Full Text of HB1472 102nd General Assembly
HB1472ham002 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Lawrence Walsh, Jr. Filed: 4/20/2021
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1472
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1472, AS AMENDED, | 3 | | by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 | | following:
| 5 | | "Section 5. The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act is | 6 | | amended by adding Section 5-45.8 as follows: | 7 | | (5 ILCS 100/5-45.8 new) | 8 | | Sec. 5-45.8. Emergency rulemaking; Public Utilities Act. | 9 | | To provide for the expeditious and timely implementation of | 10 | | changes made to the Public Utilities Act by this amendatory | 11 | | Act of the 102nd General Assembly, emergency rules | 12 | | implementing the changes made to the Public Utilities Act by | 13 | | this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly may be | 14 | | adopted in accordance with Section 5-45 by the Illinois | 15 | | Commerce Commission. The adoption of emergency rules | 16 | | authorized by Section 5-45 and this Section is deemed to be |
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| 1 | | necessary for the
public interest, safety, and welfare. | 2 | | This Section is repealed on January 1, 2026. | 3 | | Section 10. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | 4 | | Sections 4-701, 4-702, 9-228, and 16-131 as follows: | 5 | | (220 ILCS 5/4-701 new) | 6 | | Sec. 4-701. Electric Utility Independent Monitor. | 7 | | (a) It is the policy of this State to ensure public | 8 | | utilities adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct. | 9 | | Recent events have demonstrated that at least one public | 10 | | utility in this State has not adhered to the standards of | 11 | | conduct expected by the State, and as such, has breached the | 12 | | public trust. The General Assembly finds this offensive | 13 | | conduct warrants a response that ensures transparency and | 14 | | ethical standards are adhered to. The General Assembly | 15 | | therefore declares its intent to impose heightened scrutiny | 16 | | and rigorous standards to increase transparency and ensure | 17 | | ethics compliance. Further, it is the intent of the General | 18 | | Assembly to remediate public utility wrongdoing and penalize | 19 | | impropriety. | 20 | | (b) This Section applies to electric public utilities | 21 | | serving more than 3,000,000 retail customers in the State for | 22 | | the duration of any deferred prosecution agreement, pending | 23 | | criminal charges, ongoing criminal investigation, and term of | 24 | | criminal penalties against the public utility or any of its |
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| 1 | | officers or former officers. | 2 | | (c) Within 60 days after the effective date of this | 3 | | amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Commission | 4 | | shall begin the process of creating the position of Electric | 5 | | Utility Independent Monitor. The responsibilities of the | 6 | | Electric Utility Independent Monitor shall include the | 7 | | following: | 8 | | (1) developing and publishing annual ethics audits of | 9 | | electric public utilities serving more than 3,000,000 | 10 | | retail customers in the State; | 11 | | (2) hiring additional staff or contract entities as | 12 | | necessary to fulfill the obligations of this Section; | 13 | | (3) developing a public reporting system to record | 14 | | each and every communication, including who was present, | 15 | | the subject matter discussed, materials provided or | 16 | | discussed, whether the meeting was in-person, via video, | 17 | | or telephonic, and the date and time of the communication, | 18 | | between a representative, employee, officer, or executive | 19 | | of an electric public utility and a Commissioner, | 20 | | representative, employee, or staff of the Commission; | 21 | | (4) overseeing an electric public utility's compliance | 22 | | with the standards described by statute, rule, or court | 23 | | order regarding standards of ethical conduct; | 24 | | (5) working in coordination with an electric public | 25 | | utility's highest officer responsible for compliance and | 26 | | ethics, such as a Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer, to |
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| 1 | | ensure the utility complies with ethics standards provided | 2 | | by law, rule, and any other applicable authority, through | 3 | | investigation, enforcement, reporting, and disciplinary | 4 | | activities, including fines; | 5 | | (6) documenting violations of statutes, rules, court | 6 | | order, internal controls, Commission orders, or other | 7 | | applicable authority regarding ethics and transparency and | 8 | | ensure appropriate internal disciplinary actions are taken | 9 | | and the violation is reported to the Commission when | 10 | | appropriate; | 11 | | (7) filing reports with the Commission of each and | 12 | | every event where an electric public utility has not taken | 13 | | disciplinary action for a violation of statutes, rules, | 14 | | court order, internal controls, Commission orders, or | 15 | | other applicable authority regarding ethics and | 16 | | transparency, or where the public utility does not take a | 17 | | disciplinary action that aligns with the recommendation of | 18 | | the Electric Utility Independent Monitor; | 19 | | (8) recommending to the Commission that it adopt new | 20 | | internal controls, policies, practices, or procedures to | 21 | | apply to an electric public utility to ensure compliance | 22 | | with statute, rule, court order, or other applicable | 23 | | authority; | 24 | | (9) publishing an annual ethics audit for an electric | 25 | | public utility subject to this Section describing the | 26 | | electric public utility's internal controls, policies, |
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| 1 | | practices, and procedures to comply with statutes, rules, | 2 | | court orders, or other applicable authority; this report | 3 | | should also include a record of any disciplinary actions | 4 | | taken related to unethical conduct as well as any | 5 | | recommendations the Electric Utility Independent Monitor | 6 | | has made and the public utility's response; | 7 | | (10) detailing deficiencies in a report to the | 8 | | Commission and the General Assembly that shall include a | 9 | | recommendation for
Commission action if the Electric | 10 | | Utility Independent Monitor finds that an electric public | 11 | | utility has not complied with standards set forth by law, | 12 | | rules, or by other applicable authority; and | 13 | | (11) monitoring, auditing, and subpoenaing all records | 14 | | necessary for the Electric Utility Independent Monitor to | 15 | | meet the responsibilities described in this Section and | 16 | | related rules, including, but not limited to, contracts | 17 | | with third party entities, accounting records, | 18 | | communication with public officials or their staff, | 19 | | lobbying activities, expenses on lobbyists and | 20 | | consultants, legal expenses, and internal compliance | 21 | | policies. | 22 | | (d) An electric public utility subject to this Section | 23 | | shall remit amounts necessary for the Commission to pay the | 24 | | wages, overhead, travel expenses, and other costs of the | 25 | | Electric Utility Independent Monitor and staff as determined | 26 | | by the Commission. |
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| 1 | | (e) An electric public utility's cost of compliance with | 2 | | this Section is not a cost of service and shall not be | 3 | | recoverable in rates. | 4 | | (f) Where an electric public utility is the subject of a | 5 | | federal or State criminal investigation or where the | 6 | | Commission initiates an investigation of an ethics violation, | 7 | | the utility's costs related to such investigation are not a | 8 | | cost of service and shall not be recoverable in rates. | 9 | | (g) The Commission shall have the authority to retain an | 10 | | independent third party to serve as the Electric Utility | 11 | | Independent Monitor pursuant to this Section. | 12 | | (h) The Commission shall have the authority to create | 13 | | rules and emergency rules where applicable to implement this | 14 | | Section. | 15 | | (220 ILCS 5/4-702 new) | 16 | | Sec. 4-702. Electric utility audit. | 17 | | (a) Within 30 days after the effective date of this | 18 | | amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Commission | 19 | | may begin the process of contracting with a third party or | 20 | | hiring additional personnel as needed to conduct an audit | 21 | | pursuant to this Section. | 22 | | (b) The Commission shall conduct an audit of all electric | 23 | | systems investments made by a participating utility, other | 24 | | than a combination utility. This audit shall include a review | 25 | | of: |
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| 1 | | (1) system upgrade costs and intended benefits; | 2 | | (2) whether the investment was part of the | 3 | | participating utility's investment obligations under | 4 | | subsection (b) of Section 16-108.5 of this Act; | 5 | | (3) benefits to ratepayers; | 6 | | (4) efficiencies gained as a result of investments | 7 | | made by the participating utility; | 8 | | (5) steps taken to minimize costs to consumers; and | 9 | | (6) any other information the Commission determines is | 10 | | necessary to analyze the costs and benefits of these smart | 11 | | grid electric systems upgrades. | 12 | | (c) The Commission must prepare and file a final report | 13 | | with the General Assembly analyzing the costs and benefits of | 14 | | the smart meter program and other smart grid electric systems | 15 | | upgrades no later than 2 years after the effective date of this | 16 | | amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly. | 17 | | (d) The Commission is authorized to monitor, audit, and | 18 | | subpoena all records necessary to meet responsibilities | 19 | | described in this Section. | 20 | | (e) An electric public utility subject to this Section | 21 | | shall remit amounts necessary for the Commission to pay the | 22 | | wages, contract costs, overhead, travel expenses, and other | 23 | | costs incurred to meet the responsibilities of this Section. | 24 | | The electric public utility's cost of compliance with this | 25 | | Section is not a cost of service shall not be recoverable in | 26 | | rates. |
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| 1 | | (220 ILCS 5/9-228 new) | 2 | | Sec. 9-228. Limits on public utility expenses. The | 3 | | Commission shall not consider any of the following as an | 4 | | expense of any public utility company, including any | 5 | | allocation of those costs to the public utility from an | 6 | | affiliate or corporate parent for the purpose of determining | 7 | | any rate or charge, any amount expended for: | 8 | | (1) the pension or other post-employment benefits for | 9 | | an employee convicted of committing a criminal act in the | 10 | | course of his or her work with the utility; | 11 | | (2) any severance or post-employment costs for an | 12 | | employee convicted of committing a criminal act in the | 13 | | course of his or her work with the utility; and | 14 | | (3) criminal penalties, fines, fees, and costs related | 15 | | to criminal charges, criminal investigations, or deferred | 16 | | prosecution agreements. | 17 | | (220 ILCS 5/16-131 new) | 18 | | Sec. 16-131. Criminal penalty electric utility rebate. | 19 | | (a) It is the policy of this State that ethical and | 20 | | criminal misconduct by electric utilities harms ratepayers by | 21 | | destroying public trust. The General Assembly finds it | 22 | | necessary to remediate harm caused by electric utilities by | 23 | | requiring that criminal penalties, or an amount equal to the | 24 | | criminal penalty paid by an electric utility, be rebated to |
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| 1 | | ratepayers as restitution for the breach of public trust. | 2 | | (b) Electric utilities shall rebate to ratepayers an | 3 | | amount equal to the total amount of penalties or fines paid to | 4 | | the State or federal government in the preceding 12 months as a | 5 | | result of a criminal investigation, criminal charge, or | 6 | | deferred prosecution agreement beginning in the year | 7 | | subsequent to the remittance of the penalty or fine. This | 8 | | rebate shall be amortized in the rates over a period of 3 | 9 | | years. | 10 | | (c) The rebate amount is not a cost of service and shall | 11 | | not be recoverable through rates. | 12 | | (d) The utility must file a rebate rider tariff with the | 13 | | Commission and any bill adjustment resulting from such rebate | 14 | | rider shall appear as a separate line item on the customer's | 15 | | bill. | 16 | | (e) An electric utility must submit all information | 17 | | regarding criminal fines, fees, and penalties annually to the | 18 | | Commission. | 19 | | (f) The Commission shall have emergency rulemaking | 20 | | authority to implement this Section.
| 21 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 | | becoming law.".
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