Full Text of HB6208 96th General Assembly
HB6208enr 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning 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 changing | 5 |
| Section 16-115C as follows: | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/16-115C) | 7 |
| Sec. 16-115C. Licensure of agents, brokers, and | 8 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 9 |
| electricity supply for third parties. | 10 |
| (a) The purpose of this Section is to adopt licensing and | 11 |
| code of conduct rules in a competitive retail electricity | 12 |
| market to protect Illinois consumers from unfair or deceptive | 13 |
| acts or practices and to provide persons acting as agents, | 14 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 15 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties with notice of the | 16 |
| illegality of those acts or practices. | 17 |
| (a-5) All third-party sales representatives engaged in the | 18 |
| marketing of retail electricity supply must, prior to the | 19 |
| customer signing a contract, disclose that they are not | 20 |
| employed by the electric utility operating in the applicable | 21 |
| service territory. | 22 |
| (b) For purposes of this Section, "agents, brokers, and | 23 |
| consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of retail |
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| electricity supply for third parties" means any person or | 2 |
| entity that attempts to procure on behalf of or sell retail | 3 |
| electric service to an electric customer in the State. "Agents, | 4 |
| brokers, and consultants engaged in the procurement or sale of | 5 |
| retail electricity supply for third parties" does not include | 6 |
| the Illinois Power Agency or any of its employees, any entity | 7 |
| licensed as an alternative retail electric supplier pursuant to | 8 |
| 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451 offering retail electric service on its | 9 |
| own behalf, any person acting exclusively on behalf of a single | 10 |
| alternative retail electric supplier on condition that | 11 |
| exclusivity is disclosed to any third party contracted in such | 12 |
| agent capacity, any person acting exclusively on behalf of a | 13 |
| retail electric supplier on condition that exclusivity is | 14 |
| disclosed to any third party contracted in such agent capacity, | 15 |
| any person or entity representing a municipal power agency, as | 16 |
| defined in Section 11-119.1-3 of the Illinois Municipal Code, | 17 |
| or any person or entity that is attempting to procure on behalf | 18 |
| of or sell retail electric service to a third party that has | 19 |
| aggregate billing demand of all of its affiliated electric | 20 |
| service accounts in Illinois of greater than 1,500 kW. | 21 |
| (c) No person or entity shall act as an agent, broker, or | 22 |
| consultant engaged in the procurement or sale of retail | 23 |
| electricity supply for third parties unless that person or | 24 |
| entity is licensed by the Commission under this Section or is | 25 |
| offering services on their own behalf under 83 Ill. Adm. Code | 26 |
| 451. |
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| (d) The Commission shall create requirements for licensure | 2 |
| as an agent, broker, or consultant engaged in the procurement | 3 |
| or sale of retail electricity supply for third parties, which | 4 |
| shall include all of the following criteria: | 5 |
| (1) Technical competence. | 6 |
| (2) Managerial competence. | 7 |
| (3) Financial responsibility, including the posting of | 8 |
| an appropriate performance bond. | 9 |
| (4) Annual reporting requirements. | 10 |
| (e) Any person or entity required to be licensed under this | 11 |
| Section must: | 12 |
| (1) disclose in plain language in writing to all | 13 |
| persons it solicits (i) before July 1, 2011, the total | 14 |
| anticipated remuneration to be paid to it by any third | 15 |
| party over the period of the proposed underlying customer | 16 |
| contract and (ii) on or after July 1, 2011, the total price | 17 |
| per kilowatt-hour, and the total anticipated cost, | 18 |
| inclusive of all fees or commissions received by the | 19 |
| licensee, to be paid by the customer over the period of the | 20 |
| proposed underlying customer contract ; | 21 |
| (2) disclose, if applicable, to all customers, prior to | 22 |
| the customer signing a contract, the fact that they will be | 23 |
| receiving compensation from the supplier; | 24 |
| (3) (2) not hold itself out as independent or | 25 |
| unaffiliated with any supplier, or both, or use words | 26 |
| reasonably calculated to give that impression, unless the |
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| person offering service under this Section has no | 2 |
| contractual relationship with any retail electricity | 3 |
| supplier or its affiliates regarding retail electric | 4 |
| service in Illinois; | 5 |
| (4) (3) not utilize false, misleading, materially | 6 |
| inaccurate, defamatory, or otherwise deceptive language or | 7 |
| materials in the soliciting or providing of its services; | 8 |
| (5) (4) maintain copies of all marketing materials | 9 |
| disseminated to third parties for a period of not less than | 10 |
| 3 years; | 11 |
| (6) (5) not present electricity pricing information in | 12 |
| a manner that favors one supplier over another, unless a | 13 |
| valid pricing comparison is made utilizing all relevant | 14 |
| costs and terms; and | 15 |
| (7) (6) comply with the requirements of Sections 2EE, | 16 |
| 2FF, 2GG, and 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 17 |
| Business Practices Act. | 18 |
| (f) Any person or entity licensed under this Section shall | 19 |
| file with the Commission all of the following information no | 20 |
| later than March of each year: | 21 |
| (1) A verified report detailing any and all contractual | 22 |
| relationships that it has with certified electricity | 23 |
| suppliers in the State regarding retail electric service in | 24 |
| Illinois. | 25 |
| (2) A verified report detailing the distribution of its | 26 |
| customers with the various certified electricity suppliers |
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| in Illinois during the prior calendar year. A report under | 2 |
| this Section shall not be required to contain | 3 |
| customer-identifying information. | 4 |
| A public redacted version of the verified report may be | 5 |
| submitted to the Commission along with a proprietary | 6 |
| version. The public redacted version may redact from the | 7 |
| verified report the name or names of every certified | 8 |
| electricity supplier contained in the report to protect | 9 |
| against disclosure of competitively sensitive market share | 10 |
| information. The information shall be afforded proprietary | 11 |
| treatment for 2 years after the date of the filing of the | 12 |
| verified report. | 13 |
| (3) A copy of its verified financial statement. | 14 |
| (3) (4) A verified statement of any changes to the | 15 |
| original licensure qualifications and notice of continuing | 16 |
| compliance with all requirements. | 17 |
| (g) The Commission shall have jurisdiction over | 18 |
| disciplinary proceedings and complaints for violations of this | 19 |
| Section. The findings of a violation of this Section by the | 20 |
| Commission shall result in a progressive disciplinary scale. | 21 |
| For a first violation, the Commission may, in its discretion, | 22 |
| shall suspend the license of the person so disciplined for a | 23 |
| period of no less than one month. For a second violation within | 24 |
| a 5-year period, the Commission shall suspend the license for | 25 |
| the person so disciplined for a period of not less than 6 | 26 |
| months. For a third or subsequent violation within a 5-year |
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| period, the Commission shall suspend the license of the | 2 |
| disciplined person for a period of not less than 2 years. | 3 |
| (h) This Section shall not apply to a retail customer that | 4 |
| operates or manages either directly or indirectly any | 5 |
| facilities, equipment, or property used or contemplated to be | 6 |
| used to distribute electric power or energy if that retail | 7 |
| customer is a political subdivision or public institution of | 8 |
| higher education of this State, or any corporation, company, | 9 |
| limited liability company, association, joint-stock company or | 10 |
| association, firm, partnership, or individual, or their | 11 |
| lessees, trusts, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever | 12 |
| that are owned or controlled by the political subdivision, | 13 |
| public institution of higher education, or operated by any of | 14 |
| its lessees or operating agents. | 15 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-679, eff. 10-11-07.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 17 |
| becoming law.
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