Full Text of SB1131 103rd General Assembly
SB1131sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Sue Rezin Filed: 4/10/2024 | | 10300SB1131sam001 | | LRB103 05572 AWJ 69932 a |
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1131
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1131 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following: | 4 | | "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 8-205 and 9-210.5 as follows: | 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/8-205) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-205) | 7 | | Sec. 8-205. Termination of a utility service. | 8 | | (a) Termination of gas and electric utility service to all | 9 | | residential users, including all tenants of mastermetered | 10 | | apartment buildings, for nonpayment of bills, where gas or | 11 | | electricity is used as the only source of space heating or to | 12 | | control or operate the only space heating equipment at the | 13 | | residence is prohibited : , | 14 | | (1) on any day when the National Weather Service | 15 | | forecast for the following 24 hours covering the area of | 16 | | the utility in which the residence is located includes a |
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| 1 | | forecast that the temperature will be 32 degrees | 2 | | Fahrenheit or below; or | 3 | | (2) on any day preceding a holiday or a weekend when | 4 | | such a forecast indicated that the temperature will be 32 | 5 | | degrees Fahrenheit or below during the holiday or weekend. | 6 | | (b) If gas or electricity is used as the only source of | 7 | | space cooling or to control or operate the only space cooling | 8 | | equipment at a residence, then a utility may not terminate gas | 9 | | or electric utility service to a residential user, including | 10 | | all tenants of mastermetered apartment buildings, for | 11 | | nonpayment of bills: | 12 | | (1) on any day when the National Weather Service | 13 | | forecast for the following 24 hours covering the area of | 14 | | the utility in which the residence is located includes a | 15 | | forecast that the temperature will be 90 degrees | 16 | | Fahrenheit or above; | 17 | | (2) on any day preceding a holiday or weekend when the | 18 | | National Weather Service for the following 24 hours | 19 | | covering the area of the utility in which the residence is | 20 | | located includes a forecast that the temperature will be | 21 | | 90 degrees Fahrenheit or above during the holiday or | 22 | | weekend; or | 23 | | (3) when the National Weather Service issues an | 24 | | excessive heat watch, heat advisory, or excessive heat | 25 | | warning covering the area of the utility in which the | 26 | | residence is located. |
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| 1 | | (c) Termination of water utility service to a residential | 2 | | user, including a tenant of a mastermetered apartment | 3 | | building, for nonpayment of bills is prohibited: | 4 | | (1) on any day when the National Weather Service | 5 | | forecast for the following 6 days covering the area of the | 6 | | utility in which the residence is located includes a | 7 | | forecast that the temperature will be 32 degrees | 8 | | Fahrenheit or below; | 9 | | (2) on any day when the National Weather Service | 10 | | forecast for the following 6 days covering the area of the | 11 | | utility in which the residence is located includes a | 12 | | forecast that the temperature will be 90 degrees | 13 | | Fahrenheit or above; or | 14 | | (3) when the National Weather Service issues an | 15 | | excessive heat watch, excessive heat warning, or heat | 16 | | advisory covering the area of the utility in which the | 17 | | residence is located. | 18 | | (Source: P.A. 103-19, eff. 1-1-24; revised 1-2-24.) | 19 | | (220 ILCS 5/9-210.5) | 20 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on June 1, 2028) | 21 | | Sec. 9-210.5. Valuation of water and sewer utilities. | 22 | | (a) In this Section: | 23 | | "Disinterested" means that the person directly | 24 | | involved (1) is not a director, officer, or an employee of | 25 | | the large public utility or the water or sewer utility or |
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| 1 | | its direct affiliates or subsidiaries for at least 12 | 2 | | months before becoming engaged under this Section; (2) | 3 | | shall not derive a material financial benefit from the | 4 | | sale of the water or sewer utility other than fees for | 5 | | services rendered, and (3) shall not have a member of the | 6 | | person's immediate family, including a spouse, parents or | 7 | | spouse's parents, children or spouses of children, or | 8 | | siblings and their spouses or children, be a director, | 9 | | officer, or employee of either the large public utility or | 10 | | water or sewer utility or the water or sewer utility or its | 11 | | direct affiliates or subsidiaries for at least 12 months | 12 | | before becoming engaged under this Section or receive a | 13 | | material financial benefit from the sale of the water or | 14 | | sewer utility other than fees for services rendered. | 15 | | "District" means a service area of a large public | 16 | | utility whose customers are subject to the same rate | 17 | | tariff. | 18 | | "Large public utility" means an investor-owned public | 19 | | utility that: | 20 | | (1) is subject to regulation by the Illinois | 21 | | Commerce Commission under this Act; | 22 | | (2) regularly provides water or sewer service to | 23 | | more than 15,000 customer connections; | 24 | | (3) provides safe and adequate service; and | 25 | | (4) is not a water or sewer utility as defined in | 26 | | this subsection (a). |
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| 1 | | "Next rate case" means a large public utility's first | 2 | | general rate case after the date the large public utility | 3 | | acquires the water or sewer utility where the acquired | 4 | | water or sewer utility's cost of service is considered as | 5 | | part of determining the large public utility's resulting | 6 | | rates. | 7 | | "Prior rate case" means a large public utility's | 8 | | general rate case resulting in the rates in effect for the | 9 | | large public utility at the time it acquires the water or | 10 | | sewer utility. | 11 | | "Utility service source" means the water or sewer | 12 | | utility or large public utility from which the customer | 13 | | receives its utility service type. | 14 | | "Utility service type" means water utility service or | 15 | | sewer utility service or water and sewer utility service. | 16 | | "Water or sewer utility" means any of the following: | 17 | | (1) a public utility that regularly provides water | 18 | | or sewer service to 6,000 or fewer customer | 19 | | connections; | 20 | | (2) a water district, including, but not limited | 21 | | to, a public water district, water service district, | 22 | | or surface water protection district, or a sewer | 23 | | district of any kind established as a special district | 24 | | under the laws of this State that regularly provides | 25 | | water or sewer service; | 26 | | (3) a waterworks system or sewerage system |
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| 1 | | established under the Township Code that regularly | 2 | | provides water or sewer service; or | 3 | | (4) a water system or sewer system owned by a | 4 | | municipality that regularly provides water or sewer | 5 | | service; and | 6 | | (5) any other entity that is not a public utility | 7 | | that regularly provides water or sewer service. | 8 | | (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a | 9 | | large public utility that acquires a water or sewer utility | 10 | | may request that the Commission use, and, if so requested, the | 11 | | Commission shall use, the procedures set forth under this | 12 | | Section to establish the ratemaking rate base of that water or | 13 | | sewer utility at the time when it is acquired by the large | 14 | | public utility. | 15 | | (c) If a large public utility elects the procedures under | 16 | | this Section to establish the rate base of a water or sewer | 17 | | utility that it is acquiring, then 3 appraisals shall be | 18 | | performed. The average of these 3 appraisals shall represent | 19 | | the fair market value of the water or sewer utility that is | 20 | | being acquired. The appraisals shall be performed by 3 | 21 | | appraisers approved by the Commission's Executive Director or | 22 | | designee and engaged by either the water or sewer utility | 23 | | being acquired or by the large public utility. Each appraiser | 24 | | shall be engaged on reasonable terms approved by the | 25 | | Commission. Each appraiser shall be a disinterested person | 26 | | licensed as a State certified general real estate appraiser |
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| 1 | | under the Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act of 2002. | 2 | | Each appraiser shall: | 3 | | (1) be sworn to determine the fair market value of the | 4 | | water or sewer utility by establishing the amount for | 5 | | which the water or sewer utility would be sold in a | 6 | | voluntary transaction between a willing buyer and willing | 7 | | seller under no obligation to buy or sell; | 8 | | (2) determine fair market value in compliance with the | 9 | | Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice; | 10 | | (3) engage one disinterested engineer who is licensed | 11 | | in this State, and who may be the same engineer that is | 12 | | engaged by the other appraisers, to prepare an assessment | 13 | | of the tangible assets of the water or sewer utility, | 14 | | which is to be incorporated into the appraisal under the | 15 | | cost approach; | 16 | | (4) request from the manager of the Accounting | 17 | | Department, if the water or sewer utility is a public | 18 | | utility that is regulated by the Commission, a list of | 19 | | investments made by the water or sewer utility that had | 20 | | been disallowed previously and that shall be excluded from | 21 | | the calculation of the large public utility's rate base in | 22 | | its next rate case; and | 23 | | (5) return their appraisal, in writing, to the water | 24 | | or sewer utility and large public utility in a reasonable | 25 | | and timely manner. | 26 | | If the appraiser cannot engage an engineer, as described |
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| 1 | | in paragraph (3) of this subsection (c), within 30 days after | 2 | | the appraiser is engaged, then the Commission's Executive | 3 | | Director or designee shall recommend the engineer the | 4 | | appraiser should engage. The Commission's Executive Director | 5 | | or designee shall provide his or her recommendation within 30 | 6 | | days after he or she is officially notified of the appraiser's | 7 | | failure to engage an engineer and the appraiser shall promptly | 8 | | work to engage the recommended engineer. If the appraiser is | 9 | | unable to negotiate reasonable engagement terms with the | 10 | | recommended engineer within 15 days after the recommendation | 11 | | by the Commission's Executive Director or designee, then the | 12 | | appraiser shall notify the Commission's Executive Director or | 13 | | designee and the process shall be repeated until an engineer | 14 | | is successfully engaged. | 15 | | (d) The lesser of (i) the purchase price or (ii) the fair | 16 | | market value determined under subsection (c) of this Section | 17 | | shall constitute the rate base associated with the water or | 18 | | sewer utility as acquired by and incorporated into the rate | 19 | | base of the district designated by the acquiring large public | 20 | | utility under this Section, subject to any adjustments that | 21 | | the Commission deems necessary to ensure such rate base | 22 | | reflects prudent and useful investments in the provision of | 23 | | public utility service. The reasonable transaction and closing | 24 | | costs incurred by the large public utility shall be treated | 25 | | consistent with the applicable accounting standards under this | 26 | | Act. The total amount of all of the appraisers' fees to be |
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| 1 | | included in the transaction and closing costs shall not exceed | 2 | | the greater of $15,000 or 5% of the appraised value of the | 3 | | water or sewer utility being acquired. This rate base | 4 | | treatment shall not be deemed to violate this Act, including, | 5 | | but not limited to, any Sections in Articles VIII and IX of | 6 | | this Act that might be affected by this Section. Any | 7 | | acquisition of a water or sewer utility that affects the | 8 | | cumulative base rates of the large public utility's existing | 9 | | ratepayers in the tariff group into which the water or sewer | 10 | | utility is to be combined by less than (1) 2.5% at the time of | 11 | | the acquisition for any single acquisition completed under | 12 | | this Section or (2) 5% for all acquisitions completed under | 13 | | this Section before the Commission's final order in the next | 14 | | rate case shall not be deemed to violate Section 7-204 or any | 15 | | other provision of this Act. | 16 | | In the Commission's order that approves the large public | 17 | | utility's acquisition of the water or sewer utility, the | 18 | | Commission shall issue its decision establishing (1) the | 19 | | ratemaking rate base of the water or sewer utility; (2) the | 20 | | district or tariff group with which the water or sewer utility | 21 | | shall be combined for ratemaking purposes, if such combination | 22 | | has been proposed by the large public utility; and (3) the | 23 | | rates to be charged to customers in the water or sewer utility. | 24 | | (e) If the water or sewer utility being acquired is owned | 25 | | by the State or any political subdivision thereof, then the | 26 | | water or sewer utility must inform the public of the terms of |
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| 1 | | its acquisition by the large public utility by (1) holding a | 2 | | public meeting prior to the acquisition and (2) causing to be | 3 | | published, in a newspaper of general circulation in the area | 4 | | that the water or sewer utility operates, a notice setting | 5 | | forth the terms of its acquisition by the large public utility | 6 | | and options that shall be available to assist customers to pay | 7 | | their bills after the acquisition. | 8 | | At the election next following the public meeting and | 9 | | notice required under this subsection, a referendum, subject | 10 | | to the requirements of Section 16-7 of the Election Code, | 11 | | shall be placed on the ballot for all electors within the area | 12 | | where the water or sewer utility operates in substantially the | 13 | | following form: | 14 | | May the (name of large public utility) acquire the | 15 | | (name of water or sewer utility) under the terms of | 16 | | acquisition as published in (name of newspaper) on (date)? | 17 | | The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No". | 18 | | If a majority of the electors voting on the referendum | 19 | | within the service area of the water or sewer utility vote in | 20 | | favor of the referendum, then the acquisition may continue as | 21 | | provided in this Section. If less than a majority of the | 22 | | electors voting on the referendum within the service area of | 23 | | the water or sewer utility vote in favor of the referendum, the | 24 | | Commission shall deny the large public utility's acquisition | 25 | | of the water or sewer utility. | 26 | | (f) The large public utility may recommend the district or |
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| 1 | | tariff group of which the water or sewer utility shall, for | 2 | | ratemaking purposes, become a part after the acquisition, or | 3 | | may recommend a lesser rate for the water or sewer utility. If | 4 | | the large public utility recommends a lesser rate, it shall | 5 | | submit to the Commission its proposed rate schedule and the | 6 | | proposed final tariff group for the acquired water or sewer | 7 | | utility. The Commission's approved district or tariff group or | 8 | | rates shall be consistent with the large public utility's | 9 | | recommendation, unless such recommendation can be shown to be | 10 | | contrary to the public interest. | 11 | | (g) From the date of acquisition until the date that new | 12 | | rates are effective in the acquiring large public utility's | 13 | | next rate case, the customers of the acquired water or sewer | 14 | | utility shall pay the approved then-existing rates of the | 15 | | district or tariff group as ordered by the Commission, or some | 16 | | lesser rates as recommended by the large public utility and | 17 | | approved by the Commission under subsection (f); provided, | 18 | | that, if the application of such rates of the large public | 19 | | utility to customers of the acquired water or sewer utility | 20 | | using 54,000 gallons annually results in an increase to the | 21 | | total annual bill of customers of the acquired water or sewer | 22 | | utility, exclusive of fire service or related charges, then | 23 | | the large public utility's rates charged to the customers of | 24 | | the acquired water or sewer utility shall be uniformly | 25 | | reduced, if any reduction is required, by the percent that | 26 | | results in the total annual bill, exclusive of fire services |
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| 1 | | or related charges, for the customers of the acquired water or | 2 | | sewer utility using 54,000 gallons being equal to 1.5% of the | 3 | | latest median household income as reported by the United | 4 | | States Census Bureau for the most applicable community or | 5 | | county. For each customer of the water or sewer utility with | 6 | | potable water usage values that cannot be reasonably obtained, | 7 | | a value of 4,500 gallons per month shall be assigned. These | 8 | | rates shall not be deemed to violate this Act including, but | 9 | | not limited to, Section 9-101 and any other applicable | 10 | | Sections in Articles VIII and IX of this Act. The Commission | 11 | | shall issue its decision establishing the rates effective for | 12 | | the water or sewer utility immediately following an | 13 | | acquisition in its order approving the acquisition. | 14 | | (h) In the acquiring large public utility's next rate | 15 | | case, the water or sewer utility and the district or tariff | 16 | | group ordered by the Commission and their costs of service may | 17 | | be combined under the same rate tariff. This rate tariff shall | 18 | | be based on allocation of costs of service of the acquired | 19 | | water or sewer utility and the large public utility's district | 20 | | or tariff group ordered by the Commission and utilizing a rate | 21 | | design that does not distinguish among customers on the basis | 22 | | of utility service source or type. This rate tariff shall not | 23 | | be deemed to violate this Act including, but not limited to, | 24 | | Section 9-101 of this Act. In the acquiring large public | 25 | | utility's 2 rate cases after an acquisition, but in no | 26 | | subsequent rate case, the large public utility may file a rate |
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| 1 | | tariff for a water or sewer utility acquired under this | 2 | | Section that establishes lesser rates than the district or | 3 | | tariff group into which the water or sewer utility is to be | 4 | | combined. Those lesser rates shall not be deemed to violate | 5 | | Section 7-204 or any other provision of this Act if they affect | 6 | | the cumulative base rates of the large public utility's | 7 | | existing rate payers in the district or tariff by less than | 8 | | 2.5%. | 9 | | (i) Any post-acquisition improvements made by the large | 10 | | public utility in the water or sewer utility shall accrue a | 11 | | cost for financing set at the large public utility's | 12 | | determined rate for allowance for funds used during | 13 | | construction, inclusive of the debt, equity, and income tax | 14 | | gross up components, after the date on which the expenditure | 15 | | was incurred by the large public utility until the investment | 16 | | has been in service for a 4-year period or, if sooner, until | 17 | | the time the rates are implemented in the large public | 18 | | utility's next rate case. | 19 | | Any post-acquisition improvements made by the large public | 20 | | utility in the water or sewer utility shall not be depreciated | 21 | | for ratemaking purposes from the date on which the expenditure | 22 | | was incurred by the large public utility until the investment | 23 | | has been in service for a 4-year period or, if sooner, until | 24 | | the time the rates are implemented in the large public | 25 | | utility's next rate case. | 26 | | (j) This Section shall be exclusively applied to large |
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| 1 | | public utilities in the voluntary and mutually agreeable | 2 | | acquisition of water or sewer utilities. Any petitions filed | 3 | | with the Commission related to the acquisitions described in | 4 | | this Section, including petitions seeking approvals or | 5 | | certificates required by this Act, shall be deemed approved | 6 | | unless the Commission issues its final order within 11 months | 7 | | after the date the large public utility filed its initial | 8 | | petition. This Section shall only apply to utilities providing | 9 | | water or sewer service and shall not be construed in any manner | 10 | | to apply to electric corporations, natural gas corporations, | 11 | | or any other utility subject to this Act. | 12 | | (k) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a party from | 13 | | declining to proceed with an acquisition or be deemed as | 14 | | establishing the final purchase price of an acquisition. | 15 | | (l) In the Commission's order that approves the large | 16 | | utility's acquisition of the water or sewer utility, the | 17 | | Commission shall address each aspect of the acquisition | 18 | | transaction for which approval is required under the Act. | 19 | | (m) Any contractor or subcontractor that performs work on | 20 | | a water or sewer utility acquired by a large public utility | 21 | | under this Section shall be a responsible bidder as described | 22 | | in Section 30-22 of the Illinois Procurement Code. The | 23 | | contractor or subcontractor shall submit evidence of meeting | 24 | | the requirements to be a responsible bidder as described in | 25 | | Section 30-22 to the water or sewer utility. Any new water or | 26 | | sewer facility built as a result of the acquisition shall |
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| 1 | | require the contractor to enter into a project labor | 2 | | agreement. The large public utility acquiring the water or | 3 | | sewer utility shall offer employee positions to qualified | 4 | | employees of the acquired water or sewer utility. | 5 | | (n) This Section is repealed on June 1, 2028. | 6 | | (Source: P.A. 102-149, eff. 1-1-22 .) | 7 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 8 | | becoming law.". |
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