Full Text of SB1802 97th General Assembly
SB1802 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012 SB1802 Introduced 2/9/2011, by Sen. David Koehler SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. In provisions concerning the aggregation of retail electrical load of residential and small commercial retail customers by municipalities and counties, provides that any aggregation program that operates as an opt-out program shall apply solely to residential and small commercial retail customers that are taking service from the electric utility through fixed-price bundled service tariffs. Provides that the corporate authorities or the county board shall allow new residents outside of an opt-out period and non-applicable residential and small commercial retail customers who were not eligible to receive the opt-out notice to affirmatively commit to the terms and conditions of an opt-out program at any time during the length of the program under a process disclosed in the plan of operation and governance. Sets forth provisions concerning the plan of operation and
governance for an opt-out program. Sets forth provisions concerning requests made by the corporate authorities or the county board in the aggregate area for certain information from the electric utility related to applicable residential and small commercial retail customers in the aggregate area. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of the amendatory Act, including, but not limited to, protection of customers already under contract with an alternative retail electric supplier, utility processes for enrollment of opt-out customers, minimum disclosure requirements for opt-out aggregation programs and licensing of municipalities. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
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| | FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | | HOME RULE NOTE ACT MAY APPLY |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning State government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 1-92 as follows: | 6 | | (20 ILCS 3855/1-92) | 7 | | Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of retail electrical load of | 8 | | residential and small commercial retail customers by | 9 | | municipalities and counties. | 10 | | (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality or county | 11 | | board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under which it may | 12 | | aggregate , in accordance with this
Section , residential and | 13 | | small commercial retail electrical loads of applicable | 14 | | residential and small commercial retail customers located, | 15 | | respectively, within the
municipality or the unincorporated | 16 | | areas of the county and, for that purpose, may solicit bids and | 17 | | enter into service
agreements to facilitate
for those
loads the | 18 | | sale and purchase of electricity and related services and | 19 | | equipment. | 20 | | If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to
| 21 | | operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program, then the | 22 | | program applies solely to residential and small commercial | 23 | | retail customers that are taking service from the electric |
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| 1 | | utility through fixed-price bundled service tariffs. The | 2 | | corporate authorities or the county board shall allow new | 3 | | residents outside of an opt-out period, and non-applicable | 4 | | residential and small commercial retail customers who were not | 5 | | eligible to receive the opt-out notice, to affirmatively commit | 6 | | to the terms and conditions of an opt-out program at any time | 7 | | during the length of the program under a process disclosed in | 8 | | the plan of operation and governance. | 9 | | The corporate authorities or county
board may also exercise | 10 | | such authority jointly with any other municipality or county.
| 11 | | Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of | 12 | | both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation | 13 | | by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as | 14 | | required by this Section. | 15 | | If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to | 16 | | operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program for | 17 | | residential and small commercial retail customers, then prior | 18 | | to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to aggregation of | 19 | | residential and small commercial retail electric loads, the | 20 | | corporate authorities of a municipality or the county board of | 21 | | a county shall submit a referendum to its residents to | 22 | | determine whether or not the aggregation program shall operate | 23 | | as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial | 24 | | retail customers. | 25 | | In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | 26 | | general election law, notice of the referendum shall state |
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| 1 | | briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | 2 | | the corporate authorities or the county board shall adopt an | 3 | | opt-out aggregation program for residential and small | 4 | | commercial retail customers shall be submitted to the electors | 5 | | of the municipality or county board at a regular election and | 6 | | approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. | 7 | | The corporate authorities or county board must certify to the | 8 | | proper election authority, which must submit the question at an | 9 | | election in accordance with the Election Code. | 10 | | The election authority must submit the question in | 11 | | substantially the following form: | 12 | | Shall the (municipality or county in which the question | 13 | | is being voted upon) have the authority to arrange for the | 14 | | supply of electricity for its residential and small | 15 | | commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such | 16 | | program? | 17 | | The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | 18 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | 19 | | in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities or county | 20 | | board may implement an opt-out aggregation program for | 21 | | residential and small commercial retail customers. | 22 | | A referendum must pass in each particular municipality or | 23 | | county that is engaged in the aggregation program. If the | 24 | | referendum fails, then the corporate authorities or county | 25 | | board shall operate the aggregation program as an opt-in | 26 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers. |
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| 1 | | An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the | 2 | | aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each | 3 | | person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric | 4 | | load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
| 5 | | however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are | 6 | | served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as | 7 | | defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads | 8 | | served by a municipality that owns and operates its own | 9 | | electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect | 10 | | unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate | 11 | | authority or county board voting upon the ordinance.
| 12 | | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | 13 | | public utility , agent, broker, consultant, or an
alternative | 14 | | retail electric supplier.
| 15 | | (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | 16 | | Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board, with | 17 | | assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, shall develop a plan | 18 | | of operation and
governance for the
aggregation program so | 19 | | authorized. | 20 | | For an opt-out program, the plan shall specify the process | 21 | | and associated timelines for applicable residential and small | 22 | | commercial retail customers choosing to opt out of the program | 23 | | as well as for non-applicable customers affirmatively choosing | 24 | | to join the aggregation program. The plan for an opt-out | 25 | | program must ensure that applicable residential and small | 26 | | commercial retail customers are able to leave the aggregation |
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| 1 | | program at any time without penalties or fees, but at a minimum | 2 | | must be offered the opportunity to opt out every 3 years.
The | 3 | | plan for the aggregation program must not interfere, conflict, | 4 | | or otherwise abrogate any existing contracts between an | 5 | | alternative retail electric supplier and residential and small | 6 | | commercial retail customers and contracts that are in effect | 7 | | pursuant to Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act and | 8 | | the applicable provisions of this Act as any such procurement | 9 | | plans have been approved by the Commission. In addition, the | 10 | | plan for the aggregation program should be properly integrated | 11 | | with any Commission-approved Illinois Power Agency procurement | 12 | | plan. | 13 | | Before adopting a plan under this Section,
the
corporate | 14 | | authorities or county board shall hold at least 2 public | 15 | | hearings on
the plan.
Before the first hearing, the corporate | 16 | | authorities or county board shall
publish notice of
the | 17 | | hearings once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of | 18 | | general
circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall | 19 | | summarize the plan and state the date,
time, and
location of | 20 | | each hearing.
Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to | 21 | | this Section shall: | 22 | | (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | 23 | | residential customers and equitable treatment of | 24 | | applicable
residential customers; | 25 | | (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | 26 | | services to be
provided to each class of customers ;
and |
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| 1 | | (3) meet any requirements established by law
| 2 | | concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this | 3 | | Section. | 4 | | (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and | 5 | | other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the | 6 | | purchase of electricity and other related services shall be | 7 | | conducted in the following order: | 8 | | (1) The corporate authorities or county board may | 9 | | solicit bids for electricity and other related services. | 10 | | (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public | 11 | | Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | 12 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that | 13 | | provides residential and small commercial retail electric | 14 | | service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the | 15 | | corporate authorities or the county board in the aggregate | 16 | | area, submit to the requesting party, in an electronic | 17 | | format, those account numbers, names , and addresses of | 18 | | applicable residential and small commercial retail | 19 | | customers in the aggregate area of the municipality or | 20 | | unincorporated areas of the county that are reflected in | 21 | | the electric utility's records at the time of the request. | 22 | | An electric utility must exclude any customer already | 23 | | switched to an alternative retail electric supplier from | 24 | | the information provided to the corporate authority or | 25 | | county board in the aggregate area. Upon receiving | 26 | | enrollments from an opt-out aggregation, an electric |
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| 1 | | utility must design system processes to reject any opt-out | 2 | | aggregation enrollment that would result in the switch of a | 3 | | customer already under service with an alternative retail | 4 | | electric supplier. An electric utility may recover costs | 5 | | for system changes from all residential and small | 6 | | commercial customers. Any corporate authority or county | 7 | | board receiving customer information from an electric | 8 | | utility shall only disclose the information for the purpose | 9 | | of the opt-out aggregation and shall be subject to the | 10 | | limitations on the disclosure of the information described | 11 | | in Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities Act and Section | 12 | | 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices | 13 | | Act, and an electric utility shall not be held liable for | 14 | | any claims arising out of the provision of information | 15 | | pursuant to this item (2). | 16 | | (d) If the corporate authorities or county board operate | 17 | | under an opt-in program for residential and small commercial | 18 | | retail customers, then the corporate authorities or county | 19 | | board shall comply with all of the following: | 20 | | (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | 21 | | corporate authorities or county board shall allow | 22 | | residential and small commercial retail customers to | 23 | | commit to the terms and conditions of a bid that has been | 24 | | selected by the corporate authorities or county board. | 25 | | (2) If (A) the corporate authorities or county board | 26 | | award proposed agreements for the purchase of electricity |
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| 1 | | and other related services and (B) an agreement is reached | 2 | | between the corporate authorities or county board for those | 3 | | services, then customers committed to the terms and | 4 | | conditions according to item (1) of this subsection (d) | 5 | | shall be committed to the agreement. | 6 | | (e) If the corporate authorities or county board operate as | 7 | | an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail | 8 | | customers, then it shall be the duty of the aggregated entity | 9 | | to fully inform
applicable residential and small commercial | 10 | | retail customers in advance that they have the right to opt out | 11 | | of the aggregation program.
The disclosure shall prominently | 12 | | state all charges to be made and
shall include
full disclosure | 13 | | of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103 of the | 14 | | Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the fact that it is | 15 | | available to them without penalty, if they are
currently | 16 | | receiving
service under that Section. | 17 | | The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to | 18 | | implement the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 97th | 19 | | General Assembly, including, but not limited to, protection of | 20 | | customers already under contract with an alternative retail | 21 | | electric supplier, utility processes for enrollment of opt-out | 22 | | customers, minimum disclosure requirements for opt-out | 23 | | aggregation programs and licensing of municipalities. | 24 | | The Illinois Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
| 25 | | any residential and small commercial retail customer citizen a
| 26 | | list of all supply options available to them in a format that
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| 1 | | allows
comparison of prices and products. | 2 | | The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to | 3 | | municipalities, counties, or associations working with | 4 | | municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding process. | 5 | | This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties | 6 | | from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate | 7 | | residential and small commercial retail electric loads.
| 8 | | (Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10.)
| 9 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 10 | | becoming law.
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