Full Text of SB0680 97th General Assembly
SB0680 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB0680 Introduced 2/8/2011, by Sen. John J. Cullerton SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| | Amends the Public Utilities Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning legislative findings.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning regulation.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 16-101A as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/16-101A)
| 7 | | Sec. 16-101A. Legislative findings.
| 8 | | (a) The
The citizens and businesses of the State of | 9 | | Illinois
have been well-served by a comprehensive electrical | 10 | | utility
system which has provided safe, reliable, and | 11 | | affordable
service. The electrical utility system in the State | 12 | | of
Illinois has historically been subject to State and federal
| 13 | | regulation, aimed at assuring the citizens and businesses of
| 14 | | the State of safe, reliable, and affordable service, while at
| 15 | | the same time assuring the utility system of a return on its
| 16 | | investment. | 17 | | (b) Competitive forces are affecting the market for
| 18 | | electricity as a result of recent federal regulatory and
| 19 | | statutory changes and the activities of other states.
| 20 | | Competition in the electric services market may create
| 21 | | opportunities for new products and services for customers and
| 22 | | lower costs for users of electricity. Long-standing regulatory
| 23 | | relationships need to be altered to accommodate the
competition |
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| 1 | | that could fundamentally alter the structure of
the electric | 2 | | services market.
| 3 | | (c) With the advent of increasing competition in this
| 4 | | industry, the State has a continued interest in assuring that
| 5 | | the safety, reliability, and affordability of electrical power
| 6 | | is not sacrificed to competitive pressures, and to that end,
| 7 | | intends to implement safeguards to assure that the industry
| 8 | | continues to operate the electrical system in a manner that
| 9 | | will serve the public's interest. Under the existing
regulatory | 10 | | framework, the industry has been encouraged to
undertake | 11 | | certain investments in its physical plant and
personnel to | 12 | | enhance its efficient operation, the cost of
which it has been | 13 | | permitted to pass on to consumers. The
State has an interest in | 14 | | providing the existing utilities a
reasonable opportunity to | 15 | | obtain a return on certain
investments on which they depended | 16 | | in undertaking those
commitments in the first instance while, | 17 | | at the same time, not
permitting new entrants into the industry | 18 | | to take unreasonable
advantage of the investments made by the | 19 | | formerly regulated
industry.
| 20 | | (d) A competitive wholesale and retail market must
benefit | 21 | | all Illinois citizens. The Illinois Commerce
Commission should | 22 | | act to promote the development of an
effectively competitive | 23 | | electricity market that operates
efficiently and is equitable | 24 | | to all consumers. Consumer
protections must be in place to | 25 | | ensure that all customers
continue to receive safe, reliable, | 26 | | affordable, and
environmentally safe electric service.
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| 1 | | (e) All consumers must benefit in an equitable and timely
| 2 | | fashion from the lower costs for electricity that result from
| 3 | | retail and wholesale competition and receive sufficient
| 4 | | information to make informed choices among suppliers and
| 5 | | services. The use of renewable resources and energy efficiency
| 6 | | resources should be encouraged in competitive markets.
| 7 | | (f) The efficiency of electric markets depends both upon | 8 | | the competitiveness of supply and upon the | 9 | | price-responsiveness of the demand for service. Therefore, to | 10 | | ensure the lowest total cost of service and to enhance the | 11 | | reliability of service, all classes of the electricity | 12 | | customers of electric utilities should have access to and be | 13 | | able to voluntarily use real-time pricing and other | 14 | | price-response and demand-response mechanisms.
| 15 | | (g) Including cost-effective renewable resources and | 16 | | demand-response resources in a diverse electricity supply | 17 | | portfolio will reduce long-term direct and indirect costs to | 18 | | consumers by decreasing environmental impacts and by avoiding | 19 | | or delaying the need for new generation, transmission, and | 20 | | distribution infrastructure. It serves the public interest to | 21 | | allow electric utilities to recover costs for reasonably and | 22 | | prudently incurred expenses for electricity generated by | 23 | | renewable resources and demand-response resources.
| 24 | | (h) Including electricity generated by clean coal | 25 | | facilities, as defined under Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power | 26 | | Agency Act, in a diverse electricity procurement portfolio will |
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| 1 | | reduce the need to purchase, directly or indirectly, carbon | 2 | | dioxide emission credits and will decrease environmental | 3 | | impacts. It serves the public interest to allow electric | 4 | | utilities to recover costs for reasonably and prudently | 5 | | incurred expenses for sourcing electricity generated by clean | 6 | | coal facilities. | 7 | | (Source: P.A. 94-977, eff. 6-30-06; 95-481, eff. 8-28-07; | 8 | | 95-1027, eff. 6-1-09 .)
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