Full Text of SB1603 96th General Assembly
SB1603sam002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford
Filed: 3/24/2009
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1603
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1603, AS AMENDED, | 3 |
| by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 |
| following:
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| "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | 6 |
| Sections 16-111.7, 16-111.9, 19-140, and 19-150 and by changing | 7 |
| the heading of Article XIX and Section 19-100 as follows: | 8 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-111.7 new) | 9 |
| Sec. 16-111.7. Financial assistance; payment plans. | 10 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, an | 11 |
| electric utility may offer programs that are approved by the | 12 |
| Commission specifically designed to provide bill payment | 13 |
| assistance to low-income customers; provided, however, that | 14 |
| each electric utility shall implement a plan as described in | 15 |
| subsection (b) of this Section. The plans may be designed in a | 16 |
| number of ways, including, but not limited to, flat grants, |
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| forgiveness of past due amounts in exchange for regular | 2 |
| payments, percentage of income payments, energy efficiency and | 3 |
| demand-response measures, and education. After receiving a | 4 |
| request from an electric utility for the approval of a proposed | 5 |
| plan pursuant to this Section, the Commission shall render its | 6 |
| decision within 120 days. If no decision is rendered within 120 | 7 |
| days, then the request shall be deemed to be approved. | 8 |
| (b) Each Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIP Plan) shall | 9 |
| contain all of the following components: | 10 |
| (1) The electric utility shall coordinate with the | 11 |
| Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 12 |
| (Department) to identify eligible participants, which | 13 |
| shall be based on the same criteria established by the | 14 |
| Department to determine eligibility for the Illinois Low | 15 |
| Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) pursuant to | 16 |
| the Energy Assistance Act, provided that eligible income | 17 |
| shall be no less than 125% of the poverty level and, | 18 |
| subject to availability of funds, reasonable efforts shall | 19 |
| be made to include a minimum income of no less than 150% of | 20 |
| the poverty level. | 21 |
| (2) The Department shall establish the percentage of | 22 |
| income formula that will be applied to PIP Plan | 23 |
| participants' electric utility bills to determine the | 24 |
| portion of the bill that is the responsibility of the | 25 |
| participant provided that, and consistent with Section | 26 |
| 19-140 of this Act, the percentage shall be a total of no |
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| less than 6% and no more than 10% of the relevant income | 2 |
| for gas and electric utility bills combined, which amount | 3 |
| shall be allocated 60% to the utility, gas or electric, | 4 |
| that provides the participant's primary energy supply for | 5 |
| heating and 40% to the other utility. | 6 |
| (3) The Department shall remit to the electric utility | 7 |
| that portion of the PIP Plan participant's bill that is not | 8 |
| the responsibility of the participant; in the event that | 9 |
| the Department fails to remit payment to the electric | 10 |
| utility as required by this Section, the utility shall be | 11 |
| entitled to recover all costs related to nonpayment through | 12 |
| the automatic adjustment clause tariff established | 13 |
| pursuant to Section 16-111.9 of this Act, and the | 14 |
| limitations of subsection (c) of this Section shall not | 15 |
| apply. | 16 |
| (4) For each month that a PIP Plan participant timely | 17 |
| pays his or her electric utility bill, the electric utility | 18 |
| shall apply a credit to a portion of the participant's | 19 |
| arrearage, if any, equal to no less than one-twelfth of | 20 |
| that arrearage, which costs shall be recoverable by the | 21 |
| utility pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section, | 22 |
| provided that the total amount of arrearage credits shall | 23 |
| ratably equal no more than $1,000 for each participant. The | 24 |
| remaining amount of arrearage, if any, shall be placed on a | 25 |
| deferred payment plan. | 26 |
| (5) The timeliness of a PIP Plan participant's monthly |
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| payment of its utility bill may be considered in | 2 |
| determining the participant's continued eligibility under | 3 |
| the PIP Plan. | 4 |
| (6) The PIP Plan, including, but not limited to the | 5 |
| number of participants and the percentage of income | 6 |
| formula, shall be adjusted, or, if necessary, the PIP Plan | 7 |
| may be suspended, based on the availability of funds from | 8 |
| LIHEAP provided that, notwithstanding the limitation in | 9 |
| subsection (c) of this Section, a utility may supplement | 10 |
| LIHEAP funding for the PIP Plan up to $3 million annually | 11 |
| if the Commission finds that such funding is to the benefit | 12 |
| of customers, which costs shall be recoverable under | 13 |
| subsection (c) of this Section. | 14 |
| (7) Following the first full year of a PIP Plan, and | 15 |
| subject to Commission approval, the electric utility may | 16 |
| terminate or reduce arrearages credits in order to add | 17 |
| additional programs under this Section. | 18 |
| (8) Of the total funds authorized under this Section, | 19 |
| each electric utility shall spend at least the lesser of | 20 |
| (i) 3% of the total amount it spends under this Section or | 21 |
| (ii) $200,000 on programs to education PIP Plan | 22 |
| participants and other low-income customers about low-cost | 23 |
| energy efficiency and conservation. | 24 |
| (c) An electric utility shall recover all of the costs it | 25 |
| incurs in offering programs approved by the Commission pursuant | 26 |
| to this Section, including all start-up and administrative |
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| costs, provided that the costs do not exceed $10 million | 2 |
| annually. All costs incurred under this Section shall be | 3 |
| recovered from the electric utility's retail customers through | 4 |
| an automatic adjustment clause tariff filed with and approved | 5 |
| by the Commission. | 6 |
| (d) In the event an electric utility offering programs | 7 |
| under this Section elects to discontinue a program, it shall | 8 |
| provide 60 days notice both (i) to program participants through | 9 |
| a bill insert and (ii) to the Commission through an | 10 |
| informational filing. | 11 |
| (e) To ensure that there are sufficient funds to provide a | 12 |
| variety of programs to meet varying needs, a utility need not | 13 |
| devote more than $3 million of the total funds authorized under | 14 |
| this Section to credit arrearages for PIP Plan participants. | 15 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-111.9 new) | 16 |
| Sec. 16-111.9. Automatic adjustment clause tariff; | 17 |
| uncollectibles. An electric utility that has filed a request | 18 |
| with the Commission for approval of a Percentage of Income | 19 |
| Payment Plan pursuant to Section 16-111.7 of this Act shall be | 20 |
| permitted to recover through an automatic adjustment clause | 21 |
| tariff the incremental difference between the uncollectible | 22 |
| expense included in the utility's rates and its actual | 23 |
| uncollectible expense as set forth in Account 904 in the | 24 |
| utility's most recent annual FERC Form 1 filing. This | 25 |
| difference may either be a charge or a credit to customers |
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| depending on whether the amount of uncollectible expense is | 2 |
| more or less than the amount of uncollectible expense then | 3 |
| included in the utility's rates. The tariff shall be | 4 |
| established outside the context of a general rate case. An | 5 |
| electric utility may file a compliant tariff together with or | 6 |
| at any time after filing its requests with the Commission for | 7 |
| approval of its Percentage of Income Payment Plan. The | 8 |
| Commission shall conclude any investigation of the tariff | 9 |
| within 45 days after the date on which it is filed, and shall | 10 |
| appropriately allocate uncollectible costs between delivery | 11 |
| services customers and supply customers. An approved tariff | 12 |
| shall be applicable beginning with the utility's next monthly | 13 |
| billing period commencing at least 15 days after the date of | 14 |
| approval. Thereafter, the Commission shall annually initiate, | 15 |
| no later than March 30th of each year, a review to reconcile | 16 |
| all amounts collected with actual uncollectible expense in the | 17 |
| prior annual period, to determine any required adjustment to | 18 |
| account for any difference in those amounts, and to review the | 19 |
| reasonableness of the costs incurred and prudence of the | 20 |
| utility's actions associated with such costs. As part of its | 21 |
| review, the Commission shall verify that the utility collects | 22 |
| no more and no less than its actual uncollectible expense as | 23 |
| reported in its FERC Form 1 in the previous year. The | 24 |
| Commission shall complete its annual review and issue an order | 25 |
| within 90 days and may include in the order suggestions for | 26 |
| prospective changes in current practices. Nothing in this |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| Section or the implementing tariffs shall affect or alter the | 2 |
| electric utility's existing obligation to pursue collection of | 3 |
| uncollectibles or the electric utility's right to disconnect | 4 |
| service. Except in response to a reduction in uncollectibles or | 5 |
| with the approval of the Commission, a utility that has in | 6 |
| effect a tariff authorized by this Section shall not curtail | 7 |
| the following activities to pursue minimization and collection | 8 |
| of uncollectibles: | 9 |
| (1) identification of customers with late payments; | 10 |
| (2) contacting the customers in an effort to obtain | 11 |
| payment; | 12 |
| (3) providing delinquent customers with information | 13 |
| about possible options, including payment plans and | 14 |
| assistance programs; | 15 |
| (4) serving disconnection notices; | 16 |
| (5) implementing disconnections based on the level of | 17 |
| uncollectibles; or | 18 |
| (6) pursuing collection activities based on the level | 19 |
| of uncollectibles. | 20 |
| Nothing in this Section shall be construed to necessarily | 21 |
| require a utility to immediately disconnect service for | 22 |
| nonpayment.
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| (220 ILCS 5/Art. XIX heading) | 24 |
| ARTICLE XIX. ALTERNATIVE GAS SUPPLIER AND CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE | 25 |
| PROGRAMS LAW
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| (220 ILCS 5/19-100)
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| Sec. 19-100. Short title. This Article
may be cited as the | 3 |
| Alternative Gas Supplier and Customer Assistance Programs Law.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-529, eff. 2-8-02.)
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| (220 ILCS 5/19-140 new)
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| Sec. 19-140. Financial assistance; payment plans; gas | 7 |
| utilities. | 8 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a gas | 9 |
| utility may offer programs that are approved by the Commission | 10 |
| specifically designed to provide bill payment assistance to | 11 |
| low-income customers; provided, however, that each gas utility | 12 |
| shall implement a plan as described in subsection (b) of this | 13 |
| Section. The plans may be designed in a number of ways, | 14 |
| including, but not limited to, flat grants, forgiveness of past | 15 |
| due amounts in exchange for regular payments, percentage of | 16 |
| income payments, energy efficiency and demand-response | 17 |
| measures, and education. After receiving a request from a gas | 18 |
| utility for the approval of a proposed plan pursuant to this | 19 |
| Section, the Commission shall render its decision within 120 | 20 |
| days. If no decision is rendered within 120 days, then the | 21 |
| request shall be deemed to be approved. | 22 |
| (b) Each Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIP Plan) shall | 23 |
| contain all of the following components: | 24 |
| (1) The gas utility shall coordinate with the |
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09600SB1603sam002 |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| 1 |
| Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity | 2 |
| (Department) to identify eligible participants, which | 3 |
| shall be based on the same criteria established by the | 4 |
| Department to determine eligibility for the Illinois Low | 5 |
| Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) pursuant to | 6 |
| the Energy Assistance Act, provided that eligible income | 7 |
| shall be no less than 125% of the poverty level and, | 8 |
| subject to availability of funds, reasonable efforts shall | 9 |
| be made to include a minimum income of no less than 150% of | 10 |
| the poverty level. | 11 |
| (2) The Department shall establish the percentage of | 12 |
| income formula that will be applied to PIP Plan | 13 |
| participants' gas utility bills to determine the portion of | 14 |
| the bill that is the responsibility of the participant | 15 |
| provided that, and consistent with Section 16-111.7 of this | 16 |
| Act, the percentage shall be a total of no less than 6% and | 17 |
| no more than 10% of the relevant income for gas and | 18 |
| electric utility bills combined, which amount shall be | 19 |
| allocated 60% to the utility, gas or electric, that | 20 |
| provides the participant's primary energy supply for | 21 |
| heating and 40% to the other utility. | 22 |
| (3) The Department shall remit to the gas utility that | 23 |
| portion of the PIP Plan participant's bill that is not the | 24 |
| responsibility of the participant; in the event that the | 25 |
| Department fails to timely remit payment to the gas utility | 26 |
| as required by this Section, the utility shall be entitled |
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09600SB1603sam002 |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| 1 |
| to recover all costs related to nonpayment through the | 2 |
| automatic adjustment clause tariff established pursuant to | 3 |
| Section 19-150 of this Act, and the limitations of | 4 |
| subsection (c) of this Section shall not apply. | 5 |
| (4) For each month that a PIP Plan participant timely | 6 |
| pays his or her gas utility bill, the gas utility shall | 7 |
| apply a credit to a portion of the participant's arrearage, | 8 |
| if any, equal to no less than one-twelfth of such | 9 |
| arrearage, which costs shall be recoverable by the utility | 10 |
| pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section, provided that | 11 |
| the total amount of arrearage credits shall ratably equal | 12 |
| no more than $1,000 for each participant. The remaining | 13 |
| amount of arrearage, if any, shall be placed on a deferred | 14 |
| payment plan. | 15 |
| (5) The timeliness of a PIP Plan participant's monthly | 16 |
| payment of its utility bill may be considered in | 17 |
| determining such participant's continued eligibility under | 18 |
| the PIP Plan. | 19 |
| (6) The PIP Plan, including, but not limited to the | 20 |
| number of participants and the percentage of income | 21 |
| formula, shall be adjusted, or, if necessary, the PIP Plan | 22 |
| may be suspended, based on the availability of funds from | 23 |
| LIHEAP provided that, notwithstanding the limitation in | 24 |
| subsection (c) of this Section, a utility may supplement | 25 |
| LIHEAP funding for the PIP Plan up to $3 million annually | 26 |
| if the Commission finds that such funding is to the benefit |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| 1 |
| of customers, which costs shall be recoverable under | 2 |
| subsection (c) of this Section. | 3 |
| (7) Following the first full year of a PIP Plan, and | 4 |
| subject to Commission approval, the gas utility may | 5 |
| terminate or reduce arrearages credits in order to add | 6 |
| additional programs under this Section. | 7 |
| (8) Of the total funds authorized hereunder, each gas | 8 |
| utility shall spend at least the lesser of (i) 3% of the | 9 |
| total amount it spends under this Section or (ii) $200,000 | 10 |
| on programs to education PIP Plan participants and other | 11 |
| low-income customers about low-cost energy efficiency and | 12 |
| conservation. | 13 |
| (9) Each alternative gas supplier shall elect whether | 14 |
| it will participate in the PIP Plan, and each alternative | 15 |
| gas supplier electing not to participate shall so notify | 16 |
| each residential customer that it serves. | 17 |
| (c) A gas utility shall recover all of the costs it incurs | 18 |
| in offering programs approved by the Commission pursuant to | 19 |
| this Section, including all start-up and administrative costs, | 20 |
| provided that, except as authorized under this Section, the | 21 |
| costs do not exceed $10 million annually. All costs incurred | 22 |
| under this Section shall be recovered from the gas utility's | 23 |
| retail customers through an automatic adjustment clause tariff | 24 |
| filed with and approved by the Commission. | 25 |
| (d) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section, | 26 |
| in the event a gas utility offering programs under this Section |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
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| elects to discontinue a program, it shall provide 60 days | 2 |
| notice both (i) to program participants through a bill insert | 3 |
| and (ii) to the Commission through an informational filing. | 4 |
| (e) To ensure that there are sufficient funds to provide a | 5 |
| variety of programs to meet varying needs, a utility need not | 6 |
| devote more than $3 million of the total funds authorized under | 7 |
| this Section to credit arrearages for PIP Plan participants. | 8 |
| (220 ILCS 5/19-150 new)
| 9 |
| Sec. 19-150. Automatic adjustment clause tariff; | 10 |
| uncollectibles; gas utilities. A gas utility that has filed a | 11 |
| request with the Commission for approval of a Percentage of | 12 |
| Income Payment Plan pursuant to Section 19-140 of this Act | 13 |
| shall be permitted to recover through an automatic adjustment | 14 |
| clause tariff the incremental difference between the | 15 |
| uncollectible expense included in the utility's rates and its | 16 |
| actual uncollectible expense as set forth in Account 904 in the | 17 |
| utility's most recent annual FERC Form 2 filing. The difference | 18 |
| may either be a charge or a credit to customers depending on | 19 |
| whether the amount of uncollectible expense is more or less | 20 |
| than the amount of uncollectible expense then included in the | 21 |
| utility's rates. The tariff shall be established outside the | 22 |
| context of a general rate case. A gas utility may file a | 23 |
| compliant tariff together with or at any time after filing its | 24 |
| request with the Commission for approval of its Percentage of | 25 |
| Income Payment Plan. The Commission shall conclude any |
|
|
|
09600SB1603sam002 |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
|
| 1 |
| investigation of the tariff within 45 days after the date on | 2 |
| which it is filed, and shall appropriately allocate | 3 |
| uncollectible costs between delivery services customers and | 4 |
| supply customers. An approved tariff shall be applicable | 5 |
| beginning with the utility's next monthly billing period | 6 |
| commencing at least 15 days after the date of approval. | 7 |
| Thereafter, the Commission shall annually initiate, no later | 8 |
| than March 30th of each year, a review to reconcile all amounts | 9 |
| collected with actual uncollectible expense in the prior annual | 10 |
| period, to determine any required adjustment to account for any | 11 |
| difference in those amounts and to review the reasonableness of | 12 |
| the cost incurred and prudence of the utility's actions | 13 |
| associated with such costs. As part of its review, the | 14 |
| Commission shall verify that the utility collects no more and | 15 |
| no less than its actual uncollectible expense as reported in | 16 |
| its FERC Form 2, or, if none is filed, the amount reflected in | 17 |
| ICC Form 21, in the previous year. The Commission shall | 18 |
| complete its annual review and issue an order within 90 days | 19 |
| and may include in the order suggestions for prospective | 20 |
| changes in current practices. Nothing in this Section or the | 21 |
| implementing tariffs shall affect or alter the gas utility's | 22 |
| existing obligation to pursue collection of uncollectibles or | 23 |
| the gas utility's right to disconnect service. Except in | 24 |
| response to a reduction in uncollectibles or with the approval | 25 |
| of the Commission, a utility that has in effect a tariff | 26 |
| authorized by this Section shall not curtail the following |
|
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|
09600SB1603sam002 |
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LRB096 09062 MJR 24365 a |
|
| 1 |
| activities to pursue minimization and collection of | 2 |
| uncollectibles: | 3 |
| (1) identification of customers with late payments; | 4 |
| (2) contacting the customers in an effort to obtain | 5 |
| payment; | 6 |
| (3) providing delinquent customers with information | 7 |
| about possible options, including payment plans and | 8 |
| assistance programs; | 9 |
| (4) serving disconnection notices; | 10 |
| (5) implementing disconnections based on the level of | 11 |
| uncollectibles; or | 12 |
| (6) pursuing collection activities based on the level | 13 |
| of uncollectibles. | 14 |
| Nothing in this Section shall be construed to necessarily | 15 |
| require a utility to immediately disconnect service for | 16 |
| nonpayment.
| 17 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 |
| becoming law.".
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