Full Text of SB3627 96th General Assembly
SB3627sam003 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Ira I. Silverstein
Filed: 3/8/2010
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3627
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3627 by replacing | 3 |
| everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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| "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 16-115C as follows: | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-115C) | 7 |
| Sec. 16-115C. Licensure of agents, brokers, and | 8 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 9 |
| electricity supply for third parties. | 10 |
| (a) The purpose of this Section is to adopt licensing and | 11 |
| code of conduct rules in a competitive retail electricity | 12 |
| market to protect Illinois consumers from unfair or deceptive | 13 |
| acts or practices and to provide persons acting as agents, | 14 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 15 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties with notice of the | 16 |
| illegality of those acts or practices. |
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| (a-5) All third-party sales representatives engaged in the | 2 |
| marketing of retail electricity supply must, prior to the | 3 |
| customer signing a contract, disclose that they are not | 4 |
| employed by the electric utility operating in the applicable | 5 |
| service territory. | 6 |
| (b) For purposes of this Section, "agents, brokers, and | 7 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 8 |
| electricity supply for third parties" means any person or | 9 |
| entity that attempts to procure on behalf of or sell retail | 10 |
| electric service to an electric customer in the State. "Agents, | 11 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 12 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties" does not include | 13 |
| the Illinois Power Agency or any of its employees, any entity | 14 |
| licensed as an alternative retail electric supplier pursuant to | 15 |
| 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451 offering retail electric service on its | 16 |
| own behalf, any person acting exclusively on behalf of a single | 17 |
| alternative retail electric supplier on condition that | 18 |
| exclusivity is disclosed to any third party contracted in such | 19 |
| agent capacity, any person or entity representing a municipal | 20 |
| power agency, as defined in Section 11-119.1-3 of the Illinois | 21 |
| Municipal Code, or any person or entity that is attempting to | 22 |
| procure on behalf of or sell retail electric service to a third | 23 |
| party that has aggregate billing demand of all of its | 24 |
| affiliated electric service accounts in Illinois of greater | 25 |
| than 1,500 kW. | 26 |
| (c) No person or entity shall act as an agent, broker, or |
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| consultant engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 2 |
| electricity supply for third parties unless that person or | 3 |
| entity is licensed by the Commission under this Section or is | 4 |
| offering services on their own behalf under 83 Ill. Adm. Code | 5 |
| 451. | 6 |
| (d) The Commission shall create requirements for licensure | 7 |
| as an agent, broker, or consultant engaged in the procurement | 8 |
| or sale of retail electricity supply for third parties, which | 9 |
| shall include all of the following criteria: | 10 |
| (1) Technical competence. | 11 |
| (2) Managerial competence. | 12 |
| (3) Financial responsibility, including the posting of | 13 |
| an appropriate performance bond. | 14 |
| (4) Annual reporting requirements. | 15 |
| (e) Any person or entity required to be licensed under this | 16 |
| Section must: | 17 |
| (1) disclose in plain language in writing to all | 18 |
| persons it solicits the price per kilowatt-hour, inclusive | 19 |
| of all fees received by the licensee, to be paid by the | 20 |
| customer total anticipated remuneration to be paid to it by | 21 |
| any third party over the period of the proposed underlying | 22 |
| customer contract; | 23 |
| (2) disclose if applicable to all customers, prior to | 24 |
| the customer signing a contract, the fact that they will be | 25 |
| receiving compensation from the supplier; | 26 |
| (3) (2) not hold itself out as independent or |
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| unaffiliated with any supplier, or both, or use words | 2 |
| reasonably calculated to give that impression, unless the | 3 |
| person offering service under this Section has no | 4 |
| contractual relationship with any retail electricity | 5 |
| supplier or its affiliates regarding retail electric | 6 |
| service in Illinois; | 7 |
| (4) (3) not utilize false, misleading, materially | 8 |
| inaccurate, defamatory, or otherwise deceptive language or | 9 |
| materials in the soliciting or providing of its services; | 10 |
| (5) (4) maintain copies of all marketing materials | 11 |
| disseminated to third parties for a period of not less than | 12 |
| 3 years; | 13 |
| (6) (5) not present electricity pricing information in | 14 |
| a manner that favors one supplier over another, unless a | 15 |
| valid pricing comparison is made utilizing all relevant | 16 |
| costs and terms; and | 17 |
| (7) (6) comply with the requirements of Sections 2EE, | 18 |
| 2FF, 2GG, and 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 19 |
| Business Practices Act. | 20 |
| (f) Any person or entity licensed under this Section shall | 21 |
| file with the Commission all of the following information no | 22 |
| later than March of each year: | 23 |
| (1) A verified report detailing any and all contractual | 24 |
| relationships that it has with certified electricity | 25 |
| suppliers in the State regarding retail electric service in | 26 |
| Illinois. |
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| (2) A verified report detailing the distribution of its | 2 |
| customers with the various certified electricity suppliers | 3 |
| in Illinois during the prior calendar year. A report under | 4 |
| this Section shall not be required to contain | 5 |
| customer-identifying information. A public redacted | 6 |
| version of the verified report shall be submitted to the | 7 |
| Commission along with a proprietary version. The public | 8 |
| redacted version shall redact from the verified report the | 9 |
| names of every certified electricity supplier contained in | 10 |
| the report to protect against disclosure of competitively | 11 |
| sensitive market share information. The information shall | 12 |
| be afforded proprietary treatment by the Commission for 2 | 13 |
| years from the date of the filing of the verified report. | 14 |
| (3) A copy of its verified financial statement. | 15 |
| (4) (4) A verified statement of any changes to the | 16 |
| original licensure qualifications and notice of continuing | 17 |
| compliance with all requirements. | 18 |
| (g) The Commission shall have jurisdiction over | 19 |
| disciplinary proceedings and complaints for violations of this | 20 |
| Section. The findings of a violation of this Section by the | 21 |
| Commission shall result in a progressive disciplinary scale. | 22 |
| For a first violation, the Commission shall suspend the license | 23 |
| of the person so disciplined for a period of no less than one | 24 |
| month. For a second violation within a 5-year period, the | 25 |
| Commission shall suspend the license for the person so | 26 |
| disciplined for a period of not less than 6 months. For a third |
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| or subsequent violation within a 5-year period, the Commission | 2 |
| shall suspend the license of the disciplined person for a | 3 |
| period of not less than 2 years. | 4 |
| (h) This Section shall not apply to a retail customer that | 5 |
| operates or manages either directly or indirectly any | 6 |
| facilities, equipment, or property used or contemplated to be | 7 |
| used to distribute electric power or energy if that retail | 8 |
| customer is a political subdivision or public institution of | 9 |
| higher education of this State, or any corporation, company, | 10 |
| limited liability company, association, joint-stock company or | 11 |
| association, firm, partnership, or individual, or their | 12 |
| lessees, trusts, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever | 13 |
| that are owned or controlled by the political subdivision, | 14 |
| public institution of higher education, or operated by any of | 15 |
| its lessees or operating agents. | 16 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-679, eff. 10-11-07.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 18 |
| becoming law.".
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