with federal laws
and regulations | 15 |
| as amended. The Director shall provide financial assistance to
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| community action agencies from community service block grant | 17 |
| funds and other
federal funds requiring or giving preference to | 18 |
| community action agencies for
local administration for the | 19 |
| programs described in Section 4. The Director of Healthcare and | 20 |
| Family Services is authorized to administer the federal | 21 |
| low-income home energy assistance program and weatherization
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| assistance program in accordance with federal laws
and | 23 |
| regulations as amended.
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| (b) Funds appropriated for use by community action agencies | 2 |
| in community
action programs shall be allocated annually to | 3 |
| existing community action
agencies or newly formed community | 4 |
| action agencies by the Department of
Commerce and Economic | 5 |
| Opportunity. Allocations will be made consistent with
duly | 6 |
| enacted departmental rules.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06.)
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| Section 10. The Energy Assistance Act is amended by | 9 |
| changing Sections 3, 4, 6, 8, and 13 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 20/3) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1403)
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| Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the | 12 |
| context
otherwise requires:
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| (a) the terms defined in Sections 3-101 through 3-121 of
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| The Public Utilities Act have the meanings ascribed to them in | 15 |
| that
Act;
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| (b) "Department" means the Department of Commerce and | 17 |
| Economic Opportunity Healthcare and Family Services ;
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| (c) "energy provider" means any utility, municipal | 19 |
| utility,
cooperative utility, or any other corporation or | 20 |
| individual which provides
winter energy services;
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| (d) "winter" means the period from November 1 of any year | 22 |
| through April
30 of the following year.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06; | 24 |
| 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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| (305 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1404)
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| Sec. 4. Energy Assistance Program.
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| (a) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 4 |
| Healthcare and Family Services is hereby authorized to | 5 |
| institute a program to
ensure
the availability and | 6 |
| affordability of heating and electric service to low
income | 7 |
| citizens. The Department shall implement the program by rule
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| promulgated pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure | 9 |
| Act.
The program shall be consistent
with the purposes and | 10 |
| objectives of this Act and with all other specific
requirements | 11 |
| provided herein. The Department may enter
into such contracts | 12 |
| and other agreements with local agencies as may be
necessary | 13 |
| for the purpose of administering the energy assistance program.
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| (b)
Nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering or | 15 |
| limiting the
authority conferred on the Illinois Commerce | 16 |
| Commission by the Public
Utilities Act to regulate all aspects | 17 |
| of the provision of public utility
service, including but not | 18 |
| limited to the authority to make rules and
adjudicate disputes | 19 |
| between utilities and customers related to eligibility
for | 20 |
| utility service, deposits, payment practices, discontinuance | 21 |
| of
service, and the treatment of arrearages owing for | 22 |
| previously rendered
utility service.
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| (c) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 24 |
| Healthcare and Family Services is authorized to institute an | 25 |
| outreach program directed at low-income minority heads of |
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| households and heads of households age 60 or older. The | 2 |
| Department shall implement the program through rules adopted | 3 |
| pursuant to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The | 4 |
| program shall be consistent with the purposes and objectives of | 5 |
| this Act and with all other specific requirements set forth in | 6 |
| this subsection (c).
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06; | 8 |
| 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-532, eff. 8-28-07.)
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| (305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)
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| Sec. 6. Eligibility, Conditions of Participation, and | 11 |
| Energy Assistance.
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| (a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois | 13 |
| and whose
household income is not greater than an amount | 14 |
| determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the | 15 |
| Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to | 16 |
| this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the | 17 |
| Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
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| Department shall consider the amount of available funding and | 19 |
| may not set a
limit higher than 150% of the federal nonfarm | 20 |
| poverty level as established by
the federal Office of | 21 |
| Management and Budget ; except that for the period ending June | 22 |
| 30, 2012, or until the expenditure of federal resources | 23 |
| allocated for energy assistance programs by the American | 24 |
| Recovery and Reinvestment Act, whichever occurs first, the | 25 |
| Department may not establish limits higher than 200% of that |
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| poverty level .
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| (b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to | 3 |
| subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation | 4 |
| from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds | 5 |
| to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by | 6 |
| this Act. The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized | 7 |
| pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds | 8 |
| for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
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| Department. In determining the amounts of assistance to be | 10 |
| provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the | 11 |
| Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance | 12 |
| go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to | 13 |
| household income. The Department shall include
factors such as | 14 |
| energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of | 15 |
| the State when determining individual household benefits. In | 16 |
| setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to | 17 |
| provide assistance to
approximately the same number of | 18 |
| households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy | 19 |
| Assistance Partnership Program. Such assistance levels
shall | 20 |
| be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and | 21 |
| energy costs. In promulgating rules for the
administration of | 22 |
| this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 | 23 |
| of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the | 24 |
| lowest incomes and that elderly and
disabled households are | 25 |
| offered a priority application
period.
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| (c) If the applicant is not a customer of an energy |
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| provider for winter
energy services or an applicant for such | 2 |
| service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy | 3 |
| assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department | 4 |
| for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
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| such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater | 6 |
| than 30% of
household income.
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| (d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, | 8 |
| such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount | 9 |
| established by the
Department for all such applicants under | 10 |
| this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the | 11 |
| energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such | 12 |
| applicant. Such applicant shall:
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| (i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other | 14 |
| appropriate
source of public energy assistance; and
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| (ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to receive | 16 |
| income
information from any public or private agency | 17 |
| providing income or energy
assistance and from any | 18 |
| employer, whether public or private.
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| (e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may | 20 |
| receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency | 21 |
| assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to | 22 |
| winter energy services. Any such
payments shall be made in | 23 |
| accordance with regulations of the Department.
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| (f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, | 25 |
| provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:
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| (i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to |
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| energy providers;
and
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| (ii) to assist the household in responding to | 3 |
| excessively high summer
temperatures or energy costs. | 4 |
| Households containing elderly members, children,
a person | 5 |
| with a disability, or a person with a medical need for | 6 |
| conditioned air
shall receive priority for receipt of such | 7 |
| benefits.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-936, eff. 1-10-01; 92-690, eff. 7-18-02.)
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| (305 ILCS 20/8) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1408)
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| Sec. 8. Program Reports.
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| (a) The Department of Natural Resources shall prepare and
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| submit to the Governor and the General Assembly reports on | 13 |
| September 30
biennially, beginning in 2003,
evaluating the | 14 |
| effectiveness of the energy
assistance and weatherization | 15 |
| policies authorized by this Act. The first
report shall cover | 16 |
| such effects during the first winter during which the
program | 17 |
| authorized by this Act, is in operation, and successive reports
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| shall cover effects since the issuance of the preceding report.
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| (1) Reports issued pursuant to this Section shall be | 20 |
| limited to,
information concerning the effects of the | 21 |
| policies authorized by this Act
on (1) the ability of | 22 |
| eligible applicants to obtain and maintain adequate
and | 23 |
| affordable winter energy services and (2) changes in the | 24 |
| costs and
prices of winter energy services for people who | 25 |
| do not receive energy
assistance pursuant to this Act.
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| (2) The Department of Natural Resources shall by | 2 |
| September
30, 2002, in consultation with the Policy | 3 |
| Advisory Council, determine the
kinds of numerical and | 4 |
| other information needed to conduct the evaluations
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| required by this Section, and shall advise the Policy | 6 |
| Advisory
Council of such information needs in a timely | 7 |
| manner.
The Department of Commerce and Economic | 8 |
| Opportunity Healthcare and Family Services , the
Department | 9 |
| of Human Services, and the Illinois Commerce
Commission | 10 |
| shall each
provide such information as the Department of | 11 |
| Natural Resources
may require to ensure that the evaluation | 12 |
| reporting requirement established
by this Section can be | 13 |
| met.
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| (b) On or before December 31, 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2007, | 15 |
| the Department
shall prepare a report for the General Assembly | 16 |
| on the expenditure of funds
appropriated for the programs | 17 |
| authorized under this Act.
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| (c) On or before December 31 of each year in 2004, 2006, | 19 |
| and 2007, the
Department shall, in consultation with the | 20 |
| Council, prepare and submit
evaluation reports to the Governor | 21 |
| and the General Assembly outlining the
effects of the program | 22 |
| designed under this Act on the following as it relates
to the | 23 |
| propriety of continuing the program:
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| (1) the definition of an eligible low income | 25 |
| residential
customer;
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| (2) access of low income residential customers to |
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| essential
energy services;
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| (3) past due amounts owed to utilities by low income | 3 |
| persons in
Illinois;
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| (4) appropriate measures to encourage energy | 5 |
| conservation,
efficiency, and responsibility among low | 6 |
| income residential customers;
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| (5) the activities of the Department in the development | 8 |
| and
implementation of energy assistance and related | 9 |
| policies and programs,
which characterizes progress toward | 10 |
| meeting the objectives and
requirements of this Act, and | 11 |
| which recommends any statutory
changes which might be | 12 |
| needed to further such progress.
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| (d) The Department shall by September 30, 2002 in | 14 |
| consultation with the
Council determine the kinds of numerical | 15 |
| and other information needed to
conduct the evaluations | 16 |
| required by this Section.
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| (e) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall require each | 18 |
| public utility
providing heating or electric service to compile | 19 |
| and submit any numerical
and other information needed by the | 20 |
| Department of Natural
Resources to meet its reporting | 21 |
| obligations.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06; | 23 |
| 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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| (305 ILCS 20/13)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2013) |
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| Sec. 13. Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
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| (a) The Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance
Fund is | 3 |
| hereby created as a special fund in the State
Treasury. The | 4 |
| Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
is authorized | 5 |
| to receive moneys from voluntary donations from individuals, | 6 |
| foundations, corporations, and other sources, moneys received | 7 |
| pursuant to Section 17, and, by statutory deposit, the moneys
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| collected pursuant to this Section. The Fund is also authorized | 9 |
| to receive voluntary donations from individuals, foundations, | 10 |
| corporations, and other sources, as well as contributions made | 11 |
| in accordance with Section 507MM of the Illinois Income Tax | 12 |
| Act. Subject to appropriation,
the Department shall use
moneys | 13 |
| from the Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund
for | 14 |
| payments to electric or gas public utilities,
municipal | 15 |
| electric or gas utilities, and electric cooperatives
on behalf | 16 |
| of their customers who are participants in the
program | 17 |
| authorized by Section 4 of this Act, for the provision of
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| weatherization services and for
administration of the | 19 |
| Supplemental Low-Income Energy
Assistance Fund. The yearly | 20 |
| expenditures for weatherization may not exceed 10%
of the | 21 |
| amount collected during the year pursuant to this Section. The | 22 |
| yearly administrative expenses of the
Supplemental Low-Income | 23 |
| Energy Assistance Fund may not exceed
10% of the amount | 24 |
| collected during that year
pursuant to this Section.
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| (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111
of the | 26 |
| Public Utilities Act but subject to subsection (k) of this |
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| Section,
each public utility, electric
cooperative, as defined | 2 |
| in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act,
and municipal | 3 |
| utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities
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| Act, that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
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| distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois
shall, | 6 |
| effective January 1, 1998,
assess each of
its customer accounts | 7 |
| a monthly Energy Assistance Charge for
the Supplemental | 8 |
| Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund.
The delivering public | 9 |
| utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric
or gas
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| cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to | 11 |
| the collection of
the
fee imposed by this Section.
The
monthly | 12 |
| charge shall be as follows:
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| (1) $0.40 per month on each account for
residential | 14 |
| electric service;
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| (2) $0.40 per month on each account for
residential gas | 16 |
| service;
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| (3) $4 per month on each account for non-residential | 18 |
| electric service
which had less than 10 megawatts
of peak | 19 |
| demand during the previous calendar year;
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| (4) $4 per month on each account for non-residential | 21 |
| gas service which
had distributed to it less than
4,000,000 | 22 |
| therms of gas during the previous calendar year;
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| (5) $300 per month on each account for non-residential | 24 |
| electric service
which had 10 megawatts or greater
of peak | 25 |
| demand during the previous calendar year; and
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| (6) $300 per month on each account for non-residential |
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| gas service
which had 4,000,000 or more therms of
gas | 2 |
| distributed to it during the previous calendar year.
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| (c) For purposes of this Section:
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| (1) "residential electric service" means
electric | 5 |
| utility service for household purposes delivered to a
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| dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is billed under a
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| residential rate, or electric utility service for | 8 |
| household
purposes delivered to a dwelling unit or units | 9 |
| which is billed
under a residential rate and is registered | 10 |
| by a separate meter
for each dwelling unit;
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| (2) "residential gas service" means gas utility
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| service for household purposes distributed to a dwelling of
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| 2 or fewer units which is billed under a residential rate,
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| or gas utility service for household purposes distributed | 15 |
| to a
dwelling unit or units which is billed under a | 16 |
| residential
rate and is registered by a separate meter for | 17 |
| each dwelling
unit;
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| (3) "non-residential electric service" means
electric | 19 |
| utility service which is not residential electric
service; | 20 |
| and
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| (4) "non-residential gas service" means gas
utility | 22 |
| service which is not residential gas service.
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| (d) At least 45 days prior to the date on which it
must | 24 |
| begin assessing Energy Assistance Charges, each public
utility | 25 |
| engaged in the delivery of electricity or the
distribution of | 26 |
| natural gas shall file with the Illinois
Commerce Commission |
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| tariffs incorporating the Energy
Assistance Charge in other | 2 |
| charges stated in such tariffs.
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| (e) The Energy Assistance Charge assessed by
electric and | 4 |
| gas public utilities shall be considered a charge
for public | 5 |
| utility service.
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| (f) By the 20th day of the month following the month in | 7 |
| which the charges
imposed by the Section were collected, each | 8 |
| public
utility,
municipal utility, and electric cooperative | 9 |
| shall remit to the
Department of Revenue all moneys received as | 10 |
| payment of the
Energy Assistance Charge on a return prescribed | 11 |
| and furnished by the
Department of Revenue showing such | 12 |
| information as the Department of Revenue may
reasonably | 13 |
| require. If a customer makes a partial payment, a public
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| utility, municipal
utility, or electric cooperative may elect | 15 |
| either: (i) to apply
such partial payments first to amounts | 16 |
| owed to the
utility or cooperative for its services and then to | 17 |
| payment
for the Energy Assistance Charge or (ii) to apply such | 18 |
| partial payments
on a pro-rata basis between amounts owed to | 19 |
| the
utility or cooperative for its services and to payment for | 20 |
| the
Energy Assistance Charge.
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| (g) The Department of Revenue shall deposit into the
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| Supplemental Low-Income Energy Assistance Fund all moneys
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| remitted to it in accordance with subsection (f) of this
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| Section.
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| (h) (Blank).
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| On or before December 31, 2002, the Department shall
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| prepare a report for the General Assembly on the expenditure of | 2 |
| funds
appropriated from the Low-Income Energy Assistance Block | 3 |
| Grant Fund for the
program authorized under Section 4 of this | 4 |
| Act.
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| (i) The Department of Revenue may establish such
rules as | 6 |
| it deems necessary to implement this Section.
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| (j) The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 8 |
| Healthcare and Family Services
may establish such rules as it | 9 |
| deems necessary to implement
this Section.
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| (k) The charges imposed by this Section shall only apply to | 11 |
| customers of
municipal electric or gas utilities and electric | 12 |
| or gas cooperatives if
the municipal
electric or gas
utility or | 13 |
| electric or gas cooperative makes an affirmative decision to
| 14 |
| impose the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or an | 15 |
| electric
cooperative makes an affirmative decision to impose | 16 |
| the charge provided by
this
Section, the municipal electric or | 17 |
| gas utility or electric cooperative shall
inform the
Department | 18 |
| of Revenue in writing of such decision when it begins to impose | 19 |
| the
charge. If a municipal electric or gas utility or electric | 20 |
| or gas
cooperative does not
assess
this charge, the Department | 21 |
| may not use funds from the Supplemental Low-Income
Energy | 22 |
| Assistance Fund to provide benefits to its customers under the | 23 |
| program
authorized by Section 4 of this Act.
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| In its use of federal funds under this Act, the Department | 25 |
| may not cause a
disproportionate share of those federal funds | 26 |
| to benefit customers of systems
which do not assess the charge |
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| provided by this Section.
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| This Section is repealed effective December 31, 2013
unless
| 3 |
| renewed by action of the General Assembly. The General Assembly | 4 |
| shall
consider the results of the evaluations described in | 5 |
| Section 8 in its
deliberations.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 94-793, eff. 5-19-06; | 7 |
| 94-817, eff. 5-30-06; 95-48, eff. 8-10-07; 95-331, eff. | 8 |
| 8-21-07.)
| 9 |
| Section 15. The Good Samaritan Energy Plan Act is amended | 10 |
| by changing Section 5 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 22/5)
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| Sec. 5. Definitions. In this Act:
| 13 |
| "Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic | 14 |
| Opportunity Healthcare and Family Services .
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| "LIHEAP" means the energy assistance program established | 16 |
| under the Energy
Assistance Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-773, eff. 5-18-06; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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