Full Text of HB4977 94th General Assembly
HB4977enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning public utilities.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding | 5 |
| Article XX as follows: | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/Art. XX heading new) | 7 |
| ARTICLE XX. RETAIL ELECTRIC COMPETITION | 8 |
| (220 ILCS 5/20-101 new) | 9 |
| Sec. 20-101. This Article may be cited as the Retail | 10 |
| Electric Competition Act of 2006. | 11 |
| (220 ILCS 5/20-102 new) | 12 |
| Sec. 20-102. Findings and intent.
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| (a) A competitive wholesale electricity market alone will | 14 |
| not deliver the full benefits of competition to Illinois | 15 |
| consumers. For Illinois consumers to receive products, prices | 16 |
| and terms tailored to meet their needs, a competitive wholesale | 17 |
| electricity market must be closely linked to a competitive | 18 |
| retail electric market. | 19 |
| (b) To date, as a result of the Electric Service Customer | 20 |
| Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997, thousands of large Illinois | 21 |
| commercial and industrial consumers have experienced the | 22 |
| benefits of a competitive retail electricity market. | 23 |
| Alternative electric retail suppliers actively compete to | 24 |
| supply electricity to large Illinois commercial and industrial | 25 |
| consumers with attractive prices, terms, and conditions. | 26 |
| (c) A competitive retail electric market does not yet exist | 27 |
| for residential and small commercial consumers. As a result, | 28 |
| millions of residential and small commercial consumers in | 29 |
| Illinois are faced with escalating heating and power bills and | 30 |
| are unable to shop for alternatives to the rates demanded by |
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| the State's incumbent electric utilities. | 2 |
| (d) The General Assembly reiterates its findings from the | 3 |
| Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law of 1997 | 4 |
| that the Illinois Commerce Commission should promote the | 5 |
| development of an effectively competitive retail electricity | 6 |
| market that operates efficiently and benefits all Illinois | 7 |
| consumers. | 8 |
| (220 ILCS 5/20-105 new)
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| Sec. 20-105. Definitions. In this Article: | 10 |
| "Director" means the Director of the Office of Retail | 11 |
| Market Development. | 12 |
| "Office" means the Office of Retail Market | 13 |
| Development. | 14 |
| (220 ILCS 5/20-110 new) | 15 |
| Sec. 20-110. Office of Retail Market Development. Within 90 | 16 |
| days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 17 |
| 94th General Assembly, subject to appropriation, the | 18 |
| Commission shall establish an Office of Retail Market | 19 |
| Development and employ on its staff a Director of Retail Market | 20 |
| Development to oversee the Office. The Director shall have | 21 |
| authority to employ or otherwise retain at least 2 | 22 |
| professionals dedicated to the task of actively seeking out | 23 |
| ways to promote retail competition in Illinois to benefit all | 24 |
| Illinois consumers. | 25 |
| The Office shall actively seek input from all interested | 26 |
| parties and shall develop a thorough understanding and critical | 27 |
| analyses of the tools and techniques used to promote retail | 28 |
| competition in other states. | 29 |
| The Office shall monitor existing competitive conditions | 30 |
| in Illinois, identify barriers to retail competition for all | 31 |
| customer classes, and actively explore and propose to the | 32 |
| Commission and to the General Assembly solutions to overcome | 33 |
| identified barriers. The Director may include municipal | 34 |
| aggregation of customers and creating and designing customer |
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| choice programs as tools for retail market development. | 2 |
| Solutions proposed by the Office to promote retail competition | 3 |
| must also promote safe, reliable, and affordable electric | 4 |
| service. | 5 |
| On or before June 30 of each year, the Director shall | 6 |
| submit a report to the Commission, the General Assembly, and | 7 |
| the Governor, that details specific accomplishments achieved | 8 |
| by the Office in the prior 12 months in promoting retail | 9 |
| electric competition and that suggests administrative and | 10 |
| legislative action necessary to promote further improvements | 11 |
| in retail electric competition. | 12 |
| (220 ILCS 5/20-120 new) | 13 |
| Sec. 20-120. Residential and small commercial retail | 14 |
| electric competition. Within 12 months after the effective date | 15 |
| of this amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the | 16 |
| Director shall conduct research, gather input from all | 17 |
| interested parties and develop and present to the Commission, | 18 |
| the General Assembly, and the Governor a detailed plan designed | 19 |
| to promote, in the most expeditious manner possible, retail | 20 |
| electric competition for residential and small commercial | 21 |
| electricity consumers while maintaining safe, reliable, and | 22 |
| affordable service. Interested parties shall be given the | 23 |
| opportunity to review the plan and provide written comments | 24 |
| regarding the plan prior to its submission to the Commission, | 25 |
| the General Assembly, and the Governor. Any written comments | 26 |
| received by the Office shall be posted on the Commission's web | 27 |
| site. The final plan submitted to the Commission, the General | 28 |
| Assembly, and the Governor must include summaries of any | 29 |
| written comments and must also be posted on the Commission's | 30 |
| web site. | 31 |
| To the extent the plan calls for Commission action, the | 32 |
| Commission shall initiate any proceeding or proceedings called | 33 |
| for in the final plan within 60 days after receipt of the final | 34 |
| plan and complete those proceedings within 11 months after | 35 |
| their initiation. |
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| Nothing in this Section shall prevent the Commission from | 2 |
| acting earlier to remove identified barriers to retail electric | 3 |
| competition for residential and small commercial consumers.
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 |
| becoming law.
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