Full Text of SB2123 101st General Assembly
SB2123sam002 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Robert Peters Filed: 4/5/2019
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2123
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2123 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 3. Applicability. This Act shall apply to utilities | 7 | | as defined in this Act. | 8 | | Section 5. Findings and purpose. The General Assembly finds | 9 | | that Illinois homes and businesses can contribute to the | 10 | | creation of a clean energy economy, conservation of natural | 11 | | resources, and reliability of the electricity grid through the | 12 | | installation of cost-effective renewable energy generation, | 13 | | energy efficiency, and energy storage systems. The General | 14 | | Assembly further finds that a large portion of Illinois | 15 | | residents and businesses that would benefit from the |
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| 1 | | installation of energy efficiency, energy storage systems, and | 2 | | renewable energy generation systems are unable to purchase | 3 | | systems due to capital or credit barriers. The purpose of this | 4 | | Act is to implement much needed modifications to the State's | 5 | | regulation of utilities that the General Assembly believes will | 6 | | enable many more Illinoisans to access the health, | 7 | | environmental, and financial benefits of new clean energy | 8 | | technology. | 9 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 10 | | "Commission" means to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
| 11 | | "Energy project" means a renewable energy generation | 12 | | systems, solar projects, energy efficiency upgrades, energy | 13 | | storage systems, or any combination thereof.
| 14 | | "Program" means the Equitable Energy Financing Program | 15 | | established under this Act.
| 16 | | "Utility" means public utilities providing electric | 17 | | service to customers as provided under the Public Utilities | 18 | | Act, including Commonwealth Edison and Ameren.
| 19 | | Section 15. Equitable Energy Financing Program.
| 20 | | (a) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall establish a | 21 | | Program for all electric utilities in this State which permits | 22 | | customers to finance the construction of energy projects | 23 | | through an optional tariff payable directly through their | 24 | | utility bill, modeled after the PAYS or Pay as You Save program |
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| 1 | | design. The Program model shall offer to make investments in | 2 | | energy projects to customer properties with low-cost capital | 3 | | and use an opt-in tariff to recover the costs. This Program | 4 | | shall be referred to as the Equitable Energy Financing Program. | 5 | | The Program shall be designed to provide customers with | 6 | | financial savings if they choose to participate. The Program | 7 | | will allow residential electric utility customers that own the | 8 | | property, or renters that have permission of the owner, for | 9 | | which they subscribe to utility service, to purchase an energy | 10 | | project. The Program will ensure the following:
| 11 | | (1) eligible projects do not require up-front | 12 | | payments;
| 13 | | (2) eligible projects have an estimated life cycle | 14 | | savings that exceeds the cost of the project, subject to | 15 | | PAYS Program requirements;
| 16 | | (3) participants will finance the projects by paying | 17 | | for the project through an optional tariff directly through | 18 | | the participant's electricity bill, allowing participants | 19 | | to invest in energy projects without traditional loans;
| 20 | | (4) accessibility by lower income residents and | 21 | | environmental justice community residents; and
| 22 | | (5) administration is in coordination with the energy | 23 | | efficiency on-bill financing program established in the | 24 | | Public Utilities Act to maximize access and financial | 25 | | savings by residents.
| 26 | | (b) The Program shall be established as follows: |
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| 1 | | (1) The Program shall begin for the first year as a | 2 | | pilot program. During the first year of operation, each | 3 | | utility is required to provide financing for energy | 4 | | projects at a total project cost of $20,000,000 annually. | 5 | | (2) Beginning in the second year, each utility is | 6 | | required to provide systems for a total project cost of | 7 | | $40,000,000 annually. | 8 | | (3) Beginning in the third year of programming, each | 9 | | utility shall be required to provide as many systems as | 10 | | customers demand, subject to available capital provided by | 11 | | the utility, State, or other lenders. | 12 | | (4) The Commission shall establish Program guidelines | 13 | | with the anticipated schedule of Program availability. | 14 | | (c) In the design of the Equitable Energy Financing | 15 | | Program, the Commission shall:
| 16 | | (1) Within 90 days after the effective date of this | 17 | | Act, convene a workshop process during which interested | 18 | | participants may discuss issues and submit comments | 19 | | related to the Program.
| 20 | | (2) Establish PAYS program guidelines that electric | 21 | | utilities will abide by when designing their plan to | 22 | | participate in the Program. Program guidelines established | 23 | | by the Commission shall include the following elements:
| 24 | | (A) Capital funds. The Commission shall establish | 25 | | conditions under which utilities secure capital to | 26 | | fund the energy projects. The Commission may allow |
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| 1 | | utilities to raise capital independently, work with | 2 | | third party lenders to secure the capital for | 3 | | participants, or a combination thereof. Any process | 4 | | the Commission approves must use a market mechanism to | 5 | | identify the least costly sources of capital funds so | 6 | | as to pass on maximum savings to participants. The | 7 | | State of Illinois may also choose to provide capital | 8 | | for this Program.
| 9 | | (B) Customer protections. Customer protection | 10 | | guidelines should be designed based on the principles | 11 | | established in Section 20, subject to PAYS program | 12 | | design requirements..
| 13 | | (C) Energy project vendors. The Commission shall | 14 | | establish conditions by which utilities may connect | 15 | | Program participants to energy project vendors. In | 16 | | setting conditions for connection, the Commission may | 17 | | prioritize vendors that have a history of good | 18 | | relations with the State, including vendors which have | 19 | | hired participants from State-created job training | 20 | | programs.
| 21 | | (D) Financial savings guarantee. The guidelines | 22 | | established by the Commission shall include a | 23 | | reasonable guarantee of anticipated financial savings | 24 | | by Program participants.
| 25 | | (d) Within 120 days after the Commission releases the | 26 | | Program conditions established under this Section, each |
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| 1 | | utility subject to the requirements of this Section shall | 2 | | submit an informational filing to the Commission that describes | 3 | | its plan for implementing the provisions of this Act. If the | 4 | | Commission finds that the submission does not properly comply | 5 | | with the statutory or regulatory requirements of the Program, | 6 | | the Commission may require that the utility make modifications | 7 | | to their filing.
| 8 | | (e) An independent evaluation of the Program shall be | 9 | | conducted after 2 years of the Program's operation. The | 10 | | Illinois Commerce Commission shall convene an advisory council | 11 | | of stakeholders, including representation of low income and | 12 | | environment justice Community members, to make recommendations | 13 | | in response to the findings of the independent evaluation. | 14 | | (f) Participation in the Program by utilities shall be | 15 | | mandatory from Program launch through January 1, 2031. After | 16 | | January 1, 2031, participation in the Program by utilities is | 17 | | voluntary. | 18 | | Section 20. Customer protections; cost-effectiveness.
| 19 | | (a) The Equitable Energy Financing Program shall be | 20 | | designed using PAYS program guidelines to be cost-effective for | 21 | | customers. Only projects that are deemed to be cost-effective | 22 | | and can be reasonably expected to ensure customer savings are | 23 | | eligible for funding through the Program. | 24 | | (b) Eligible customers must be: (1) property renters with | 25 | | permission of the property owner; or (2) property owners.
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| 1 | | (c) The calculation of cost-effectiveness must be | 2 | | conducted by an objective process established by the Illinois | 3 | | Commerce Commission. Except as otherwise provided under this | 4 | | subsection (c), the calculation of cost-effectiveness shall be | 5 | | based upon PAYS program requirements. | 6 | | Calculations of cost effectiveness based upon utility | 7 | | provider shall be as follows: | 8 | | (1) For Commonwealth Edison, the cost-effectiveness | 9 | | calculation is not required to include financial savings | 10 | | from sources other than electricity. However, if projects | 11 | | provide a financial benefit beyond electricity savings, | 12 | | such as an expected natural gas use reduction, utilities | 13 | | and vendors are permitted to include this in the | 14 | | cost-benefit calculation. | 15 | | (2) For Ameren, the cost-effectiveness calculation | 16 | | must include financial savings from both electricity and | 17 | | natural gas reduction. | 18 | | A project shall be considered cost-effective only if the | 19 | | projected customer reduces his or her payment amount by at | 20 | | least 5% over his or her projected costs without the energy | 21 | | project. The Commission may establish guidelines by which this | 22 | | required savings is measured.
| 23 | | (d) The Equitable Energy Financing Program should be | 24 | | modeled after the PAYS, or Pay As You Save, style system by | 25 | | which Program participants finance energy projects using the | 26 | | savings that the energy project creates with an on-bill |
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| 1 | | financing program. Eligible projects shall not:
| 2 | | (1) create personal debt for the customer;
| 3 | | (2) result in a lien in the event of nonpayment by | 4 | | customers; or
| 5 | | (3) require customers to pay for defective energy | 6 | | projects.
| 7 | | (e) Any energy project that is defective or damaged due to | 8 | | no fault of the participant must be either replaced or repaired | 9 | | with parts that meet industry standards. The Commission may | 10 | | establish, increase, or replace the requirements imposed by | 11 | | this subsection (e). The Illinois Commerce Commission may | 12 | | determine that this responsibility is best handled by | 13 | | participating project vendors in the form of insurance, | 14 | | contractual guarantees, or other mechanisms, and issue rules | 15 | | detailing this requirement. | 16 | | (f) In the event of nonpayment, the remaining balance due | 17 | | to pay off the system shall remain with the utility meter. The | 18 | | Commission shall otherwise establish conditions in the event of | 19 | | nonpayment by customers, subject to the requirements of this | 20 | | subsection (f).
| 21 | | Section 25. Utility participation in the Program.
| 22 | | (a) All electric utilities in this State shall be required | 23 | | to participate in the Program established under this Act. | 24 | | Utilities shall not discriminate against customers on the basis | 25 | | of their energy supplier.
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| 1 | | (b) If the demand by utility customers exceeds the Program | 2 | | capital supply in a given year, utilities shall ensure 50% of | 3 | | participants are: | 4 | | (1) members of households that make 150% or less of | 5 | | area median income; or | 6 | | (2) residents of environmental justice communities. | 7 | | (c) Utilities shall endeavor to inform customers about the | 8 | | availability of the Program, their potential eligibility for | 9 | | participation in the Program, as well as to whether they are | 10 | | likely to save money on the basis of an estimate conducted | 11 | | using variables consistent with the Program that the utility | 12 | | has at its disposal. The Commission may establish guidelines by | 13 | | which utilities must abide by this directive.
| 14 | | (d) Subject to Commission specifications established in | 15 | | Section 15, each utility shall work with certified project | 16 | | vendors selected under a request for proposal process to | 17 | | establish the terms and processes under which a participant can | 18 | | purchase eligible renewable energy generation and energy | 19 | | storage systems using the financing obtained from the lender | 20 | | through a program designed to fit the Equitable Energy | 21 | | Financing Program model. The certified project vendor shall | 22 | | explain and offer the approved financing packaging to customers | 23 | | and shall assist customers in applying for financing through | 24 | | the Equitable Energy Financing Program. As part of the process, | 25 | | vendors shall also provide participants with information about | 26 | | any other relevant incentives that may be available.
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| 1 | | (e) An electric utility shall recover all of the prudently | 2 | | incurred costs of offering a program approved by the Commission | 3 | | under this Section.
| 4 | | (f) The Illinois Commerce Commission shall adopt all rules | 5 | | necessary for the administration of this Section.
| 6 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 | | becoming law.".
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