Full Text of HB3328 101st General Assembly
HB3328ham001 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Sonya M. Harper Filed: 3/20/2019
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3328
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3328 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Equitable Energy Financing Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Findings and purpose. The General Assembly finds | 7 | | that Illinois homes and businesses can contribute to the | 8 | | creation of a clean energy economy, conservation of natural | 9 | | resources, and reliability of the electricity grid through the | 10 | | installation of cost-effective renewable energy generation, | 11 | | energy efficiency, and energy storage systems. The General | 12 | | Assembly further finds that a large portion of Illinois | 13 | | residents and businesses that would benefit from the | 14 | | installation of energy efficiency, energy storage systems, and | 15 | | renewable energy generation systems are unable to purchase | 16 | | systems due to capital or credit barriers. The purpose of this |
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| 1 | | Act is to implement much needed modifications to the State's | 2 | | regulation of utilities that the General Assembly believes will | 3 | | enable many more Illinoisans to access the health, | 4 | | environmental, and financial benefits of new clean energy | 5 | | technology. | 6 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 7 | | "Commission" means to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
| 8 | | "Energy project" means a renewable energy generation | 9 | | system, energy efficiency upgrades, energy storage systems, or | 10 | | any combination thereof.
| 11 | | "Program" refers to the Equitable Energy Financing Program | 12 | | established under this Act.
| 13 | | "Utility" means public utilities providing electric | 14 | | service to customers under the Public Utilities Act, as well as | 15 | | municipal electricity aggregators and electricity | 16 | | cooperatives.
| 17 | | Section 15. Equitable Energy Financing Program.
| 18 | | (a) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish a | 19 | | Program for all electric utilities in this State which permits | 20 | | customers to finance the construction of energy projects | 21 | | through an optional tariff payable directly through their | 22 | | utility bill, modeled after the Pay As You Save (PAYS) program | 23 | | design. The Program model shall make investments in energy | 24 | | projects for customer properties with low-cost capital and use |
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| 1 | | an opt-in tariff to recover the costs. This Program shall be | 2 | | referred to as the Equitable Energy Financing Program. The | 3 | | Program shall be designed to provide customers with financial | 4 | | savings if they choose to participate. The Program will allow | 5 | | residential electric utility customers that own the property, | 6 | | or renters that have a long-term lease on the property, for | 7 | | which they subscribe to utility service to purchase an energy | 8 | | project. The Program will ensure:
| 9 | | (1) that eligible projects do not require up-front | 10 | | payments;
| 11 | | (2) that eligible projects have an estimated life cycle | 12 | | savings that exceeds the cost of the project;
| 13 | | (3) that participants will finance the projects by | 14 | | paying for the project through an optional tariff directly | 15 | | through the participant's electricity bill, allowing | 16 | | participants to invest in energy projects without | 17 | | traditional loans;
| 18 | | (4) accessibility for lower income residents and | 19 | | environmental justice community residents; and
| 20 | | (5) that administration is in coordination with the | 21 | | energy efficiency on-bill financing program established in | 22 | | the Public Utilities Act to maximize access and financial | 23 | | savings by residents.
| 24 | | (b) In the design of the Equitable Energy Financing | 25 | | Program, the Commission shall:
| 26 | | (1) Within 60 days after the effective date of this |
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| 1 | | Act, convene a workshop process during which interested | 2 | | participants may discuss issues and submit comments | 3 | | related to the Program.
| 4 | | (2) Establish Program guidelines that electric | 5 | | utilities will abide by when designing their plan to | 6 | | participate in the Program. Program guidelines established | 7 | | by the Commission shall include the following elements:
| 8 | | (A) The Commission shall establish conditions | 9 | | under which utilities secure capital to fund the energy | 10 | | projects. The Commission may allow utilities to raise | 11 | | capital independently, work with third party lenders | 12 | | to secure the capital for participants, or a | 13 | | combination thereof. Any process the Commission | 14 | | approves must use a market mechanism to identify the | 15 | | least costly sources of capital funds so as to pass on | 16 | | maximum savings to participants. The State of Illinois | 17 | | may also choose to provide capital for this Program.
| 18 | | (B) Customer protection guidelines should be | 19 | | designed based on the principles established in | 20 | | Section 20.
| 21 | | (C) The Commission shall establish conditions by | 22 | | which utilities may connect Program participants to | 23 | | energy project vendors. In setting conditions for | 24 | | connection, the Commission may prioritize vendors that | 25 | | have a history of good relations with the State, | 26 | | including vendors which have hired participants from |
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| 1 | | State-created job training programs.
| 2 | | (D) The guidelines established by the Commission | 3 | | shall include a guarantee of anticipated financial | 4 | | savings by Program participants.
| 5 | | (c) Within 60 days after the Commission releases the | 6 | | Program conditions established under this Section, each | 7 | | utility subject to the requirements of this Section shall | 8 | | submit an informational filing to the Commission that describes | 9 | | its plan for implementing the provisions of this Act. If the | 10 | | Commission finds that the submission does not properly comply | 11 | | with the statutory or regulatory requirements of the Program, | 12 | | the Commission may require that the utility make modifications | 13 | | to its filing.
| 14 | | (d) An independent evaluation of the Program shall be | 15 | | conducted after the Program has been operating for 2 years. An | 16 | | advisory council of stakeholders, including representatives of | 17 | | low income and environment justice community members assembled | 18 | | by the Commission shall make recommendations in response to the | 19 | | findings of the independent evaluation. | 20 | | Section 20. Customer protections; cost-effectiveness.
| 21 | | (a) The Equitable Energy Financing Program shall be | 22 | | designed to be cost-effective for customers to realize | 23 | | guaranteed savings in their utility bills. Only projects that | 24 | | are deemed by the Commission to be cost-effective and can be | 25 | | reasonably expected to ensure customer savings are eligible for |
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| 1 | | funding through the Program. Projects shall only be considered | 2 | | cost-effective if they deliver savings to the customer. | 3 | | Anticipated savings must be expected to be present both (1) on | 4 | | a monthly or bill-cycle basis and (2) over the lifetime of the | 5 | | energy project.
| 6 | | (b) Eligible customers must be: (1) retail customers who | 7 | | are renters with long-term leases; or (2) property owners.
| 8 | | (c) The calculation of cost-effectiveness must be | 9 | | conducted by an objective process established by the | 10 | | Commission. Factors that may be used to establish whether a | 11 | | project is cost-effective include, but are not limited to, the | 12 | | following:
| 13 | | (1) estimated energy produced or conserved by a | 14 | | potential energy project;
| 15 | | (2) historical and projected energy prices;
| 16 | | (3) participant access to net-metering rebates;
| 17 | | (4) a participant's ability to sell energy credits | 18 | | created by the energy project in Illinois or other | 19 | | jurisdictions; and
| 20 | | (5) a participant's history of energy use and bill | 21 | | costs.
| 22 | | A project shall be considered cost-effective only if the | 23 | | projected customer reduces his or her payment amount by at | 24 | | least 5% over his or her projected costs without the energy | 25 | | project. The Commission may establish guidelines by which this | 26 | | required savings is measured.
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| 1 | | (d) The Equitable Energy Financing Program shall be modeled | 2 | | after the Pay As You Save (PAYS), system in which Program | 3 | | participants finance energy projects using the savings that the | 4 | | energy project creates with an on-bill financing program. | 5 | | Eligible projects shall not:
| 6 | | (1) create personal debt for the customer;
| 7 | | (2) result in a lien in the event of nonpayment by | 8 | | customers; or
| 9 | | (3) require customers to pay for defective energy | 10 | | projects.
| 11 | | (e) Any energy project that is defective or damaged must be | 12 | | either replaced or repaired with parts that meet industry | 13 | | standards. The Commission may establish, increase, or replace | 14 | | the requirements imposed by this subsection (e).
| 15 | | (f) The Commission shall establish conditions in the event | 16 | | of nonpayment by customers.
| 17 | | Section 25. Utility participation in the Program.
| 18 | | (a) All electric utilities in this State shall be required | 19 | | to participate in the Program. Utilities shall not discriminate | 20 | | against customers on the basis of their energy supplier.
| 21 | | (b) Utilities shall use reasonable efforts to inform | 22 | | customers about the availability of the Program, their | 23 | | potential eligibility for participation in the Program, as well | 24 | | as to whether they are likely to save money on the basis of an | 25 | | estimate conducted using variables consistent with the Program |
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| 1 | | that the utility has at its disposal. The Commission may | 2 | | establish guidelines by which utilities must abide by in | 3 | | fulfilling these requirements.
| 4 | | (c) Subject to Commission specifications established in | 5 | | Section 15, each utility shall work with certified project | 6 | | vendors selected under a request for proposal process to | 7 | | establish the terms and processes under which a participant can | 8 | | purchase eligible renewable energy generation and energy | 9 | | storage systems using the financing obtained from the lender | 10 | | through a program designed to fit the Equitable Energy | 11 | | Financing Program model. The certified project vendor shall | 12 | | explain and offer the approved financing packaging to customers | 13 | | and shall assist customers in applying for financing through | 14 | | the Equitable Energy Financing Program. As part of the process, | 15 | | vendors shall also provide participants with information about | 16 | | any other relevant incentives that may be available.
| 17 | | (d) An electric utility shall recover all of the prudently | 18 | | incurred costs of offering a program approved by the Commission | 19 | | under this Section.
| 20 | | (e) The Commission shall adopt all rules necessary for the | 21 | | administration of this Act.
| 22 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 23 | | becoming law.".
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