Full Text of HR0304 95th General Assembly
HR0304 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The 90th General Assembly passed the Electric | 3 |
| Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997, which | 4 |
| deregulated the electric industry and reduced and froze rates | 5 |
| for residential customers; and
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| WHEREAS, As a result of the Electric Service Customer | 7 |
| Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997, the electric utilities that | 8 |
| were vertically integrated sold off their generating capacity | 9 |
| to become solely electric transmission and distribution | 10 |
| utilities; and
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| WHEREAS, Upon the conclusion of the freeze on electric | 12 |
| rates that was initiated in the 90th General Assembly and | 13 |
| extended in the 92nd General Assembly on January 1, 2007, the 2 | 14 |
| largest electric utilities of the State were required to enter | 15 |
| into the marketplace and procure power; and
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| WHEREAS, The electric utilities chose a method known as a | 17 |
| reverse auction, where bidders submit bids to supply | 18 |
| electricity to the utilities at a set price and each subsequent | 19 |
| round results in lower prices for the electricity until 100% of | 20 |
| the electric needs of the utilities are met; and
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| WHEREAS, The commodity price of electricity reached a peak |
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LRB095 11908 MJR 35139 r |
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| coincident with the time of the reverse auction; and
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| WHEREAS, Because of uncertainty in whether the electric | 3 |
| utilities would actually purchase the megawatt hours per day | 4 |
| that the bidder submitted in the auction process, the bidders | 5 |
| built in a risk premium that resulted in extra costs passed on | 6 |
| to the customer; and
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| WHEREAS, Customers of the 2 largest electric utilities in | 8 |
| Illinois are allowed to switch to alternate suppliers for | 9 |
| electricity if that option is available in their service | 10 |
| territory, thereby reducing the electricity load of a electric | 11 |
| utility; and
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| WHEREAS, The General Assembly, the electric utilities, the | 13 |
| Illinois Commerce Commission, and consumer groups all seek | 14 |
| alternate ways to procure power for the customers of Illinois | 15 |
| that will result in a reduced price; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 18 |
| encourage the 2 largest electric utilities in Illinois to | 19 |
| design a new procurement method that will result in the | 20 |
| electric utilities purchasing no more than 85% of the power | 21 |
| needs in an auction process; and be it further
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LRB095 11908 MJR 35139 r |
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| RESOLVED, That it is recommended that the electric | 2 |
| utilities use the procurement method used by natural gas | 3 |
| companies to purchase natural gas as a model; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the electric utilities purchase the | 5 |
| remaining 15% or more on the open-spot market; and be it | 6 |
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| RESOLVED, That the electric utilities shall submit the | 8 |
| procurement design to the Illinois Commerce Commission for | 9 |
| approval; and be it further | 10 |
| RESOLVED, That the Illinois Commerce Commission use the | 11 |
| same hearing process and standards used for the rate designs in | 12 |
| the procurement of natural gas.
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