Full Text of HB6208 96th General Assembly
HB6208ham002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Public Utilities Committee
Filed: 3/9/2010
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| AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 6208
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 6208, AS AMENDED, by | 3 |
| replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
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| "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 6 |
| Section 16-115C as follows: | 7 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-115C) | 8 |
| Sec. 16-115C. Licensure of agents, brokers, and | 9 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 10 |
| electricity supply for third parties. | 11 |
| (a) The purpose of this Section is to adopt licensing and | 12 |
| code of conduct rules in a competitive retail electricity | 13 |
| market to protect Illinois consumers from unfair or deceptive | 14 |
| acts or practices and to provide persons acting as agents, | 15 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 16 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties with notice of the |
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| illegality of those acts or practices. | 2 |
| (a-5) All third-party sales representatives engaged in the | 3 |
| marketing of retail electricity supply must, prior to the | 4 |
| customer signing a contract, disclose that they are not | 5 |
| employed by the electric utility operating in the applicable | 6 |
| service territory. | 7 |
| (b) For purposes of this Section, "agents, brokers, and | 8 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 9 |
| electricity supply for third parties" means any person or | 10 |
| entity that attempts to procure on behalf of or sell retail | 11 |
| electric service to an electric customer in the State. "Agents, | 12 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 13 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties" does not include | 14 |
| the Illinois Power Agency or any of its employees, any entity | 15 |
| licensed as an alternative retail electric supplier pursuant to | 16 |
| 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451 offering retail electric service on its | 17 |
| own behalf, any person acting exclusively on behalf of a single | 18 |
| alternative retail electric supplier on condition that | 19 |
| exclusivity is disclosed to any third party contracted in such | 20 |
| agent capacity, any person or entity representing a municipal | 21 |
| power agency, as defined in Section 11-119.1-3 of the Illinois | 22 |
| Municipal Code, or any person or entity that is attempting to | 23 |
| procure on behalf of or sell retail electric service to a third | 24 |
| party that has aggregate billing demand of all of its | 25 |
| affiliated electric service accounts in Illinois of greater | 26 |
| than 1,500 kW. |
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| (c) No person or entity shall act as an agent, broker, or | 2 |
| consultant engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 3 |
| electricity supply for third parties unless that person or | 4 |
| entity is licensed by the Commission under this Section or is | 5 |
| offering services on their own behalf under 83 Ill. Adm. Code | 6 |
| 451. | 7 |
| (d) The Commission shall create requirements for licensure | 8 |
| as an agent, broker, or consultant engaged in the procurement | 9 |
| or sale of retail electricity supply for third parties, which | 10 |
| shall include all of the following criteria: | 11 |
| (1) Technical competence. | 12 |
| (2) Managerial competence. | 13 |
| (3) Financial responsibility, including the posting of | 14 |
| an appropriate performance bond. | 15 |
| (4) Annual reporting requirements. | 16 |
| (e) Any person or entity required to be licensed under this | 17 |
| Section must: | 18 |
| (1) disclose in plain language in writing to all | 19 |
| persons it solicits the price per kilowatt-hour, inclusive | 20 |
| of all fees received by the licensee, to be paid by the | 21 |
| customer total anticipated remuneration to be paid to it by | 22 |
| any third party over the period of the proposed underlying | 23 |
| customer contract; | 24 |
| (2) disclose, if applicable, to all customers, prior to | 25 |
| the customer signing a contract, the fact that they will be | 26 |
| receiving compensation from the supplier; |
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| (3) (2) not hold itself out as independent or | 2 |
| unaffiliated with any supplier, or both, or use words | 3 |
| reasonably calculated to give that impression, unless the | 4 |
| person offering service under this Section has no | 5 |
| contractual relationship with any retail electricity | 6 |
| supplier or its affiliates regarding retail electric | 7 |
| service in Illinois; | 8 |
| (4) (3) not utilize false, misleading, materially | 9 |
| inaccurate, defamatory, or otherwise deceptive language or | 10 |
| materials in the soliciting or providing of its services; | 11 |
| (5) (4) maintain copies of all marketing materials | 12 |
| disseminated to third parties for a period of not less than | 13 |
| 3 years; | 14 |
| (6) (5) not present electricity pricing information in | 15 |
| a manner that favors one supplier over another, unless a | 16 |
| valid pricing comparison is made utilizing all relevant | 17 |
| costs and terms; and | 18 |
| (7) (6) comply with the requirements of Sections 2EE, | 19 |
| 2FF, 2GG, and 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 20 |
| Business Practices Act. | 21 |
| (f) Any person or entity licensed under this Section shall | 22 |
| file with the Commission all of the following information no | 23 |
| later than March of each year: | 24 |
| (1) A verified report detailing any and all contractual | 25 |
| relationships that it has with certified electricity | 26 |
| suppliers in the State regarding retail electric service in |
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| Illinois. | 2 |
| (2) A verified report detailing the distribution of its | 3 |
| customers with the various certified electricity suppliers | 4 |
| in Illinois during the prior calendar year. A report under | 5 |
| this Section shall not be required to contain | 6 |
| customer-identifying information. | 7 |
| (3) A copy of its verified financial statement. | 8 |
| (3) (4) A verified statement of any changes to the | 9 |
| original licensure qualifications and notice of continuing | 10 |
| compliance with all requirements. | 11 |
| (g) The Commission shall have jurisdiction over | 12 |
| disciplinary proceedings and complaints for violations of this | 13 |
| Section. The findings of a violation of this Section by the | 14 |
| Commission shall result in a progressive disciplinary scale. | 15 |
| For a first violation, the Commission may, in its discretion, | 16 |
| shall suspend the license of the person so disciplined for a | 17 |
| period of no less than one month. For a second violation within | 18 |
| a 5-year period, the Commission shall suspend the license for | 19 |
| the person so disciplined for a period of not less than 6 | 20 |
| months. For a third or subsequent violation within a 5-year | 21 |
| period, the Commission shall suspend the license of the | 22 |
| disciplined person for a period of not less than 2 years. | 23 |
| (h) This Section shall not apply to a retail customer that | 24 |
| operates or manages either directly or indirectly any | 25 |
| facilities, equipment, or property used or contemplated to be | 26 |
| used to distribute electric power or energy if that retail |
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| customer is a political subdivision or public institution of | 2 |
| higher education of this State, or any corporation, company, | 3 |
| limited liability company, association, joint-stock company or | 4 |
| association, firm, partnership, or individual, or their | 5 |
| lessees, trusts, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever | 6 |
| that are owned or controlled by the political subdivision, | 7 |
| public institution of higher education, or operated by any of | 8 |
| its lessees or operating agents. | 9 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-679, eff. 10-11-07.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 |
| becoming law.".
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