Full Text of SB1802 97th General Assembly
SB1802sam001 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. David Koehler Filed: 3/16/2011
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1802
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1802 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 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 |
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| 1 | | enter into service
agreements to facilitate
for those
loads the | 2 | | sale and purchase of electricity and related services and | 3 | | equipment. For purposes of this Section, small commercial | 4 | | retail customers shall not be eligible to participate in an | 5 | | aggregation program until January 1, 2013. Applicable | 6 | | residential and small commercial retail customers in an | 7 | | aggregation program shall not include customers of an | 8 | | alternative retail electric supplier or customers | 9 | | participating in a utility-offered residential real-time | 10 | | pricing program or Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) | 11 | | unless those customers affirmatively choose to join the | 12 | | aggregation program. | 13 | | If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to
| 14 | | operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program, then the | 15 | | program applies solely to residential and small commercial | 16 | | retail customers that are taking service from the electric | 17 | | utility through fixed-price bundled service tariffs. The | 18 | | corporate authorities or the county board shall allow new | 19 | | residents outside of an opt-out period, and non-applicable | 20 | | residential and small commercial retail customers who were not | 21 | | eligible to receive the opt-out notice, to affirmatively commit | 22 | | to the terms and conditions of an opt-out program at any time | 23 | | during the length of the program under a process disclosed in | 24 | | the plan of operation and governance. | 25 | | The corporate authorities or county
board may also exercise | 26 | | such authority jointly with any other municipality or county.
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| 1 | | Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of | 2 | | both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation | 3 | | by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as | 4 | | required by this Section. | 5 | | If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to | 6 | | operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program for | 7 | | residential and small commercial retail customers, then prior | 8 | | to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to aggregation of | 9 | | residential and small commercial retail electric loads, the | 10 | | corporate authorities of a municipality or the county board of | 11 | | a county shall submit a referendum to its residents to | 12 | | determine whether or not the aggregation program shall operate | 13 | | as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial | 14 | | retail customers. | 15 | | In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | 16 | | general election law, notice of the referendum shall state | 17 | | briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | 18 | | the corporate authorities or the county board shall adopt an | 19 | | opt-out aggregation program for residential and small | 20 | | commercial retail customers shall be submitted to the electors | 21 | | of the municipality or county board at a regular election and | 22 | | approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. | 23 | | The corporate authorities or county board must certify to the | 24 | | proper election authority, which must submit the question at an | 25 | | election in accordance with the Election Code. | 26 | | The election authority must submit the question in |
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| 1 | | substantially the following form: | 2 | | Shall the (municipality or county in which the question | 3 | | is being voted upon) have the authority to arrange for the | 4 | | supply of electricity for its residential and small | 5 | | commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such | 6 | | program? | 7 | | The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | 8 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | 9 | | in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities or county | 10 | | board may implement an opt-out aggregation program for | 11 | | residential and small commercial retail customers. | 12 | | A referendum must pass in each particular municipality or | 13 | | county that is engaged in the aggregation program. If the | 14 | | referendum fails, then the corporate authorities or county | 15 | | board shall operate the aggregation program as an opt-in | 16 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers. | 17 | | An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the | 18 | | aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each | 19 | | person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric | 20 | | load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
| 21 | | however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are | 22 | | served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as | 23 | | defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads | 24 | | served by a municipality that owns and operates its own | 25 | | electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect | 26 | | unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate |
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| 1 | | authority or county board voting upon the ordinance.
| 2 | | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | 3 | | public utility , agent, broker, consultant, or an
alternative | 4 | | retail electric supplier. Nothing in this Section prohibits a | 5 | | governmental aggregator from retaining the services of an | 6 | | agent, broker, or consultant.
| 7 | | (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | 8 | | Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board, with | 9 | | assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, shall develop a plan | 10 | | of operation and
governance for the
aggregation program so | 11 | | authorized. | 12 | | For an opt-out program, the plan shall specify the process | 13 | | and associated timelines for applicable residential and small | 14 | | commercial retail customers choosing to opt out of the program | 15 | | as well as for non-applicable customers affirmatively choosing | 16 | | to join the aggregation program. The plan for an opt-out | 17 | | program must ensure that applicable residential and small | 18 | | commercial retail customers are able to leave the aggregation | 19 | | program at any time without penalties or fees, with the right | 20 | | to opt out to either (i) the electric utility if bundled retail | 21 | | electric service is still offered to that customer class | 22 | | pursuant to Section 16-103 of the Public Utilities Act, (ii) an | 23 | | electric utility's residential real-time pricing rate, if | 24 | | available, or (iii) an electric supply service offered by an | 25 | | alternative retail electric supplier certified by the | 26 | | Commission. The plan must provide for, and the corporate |
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| 1 | | authorities must provide, a reminder of this opt-out right to | 2 | | participants in the aggregation program at least once every 3 | 3 | | years.
The plan for the aggregation program must not interfere, | 4 | | conflict, or otherwise abrogate any existing contracts between | 5 | | an alternative retail electric supplier and residential and | 6 | | small commercial retail customers and contracts that are in | 7 | | effect pursuant to Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act | 8 | | and the applicable provisions of this Act as any such | 9 | | procurement plans have been approved by the Commission. In | 10 | | addition, the plan for the aggregation program should be | 11 | | properly integrated with any Commission-approved Illinois | 12 | | Power Agency procurement 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. Any corporate authority or county board | 5 | | receiving customer information from an electric utility | 6 | | shall only disclose the information for the purpose of the | 7 | | opt-out aggregation and shall be subject to the limitations | 8 | | on the disclosure of the information described in Section | 9 | | 16-122 of the Public Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the | 10 | | Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and an | 11 | | electric utility shall not be held liable for any claims | 12 | | arising out of the provision of information pursuant to | 13 | | this item (2). | 14 | | (d) If the corporate authorities or county board operate | 15 | | under an opt-in program for residential and small commercial | 16 | | retail customers, then the corporate authorities or county | 17 | | board shall comply with all of the following: | 18 | | (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | 19 | | corporate authorities or county board shall allow | 20 | | residential and small commercial retail customers to | 21 | | commit to the terms and conditions of a bid that has been | 22 | | selected by the corporate authorities or county board. | 23 | | (2) If (A) the corporate authorities or county board | 24 | | award proposed agreements for the purchase of electricity | 25 | | and other related services and (B) an agreement is reached | 26 | | between the corporate authorities or county board for those |
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| 1 | | services, then customers committed to the terms and | 2 | | conditions according to item (1) of this subsection (d) | 3 | | shall be committed to the agreement. | 4 | | (e) If the corporate authorities or county board operate as | 5 | | an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail | 6 | | customers, then it shall be the duty of the aggregated entity | 7 | | to fully inform
applicable residential and small commercial | 8 | | retail customers in advance that they have the right to opt out | 9 | | of the aggregation program.
The disclosure shall prominently | 10 | | state all charges to be made and
shall include
full disclosure | 11 | | of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103 of the | 12 | | Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the fact that it is | 13 | | available to them without penalty, if they are
currently | 14 | | receiving
service under that Section. | 15 | | The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt rules to | 16 | | implement the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 97th | 17 | | General Assembly, including, but not limited to, protection of | 18 | | customers already under contract with an alternative retail | 19 | | electric supplier, utility processes for enrollment of opt-out | 20 | | customers, minimum disclosure requirements for opt-out | 21 | | aggregation programs and licensing of municipalities. | 22 | | The Illinois Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
| 23 | | any residential and small commercial retail customer citizen a
| 24 | | list of all supply options available to them in a format that
| 25 | | allows
comparison of prices and products. | 26 | | The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to |
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| 1 | | municipalities, counties, or associations working with | 2 | | municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding process. | 3 | | This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties | 4 | | from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate | 5 | | residential and small commercial retail electric loads.
| 6 | | Any aggregation program plan adopted prior to the effective | 7 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly shall | 8 | | not be exempt from the provisions of this amendatory Act of the | 9 | | 97th General Assembly. | 10 | | (Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10.)
| 11 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 12 | | becoming law.".
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