Full Text of HB3113 98th General Assembly
HB3113 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB3113 Introduced , by Rep. Christian L Mitchell SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| | Amends the Public Utilities Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning rates and restructuring transactions during
the mandatory transition period.
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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 16-111 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/16-111)
| 7 | | Sec. 16-111. Rates and restructuring transactions during
| 8 | | mandatory transition period; restructuring and other | 9 | | transactions. | 10 | | (a) During the
the mandatory transition period,
| 11 | | notwithstanding any provision of Article IX of this Act, and
| 12 | | except as provided in subsections (b) and (f)
of this Section, | 13 | | the Commission shall not (i) initiate,
authorize or order any | 14 | | change by way of increase (other than in connection with
a | 15 | | request for rate increase which was filed after September 1, | 16 | | 1997 but prior
to October 15, 1997, by an electric utility | 17 | | serving less than 12,500 customers
in this State), (ii)
| 18 | | initiate or, unless requested by the electric utility,
| 19 | | authorize or order any change by way of decrease,
restructuring | 20 | | or unbundling (except as provided in Section 16-109A), in the
| 21 | | rates of any electric
utility that were in effect on October 1, | 22 | | 1996, or (iii) in any order approving
any application for a | 23 | | merger pursuant to Section 7-204 that was pending as of
May 16, |
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| 1 | | 1997, impose any condition requiring any filing for an | 2 | | increase,
decrease, or change in, or other review of, an | 3 | | electric utility's rates or
enforce any such condition of any | 4 | | such order;
provided,
however, that this subsection shall not | 5 | | prohibit the
Commission from:
| 6 | | (1) approving the application of an electric utility
to | 7 | | implement an alternative to rate of return regulation
or a | 8 | | regulatory mechanism that rewards or penalizes the
| 9 | | electric utility through adjustment of rates based on
| 10 | | utility performance, pursuant to Section 9-244;
| 11 | | (2) authorizing an electric utility to eliminate its
| 12 | | fuel adjustment clause and adjust its base rate tariffs
in | 13 | | accordance with subsection (b), (d), or (f) of Section
| 14 | | 9-220 of this Act, to fix its fuel adjustment factor in
| 15 | | accordance with subsection (c) of Section 9-220 of this
| 16 | | Act, or to eliminate its fuel adjustment clause in | 17 | | accordance with subsection
(e) of Section 9-220 of this | 18 | | Act;
| 19 | | (3) ordering into effect tariffs for delivery
services | 20 | | and transition charges in accordance with
Sections 16-104 | 21 | | and 16-108, for real-time pricing in
accordance with | 22 | | Section 16-107, or the options required
by Section 16-110 | 23 | | and subsection (n) of 16-112,
allowing a billing experiment | 24 | | in accordance with
Section 16-106, or modifying delivery | 25 | | services tariffs in accordance with
Section 16-109; or
| 26 | | (4) ordering or allowing into effect any tariff to
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| 1 | | recover charges pursuant to Sections 9-201.5, 9-220.1,
| 2 | | 9-221, 9-222 (except as provided in Section 9-222.1), | 3 | | 16-108, and 16-114 of
this
Act, Section 5-5 of the | 4 | | Electricity Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Law, Section
| 5 | | 6-5 of the Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Coal | 6 | | Resources Development
Law of 1997, and Section 13 of the | 7 | | Energy Assistance Act.
| 8 | | After December 31, 2004, the provisions of this subsection | 9 | | (a) shall not
apply to an electric utility whose average | 10 | | residential retail rate was less
than or equal to 90% of the | 11 | | average residential retail rate for the "Midwest
Utilities", as | 12 | | that term is defined in subsection (b) of this Section, based | 13 | | on
data reported on Form 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory | 14 | | Commission for
calendar year 1995, and which served between | 15 | | 150,000 and 250,000 retail
customers in this State on January | 16 | | 1, 1995
unless the electric utility or its holding company has | 17 | | been acquired by or
merged with an affiliate of another | 18 | | electric utility subsequent to January 1,
2002. This exemption | 19 | | shall be limited to
this subsection (a) and shall not extend to | 20 | | any other provisions of this Act.
| 21 | | (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), each | 22 | | Illinois electric
utility serving more than 12,500 customers in | 23 | | Illinois shall file tariffs (i)
reducing, effective August 1, | 24 | | 1998, each component of its base rates to
residential retail
| 25 | | customers by 15% from the base rates in effect immediately | 26 | | prior to January 1,
1998 and (ii) if the public utility |
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| 1 | | provides electric service to (A) more
than
500,000
customers | 2 | | but less than 1,000,000 customers in this State on January 1,
| 3 | | 1999,
reducing, effective May 1, 2002, each component of its
| 4 | | base rates to residential retail customers by an additional 5% | 5 | | from the base
rates in effect immediately prior to January 1, | 6 | | 1998, or (B) at least
1,000,000 customers in this State on | 7 | | January 1, 1999,
reducing, effective October 1, 2001, each | 8 | | component of its
base rates to residential retail customers by | 9 | | an additional
5% from the base rates in effect immediately | 10 | | prior to
January 1, 1998.
Provided, however, that (A) if an | 11 | | electric utility's average residential
retail
rate is less than | 12 | | or equal to the average residential retail
rate for a group
of | 13 | | Midwest Utilities (consisting of all investor-owned electric | 14 | | utilities with
annual system peaks in excess of 1000 megawatts | 15 | | in the States of Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, | 16 | | Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin), based on
data
reported on Form | 17 | | 1 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for calendar
year | 18 | | 1995,
then it shall only be required to file tariffs (i) | 19 | | reducing, effective August
1, 1998, each component of its base | 20 | | rates to residential
retail customers by
5% from the base rates | 21 | | in effect immediately prior to January 1, 1998, (ii)
reducing, | 22 | | effective October 1, 2000, each component of its base
rates to | 23 | | residential retail customers by the lesser of 5% of the base | 24 | | rates in
effect immediately prior to January 1, 1998 or the
| 25 | | percentage by which the electric utility's average residential | 26 | | retail rate
exceeds the average residential retail rate of the |
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| 1 | | Midwest Utilities,
based on data
reported on Form 1 to the | 2 | | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for calendar
year 1999, | 3 | | and (iii) reducing, effective October 1, 2002, each component | 4 | | of its
base rates to
residential retail customers by an
| 5 | | additional amount equal to the lesser of 5% of the base rates | 6 | | in effect
immediately prior to January 1, 1998 or the | 7 | | percentage by which
the electric utility's average residential | 8 | | retail rate exceeds the average
residential retail rate of the | 9 | | Midwest Utilities,
based on data reported on Form
1 to the | 10 | | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for calendar year 2001; | 11 | | and (B)
if the average residential retail rate of an electric | 12 | | utility serving between
150,000
and 250,000 retail customers in | 13 | | this State on January 1, 1995 is less than or
equal to 90% of
| 14 | | the average residential retail rate for the Midwest Utilities, | 15 | | based on data
reported
on Form 1 to the Federal Energy | 16 | | Regulatory Commission for calendar year 1995,
then it shall | 17 | | only be required to file tariffs (i) reducing, effective August
| 18 | | 1,
1998, each component of its base rates to residential retail | 19 | | customers by 2%
from the base rates in effect immediately prior | 20 | | to January 1, 1998; (ii)
reducing, effective October 1, 2000, | 21 | | each component of its base rates to
residential retail | 22 | | customers by 2% from the base rate in effect immediately
prior | 23 | | to January 1, 1998; and (iii) reducing, effective October 1, | 24 | | 2002, each
component of its base rates to residential retail | 25 | | customers by 1% from the base
rates in effect immediately prior | 26 | | to January 1, 1998.
Provided,
further, that any electric |
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| 1 | | utility for which a decrease in base rates has been
or is | 2 | | placed into effect between October 1, 1996 and the dates | 3 | | specified in the
preceding sentences of this subsection, other | 4 | | than pursuant to the requirements
of this subsection,
shall be | 5 | | entitled to reduce the amount of any reduction or reductions in | 6 | | its
base rates required by this subsection by the amount of | 7 | | such other decrease.
The tariffs required under this
subsection | 8 | | shall be filed 45 days in advance of
the effective date.
| 9 | | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 9-220 of | 10 | | this Act, no
restatement of base rates in conjunction with the | 11 | | elimination of a fuel
adjustment clause under that Section | 12 | | shall result in a lesser decrease in base
rates than customers | 13 | | would otherwise receive under this subsection had the
electric | 14 | | utility's fuel adjustment clause not been eliminated.
| 15 | | (c) Any utility reducing its base rates by 15% on August 1, | 16 | | 1998 pursuant
to
subsection
(b)
shall include the following | 17 | | statement on its bills for residential customers
from August 1 | 18 | | through December 31, 1998: "Effective August 1, 1998, your | 19 | | rates
have been
reduced by 15% by the Electric Service
Customer | 20 | | Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by the Illinois | 21 | | General
Assembly.". Any utility reducing its base rates by 5% | 22 | | on August 1, 1998,
pursuant to subsection (b) shall include the | 23 | | following statement on its bills
for residential customers from | 24 | | August 1 through December 31, 1998: "Effective
August 1,
1998, | 25 | | your rates have been reduced by 5% by the Electric Service | 26 | | Customer
Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by the |
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| 1 | | Illinois General Assembly.".
| 2 | | Any utility reducing its base rates by 2% on August 1, 1998 | 3 | | pursuant to
subsection (b) shall include the following | 4 | | statement on its bills for
residential customers from August 1 | 5 | | through December 31, 1998: "Effective
August 1, 1998, your | 6 | | rates have been reduced by 2% by the Electric Service
Customer | 7 | | Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 passed by the Illinois | 8 | | General
Assembly.".
| 9 | | (d) (Blank.)
| 10 | | (e) (Blank.)
| 11 | | (f) During the mandatory transition period, an electric
| 12 | | utility may file revised tariffs reducing the price of any
| 13 | | tariffed service offered by the electric utility for all
| 14 | | customers taking that tariffed service, which shall be
| 15 | | effective 7 days after filing.
| 16 | | (g) Until all classes of tariffed services are declared | 17 | | competitive, an electric
utility may, without obtaining any | 18 | | approval of the Commission other than that
provided for in this | 19 | | subsection and
notwithstanding any other provision of this Act | 20 | | or any rule or
regulation of the Commission that would require | 21 | | such approval:
| 22 | | (1) implement a reorganization, other than a merger of | 23 | | 2 or
more public utilities as defined in Section 3-105 or | 24 | | their
holding companies;
| 25 | | (2) retire generating plants from service;
| 26 | | (3) sell, assign, lease or otherwise transfer assets to |
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| 1 | | an
affiliated or unaffiliated entity and as part of such
| 2 | | transaction enter into service agreements, power purchase
| 3 | | agreements, or other agreements with the transferee; | 4 | | provided,
however, that the prices, terms and conditions of | 5 | | any power
purchase agreement must be approved or allowed | 6 | | into effect by
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; or
| 7 | | (4) use any
accelerated cost recovery method including | 8 | | accelerated depreciation,
accelerated amortization or | 9 | | other capital recovery
methods, or record reductions to the | 10 | | original cost of its
assets.
| 11 | | In order to implement a reorganization, retire
generating | 12 | | plants from service, or sell, assign, lease or
otherwise | 13 | | transfer assets pursuant to this Section, the
electric utility | 14 | | shall comply with subsections (c) and (d) of Section
16-128, if | 15 | | applicable, and subsection (k) of this Section, if applicable,
| 16 | | and provide the Commission with at
least 30 days notice of the | 17 | | proposed reorganization or
transaction, which notice shall | 18 | | include the following
information:
| 19 | |
(i) a complete statement of the entries that the
| 20 | | electric utility will make on its books and records of
| 21 | | account to implement the proposed reorganization or
| 22 | | transaction together with a certification from an
| 23 | | independent certified public accountant that such entries
| 24 | | are in accord with generally accepted accounting
| 25 | | principles and, if the Commission has previously approved
| 26 | | guidelines for cost allocations between the utility and
its |
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| 1 | | affiliates, a certification from the chief accounting
| 2 | | officer of the utility that such entries are in accord
with | 3 | | those cost allocation guidelines;
| 4 | |
(ii) a description of how the electric utility will
| 5 | | use proceeds of any sale, assignment, lease or transfer
to | 6 | | retire debt or otherwise reduce or recover the costs
of | 7 | | services provided by such electric utility;
| 8 | |
(iii) a list of all federal approvals or approvals
| 9 | | required from departments and agencies of this State,
other | 10 | | than the Commission, that the electric utility has
or will | 11 | | obtain before implementing the reorganization or
| 12 | | transaction;
| 13 | |
(iv) an irrevocable commitment by the electric
utility | 14 | | that it will not, as a result of the transaction,
impose | 15 | | any stranded cost charges that it might otherwise
be | 16 | | allowed to charge retail customers under federal law
or | 17 | | increase the transition charges that it is otherwise
| 18 | | entitled to collect under this Article XVI;
| 19 | |
(v) if the electric utility proposes to sell,
assign, | 20 | | lease or otherwise transfer a generating plant
that brings | 21 | | the amount of net dependable generating
capacity | 22 | | transferred pursuant to this subsection to an
amount equal | 23 | | to or greater than 15% of the electric
utility's net | 24 | | dependable capacity as of the effective
date of this | 25 | | amendatory Act of 1997, and enters into a
power purchase | 26 | | agreement with the entity to which such
generating plant is |
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| 1 | | sold, assigned, leased, or otherwise
transferred, the | 2 | | electric utility also agrees, if its
fuel adjustment clause | 3 | | has not already been eliminated,
to eliminate its fuel | 4 | | adjustment clause in accordance
with subsection (b) of | 5 | | Section 9-220 for a period of time
equal to the length of | 6 | | any such power purchase agreement
or successor agreement, | 7 | | or until January 1, 2005,
whichever is longer; if the | 8 | | capacity of the generating
plant so transferred and related | 9 | | power purchase agreement
does not result in the elimination | 10 | | of the fuel adjustment
clause under this subsection, and | 11 | | the fuel adjustment clause has not already
been eliminated, | 12 | | the electric utility shall
agree that the costs associated | 13 | | with the transferred
plant that are included in the | 14 | | calculation of the rate
per kilowatt-hour to be applied | 15 | | pursuant to the electric
utility's fuel adjustment clause | 16 | | during such period shall
not exceed the per kilowatt-hour | 17 | | cost associated with
such generating plant included in the | 18 | | electric utility's
fuel adjustment clause during the full | 19 | | calendar year
preceding the transfer, with such limit to be | 20 | | adjusted
each year thereafter by the Gross Domestic Product
| 21 | | Implicit Price Deflator; and
| 22 | |
(vi) in
addition, if the electric utility proposes to | 23 | | sell, assign, or
lease, (A) either (1) an amount of | 24 | | generating plant that brings the amount of
net dependable | 25 | | generating capacity transferred pursuant to this | 26 | | subsection to
an amount equal to or greater than 15% of its |
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| 1 | | net dependable capacity on the
effective date of this | 2 | | amendatory Act of 1997, or (2) one or more generating
| 3 | | plants with a total net dependable capacity of 1100 | 4 | | megawatts, or (B)
transmission and distribution facilities | 5 | | that either (1) bring the amount of
transmission and | 6 | | distribution facilities transferred pursuant to this
| 7 | | subsection to an amount equal to or greater than 15% of the | 8 | | electric utility's
total depreciated original cost | 9 | | investment in such facilities, or (2) represent
an | 10 | | investment of $25,000,000 in terms of total depreciated | 11 | | original cost, the
electric utility shall provide, in
| 12 | | addition to the information listed in subparagraphs
(i) | 13 | | through (v), the following information: (A) a description | 14 | | of how the
electric utility will meet its service | 15 | | obligations under this Act in a safe and
reliable manner | 16 | | and (B) the electric utility's projected earned rate of
| 17 | | return on common equity for each year from the date of the | 18 | | notice through December 31,
2006
both with and without the | 19 | | proposed transaction. If
the Commission has not issued an | 20 | | order initiating a hearing on the proposed
transaction | 21 | | within 30 days after the date the electric utility's notice | 22 | | is
filed, the transaction shall be deemed approved. The | 23 | | Commission may, after
notice and hearing,
prohibit the | 24 | | proposed transaction if it makes either or both of the | 25 | | following
findings: (1) that the proposed transaction will | 26 | | render the electric utility
unable to provide its tariffed |
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| 1 | | services in a safe and reliable manner, or (2)
that there | 2 | | is a strong likelihood that consummation of the proposed | 3 | | transaction
will result in the electric utility being | 4 | | entitled to request an increase in
its base rates. Any | 5 | | hearing initiated by the Commission into the proposed
| 6 | | transaction shall be completed, and the Commission's final | 7 | | order approving or
prohibiting the proposed transaction | 8 | | shall be entered, within 90 days after the
date the | 9 | | electric utility's notice was filed.
Provided, however, | 10 | | that a sale, assignment, or lease of transmission | 11 | | facilities
to an independent system operator that meets the | 12 | | requirements of Section 16-126
shall not be subject to | 13 | | Commission approval under this Section.
| 14 | |
In any proceeding conducted by the Commission pursuant | 15 | | to this
subparagraph
(vi), intervention shall be limited to | 16 | | parties with a direct interest in the
transaction which is | 17 | | the subject of the hearing and any statutory consumer
| 18 | | protection agency as defined in subsection (d) of Section | 19 | | 9-102.1.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 10-113 | 20 | | of this Act, any application
seeking rehearing of an order | 21 | | issued under this subparagraph (vi), whether
filed by the | 22 | | electric utility or by an intervening party, shall be filed | 23 | | within
10 days after service of the order.
| 24 | | The Commission shall not in any subsequent proceeding or
| 25 | | otherwise, review such a reorganization or other transaction
| 26 | | authorized by this Section, but shall retain the authority to |
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| 1 | | allocate costs as
stated in Section 16-111(i). An entity to | 2 | | which an electric
utility sells, assigns, leases or transfers | 3 | | assets pursuant to
this subsection (g) shall not, as a result | 4 | | of the transactions
specified in this subsection (g), be deemed | 5 | | a public utility
as defined in Section 3-105. Nothing in this | 6 | | subsection (g)
shall change any requirement under the | 7 | | jurisdiction of the
Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety | 8 | | including, but not
limited to, the payment of fees. Nothing in | 9 | | this subsection
(g) shall exempt a utility from obtaining a | 10 | | certificate
pursuant to Section 8-406 of this Act for the | 11 | | construction of
a new electric generating facility. Nothing in | 12 | | this
subsection (g) is intended to exempt the transactions | 13 | | hereunder from the
operation of the federal or State antitrust
| 14 | | laws. Nothing in this subsection (g) shall require an electric
| 15 | | utility to use the procedures specified in this subsection for
| 16 | | any of the transactions specified herein. Any other procedure
| 17 | | available under this Act may, at the electric utility's
| 18 | | election, be used for any such transaction.
| 19 | | (h) During the mandatory transition period, the
Commission | 20 | | shall not establish or use any rates of
depreciation, which for | 21 | | purposes of this subsection shall
include amortization, for any | 22 | | electric utility other than
those established pursuant to | 23 | | subsection (c) of Section 5-104
of this Act or utilized | 24 | | pursuant to subsection (g) of this
Section. Provided, however, | 25 | | that in any proceeding to review an electric
utility's rates | 26 | | for tariffed services pursuant to Section 9-201, 9-202, 9-250
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| 1 | | or
16-111(d) of this Act, the Commission may establish new | 2 | | rates
of depreciation for the electric utility in the same | 3 | | manner provided in
subsection (d) of Section 5-104 of this Act.
| 4 | | An electric utility implementing an accelerated cost
recovery | 5 | | method including accelerated depreciation,
accelerated | 6 | | amortization or other capital recovery methods, or
recording | 7 | | reductions to the original cost of its assets,
pursuant to | 8 | | subsection (g) of this Section, shall file a
statement with the | 9 | | Commission describing the accelerated cost
recovery method to | 10 | | be implemented or the reduction in the
original cost of its | 11 | | assets to be recorded. Upon the filing
of such statement, the | 12 | | accelerated cost recovery method or the
reduction in the | 13 | | original cost of assets shall be deemed to be
approved by the | 14 | | Commission as though an order had been entered
by the | 15 | | Commission.
| 16 | | (i) Subsequent to the mandatory transition period, the
| 17 | | Commission, in any proceeding to establish rates and charges
| 18 | | for tariffed services offered by an electric utility, shall
| 19 | | consider only (1) the then current or projected revenues,
| 20 | | costs, investments and cost of capital directly or
indirectly | 21 | | associated with the provision of such tariffed
services; (2) | 22 | | collection of transition charges in accordance
with Sections | 23 | | 16-102 and 16-108 of this Act; (3) recovery of
any employee | 24 | | transition costs as described in Section 16-128
which the | 25 | | electric utility is continuing to incur, including
recovery of | 26 | | any unamortized portion of such costs previously
incurred or |
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| 1 | | committed, with such costs to be equitably
allocated among | 2 | | bundled services, delivery services, and
contracts with | 3 | | alternative retail electric suppliers; and (4)
recovery of the | 4 | | costs associated with the electric utility's
compliance with | 5 | | decommissioning funding requirements; and
shall not consider | 6 | | any other revenues, costs, investments
or cost of capital of | 7 | | either the electric utility or of any
affiliate of the electric | 8 | | utility that are not associated with the provision of
tariffed | 9 | | services. In setting rates for tariffed services, the | 10 | | Commission
shall equitably allocate joint and common costs and | 11 | | investments between the
electric utility's competitive and | 12 | | tariffed services. In determining the
justness and
| 13 | | reasonableness of the electric power and energy component of
an | 14 | | electric utility's rates for tariffed services subsequent
to | 15 | | the mandatory transition period and prior to the time that
the | 16 | | provision of such electric power and energy is declared
| 17 | | competitive, the Commission shall consider the extent to which
| 18 | | the electric utility's tariffed rates for such component for
| 19 | | each customer class exceed the market value determined
pursuant | 20 | | to Section 16-112, and, if the electric power and
energy | 21 | | component of such tariffed rate exceeds the market
value by | 22 | | more than 10% for any customer class, may
establish such | 23 | | electric power and energy component at a rate
equal to the | 24 | | market value plus 10%.
| 25 | | (j) During the mandatory transition period, an electric
| 26 | | utility may elect to transfer to a non-operating income
account |
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| 1 | | under the Commission's Uniform System of Accounts
either or | 2 | | both of (i) an amount of unamortized investment tax
credit that | 3 | | is in addition to the ratable amount which is
credited to the | 4 | | electric utility's operating income account
for the year in | 5 | | accordance with Section 46(f)(2) of the
federal Internal | 6 | | Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect prior to P.L. 101-508, or
| 7 | | (ii) "excess tax reserves",
as that term is defined in Section | 8 | | 203(e)(2)(A) of the federal
Tax Reform Act of 1986, provided | 9 | | that (A) the amount
transferred may not exceed the amount of | 10 | | the electric
utility's assets that were created pursuant to | 11 | | Statement of
Financial Accounting Standards No. 71 which the | 12 | | electric
utility has written off during the mandatory | 13 | | transition
period, and (B) the transfer shall not be effective | 14 | | until
approved by the Internal Revenue Service. An electric | 15 | | utility
electing to make such a transfer shall file a statement | 16 | | with
the Commission stating the amount and timing of the | 17 | | transfer
for which it intends to request approval of the | 18 | | Internal
Revenue Service, along with a copy of its proposed | 19 | | request to
the Internal Revenue Service for a ruling. The | 20 | | Commission
shall issue an order within 14 days after the | 21 | | electric
utility's filing approving, subject to receipt of | 22 | | approval
from the Internal Revenue Service, the proposed | 23 | | transfer.
| 24 | | (k) If an electric utility is selling or transferring
to a | 25 | | single buyer 5 or more generating plants located in this State | 26 | | with a
total net dependable capacity of 5000 megawatts or more
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| 1 | | pursuant to subsection (g) of this Section and has obtained
a | 2 | | sale price or consideration that exceeds 200% of
the book value | 3 | | of such plants, the electric utility must
provide to the | 4 | | Governor, the President of the Illinois
Senate, the Minority | 5 | | Leader of the Illinois Senate, the
Speaker of the Illinois | 6 | | House of Representatives, and the
Minority Leader of the | 7 | | Illinois House of Representatives no
later than 15 days after | 8 | | filing its notice under subsection
(g) of this Section or 5 | 9 | | days after the date on which this
subsection (k) becomes law, | 10 | | whichever is later, a written
commitment in which such electric | 11 | | utility agrees to expend
$2 billion outside the corporate | 12 | | limits of any municipality
with 1,000,000 or more inhabitants | 13 | | within such electric
utility's service area, over a 6-year | 14 | | period beginning
with the calendar year in which the notice is | 15 | | filed, on
projects, programs, and improvements within its | 16 | | service area
relating to transmission and distribution | 17 | | including, without
limitation, infrastructure expansion, | 18 | | repair and
replacement, capital investments, operations and
| 19 | | maintenance, and vegetation management.
| 20 | | (l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any | 21 | | rule, regulation, or prior order of the Commission, a public | 22 | | utility providing electric and gas service may do any one or | 23 | | more of the following: transfer assets to, reorganize with, or | 24 | | merge with one or more public utilities under common holding | 25 | | company ownership or control in the manner prescribed in | 26 | | subsection (g) of this Section. No merger transaction costs, |
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| 1 | | such as fees paid to attorneys, investment bankers, and other | 2 | | consultants, incurred in connection with a merger pursuant to | 3 | | this subsection (l) shall be recoverable in any subsequent rate | 4 | | proceeding. Approval of a merger pursuant to this subsection | 5 | | (l) shall not constitute approval of, or otherwise require, | 6 | | rate recovery of other costs incurred in connection with, or to | 7 | | implement the merger, such as the cost of restructuring, | 8 | | combining, or integrating debt, assets, or systems. Such other | 9 | | costs may be recovered only to the extent that the surviving | 10 | | utility can demonstrate that the cost savings produced by such | 11 | | restructuring, combination, or integration exceed the | 12 | | associated costs. Nothing in this subsection (l) shall impair | 13 | | the terms or conditions of employment or the collective | 14 | | bargaining rights of any employees of the utilities that are | 15 | | transferring assets, reorganizing, or merging.
| 16 | | (m) If an electric utility that on December 31, 2005 | 17 | | provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in | 18 | | Illinois transfers assets, reorganizes, or merges under this | 19 | | Section, then the same provisions apply that applied during the | 20 | | mandatory transition period under Section 16-128.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-481, eff. 8-28-07; | 22 | | 95-876, eff. 8-21-08.)
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