Full Text of SB3170 97th General Assembly
SB3170eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | SB3170 Engrossed | | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | AN ACT concerning utilities.
| 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 electrical load by | 8 | | municipalities , townships, and counties. | 9 | | (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality , township | 10 | | board, or county board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under | 11 | | which it may aggregate in accordance with this
Section | 12 | | residential and small commercial retail electrical loads | 13 | | located, respectively, within the
municipality , the township, | 14 | | or the unincorporated areas of the county and, for that | 15 | | purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service
agreements to | 16 | | facilitate
for those
loads the sale and purchase of electricity | 17 | | and related services and equipment. | 18 | | The corporate authorities , township board, or county
board | 19 | | may also exercise such authority jointly with any other | 20 | | municipality , township, or county.
Two or
more
municipalities , | 21 | | townships, or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate | 22 | | a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote | 23 | | of each particular
municipality , township, or
county as |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 2 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | required by this Section. | 2 | | If the corporate authorities , township board, or the county | 3 | | board seek to operate the aggregation program as an opt-out | 4 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers, | 5 | | then prior to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to | 6 | | aggregation of residential and small commercial retail | 7 | | electric loads, the corporate authorities of a municipality , | 8 | | the township board, or the county board of a county shall | 9 | | submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or | 10 | | not the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program | 11 | | for residential and small commercial retail customers. | 12 | | In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the | 13 | | general election law, notice of the referendum shall state | 14 | | briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether | 15 | | the corporate authorities , the township board, or the county | 16 | | board shall adopt an opt-out aggregation program for | 17 | | residential and small commercial retail customers shall be | 18 | | submitted to the electors of the municipality , township board, | 19 | | or county board at a regular election and approved by a | 20 | | majority of the electors voting on the question. The corporate | 21 | | authorities , township board, or county board must certify to | 22 | | the proper election authority, which must submit the question | 23 | | at an election in accordance with the Election Code. | 24 | | The election authority must submit the question in | 25 | | substantially the following form: | 26 | | Shall the (municipality , township, or county in which |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 3 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | the question is being voted upon) have the authority to | 2 | | arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential | 3 | | and small commercial retail customers who have not opted | 4 | | out of such program? | 5 | | The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No". | 6 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote | 7 | | in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities , township | 8 | | board, or county board may implement an opt-out aggregation | 9 | | program for residential and small commercial retail customers. | 10 | | A referendum must pass in each particular municipality , | 11 | | township, or county that is engaged in the aggregation program. | 12 | | If the referendum fails, then the corporate authorities , | 13 | | township board, or county board shall operate the aggregation | 14 | | program as an opt-in program for residential and small | 15 | | commercial retail customers. | 16 | | An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the | 17 | | aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each | 18 | | person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric | 19 | | load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,
| 20 | | however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are | 21 | | served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as | 22 | | defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads | 23 | | served by a municipality that owns and operates its own | 24 | | electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect | 25 | | unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate | 26 | | authority , township board, or county board voting upon the |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 4 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | ordinance.
| 2 | | A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a | 3 | | public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier.
| 4 | | For purposes of this Section, "township" means the portion | 5 | | of a township that is an unincorporated portion of a county | 6 | | that is not otherwise a part of a municipality. In addition to | 7 | | such other limitations as are included in this Section, a | 8 | | township board shall only have authority to aggregate | 9 | | residential and small commercial customer loads in accordance | 10 | | with this Section if the county board of the county in which | 11 | | the township is located (i) is not also submitting a referendum | 12 | | to its residents at the same general election that the township | 13 | | board proposes to submit a referendum under this subsection | 14 | | (a), (ii) has not received authorization through passage of a | 15 | | referendum to operate an opt-out aggregation program for | 16 | | residential and small commercial retail customers under this | 17 | | subsection (a), and (iii) has not otherwise enacted an | 18 | | ordinance under this subsection (a) authorizing the operation | 19 | | of an opt-in aggregation program for residential and small | 20 | | commercial retail customers as described in this Section. | 21 | | (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this | 22 | | Section, the corporate
authorities , the township board, or the | 23 | | county board, with assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, | 24 | | shall develop a plan of operation and
governance for the
| 25 | | aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under | 26 | | this Section,
the
corporate authorities , township board, or |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 5 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | county board shall hold at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.
| 2 | | Before the first hearing, the corporate authorities , township | 3 | | board, or county board shall
publish notice of
the hearings | 4 | | once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
| 5 | | circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the | 6 | | plan and state the date,
time, and
location of each hearing.
| 7 | | Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to this Section | 8 | | shall: | 9 | | (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable | 10 | | residential customers and equitable treatment of | 11 | | applicable
residential customers; | 12 | | (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency | 13 | | services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and | 14 | | (3) meet any requirements established by law
| 15 | | concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this | 16 | | Section. | 17 | | (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and | 18 | | other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the | 19 | | purchase of electricity and other related services shall be | 20 | | conducted in the following order: | 21 | | (1) The corporate authorities , township board, or | 22 | | county board may solicit bids for electricity and other | 23 | | related services. | 24 | | (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public | 25 | | Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and | 26 | | Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 6 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | provides residential and small commercial retail electric | 2 | | service in the aggregate area must : , | 3 | | (A) upon request of the corporate authorities or | 4 | | the county board in the aggregate area, submit to the | 5 | | requesting party, in an electronic format, those | 6 | | account numbers, names, and addresses of residential | 7 | | and small commercial retail customers in the aggregate | 8 | | area that are reflected in the electric utility's | 9 | | records at the time of the request ; and | 10 | | (B) following the township board's submission to | 11 | | the electric utility of those zip codes included in the | 12 | | aggregate area, submit to the township board, in an | 13 | | electronic format or other means selected by the | 14 | | electric utility, those names and addresses of | 15 | | residential and small commercial retail customers that | 16 | | are located in such zip codes as reflected in the | 17 | | electric utility's records at the time of the request; | 18 | | upon the township board's receipt of the information | 19 | | provided by the electric utility, the township board | 20 | | shall review the information and submit to the electric | 21 | | utility, in an electronic format or other means | 22 | | selected by the utility, either confirmation that the | 23 | | information is accurate or corrections to the | 24 | | information . | 25 | | Any corporate authority , township board, or county board | 26 | | receiving customer information from an electric utility shall |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 7 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of the | 2 | | information described in Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities | 3 | | Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 4 | | Business Practices Act, and an electric utility shall not be | 5 | | held liable for any claims arising out of the provision of | 6 | | information pursuant to this item (2). | 7 | | (d) If the corporate authorities , township board, or county | 8 | | board operate under an opt-in program for residential and small | 9 | | commercial retail customers, then the corporate authorities , | 10 | | township board, or county board shall comply with all of the | 11 | | following: | 12 | | (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the | 13 | | corporate authorities , township board, or county board | 14 | | shall allow residential and small commercial retail | 15 | | customers to commit to the terms and conditions of a bid | 16 | | that has been selected by the corporate authorities , | 17 | | township board, or county board. | 18 | | (2) If (A) the corporate authorities , township board, | 19 | | or county board award proposed agreements for the purchase | 20 | | of electricity and other related services and (B) an | 21 | | agreement is reached between the corporate authorities , | 22 | | township board, or county board for those services, then | 23 | | customers committed to the terms and conditions according | 24 | | to item (1) of this subsection (d) shall be committed to | 25 | | the agreement. | 26 | | (e) If the corporate authorities , township board, or county |
| | | SB3170 Engrossed | - 8 - | LRB097 17604 CEL 62811 b |
|
| 1 | | board operate as an opt-out program for residential and small | 2 | | commercial retail customers, then it shall be the duty of the | 3 | | aggregated entity to fully inform
residential and small | 4 | | commercial retail customers in advance that they have the right | 5 | | to opt out of the aggregation program.
The disclosure shall | 6 | | prominently state all charges to be made and
shall include
full | 7 | | disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section | 8 | | 16-103 of the Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the | 9 | | fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are
| 10 | | currently receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois | 11 | | Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
| 12 | | list of all supply options available to them in a format that
| 13 | | allows
comparison of prices and products. | 14 | | The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to | 15 | | municipalities, townships, counties, or associations working | 16 | | with municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding | 17 | | process. | 18 | | This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties | 19 | | from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate | 20 | | residential and small commercial retail electric loads.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10; 97-338, eff. 8-12-11.)
| 22 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 23 | | becoming law.
|
|