State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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[ House Amendment 001 ]

90_HB0043

      220 ILCS 5/8-408 new
          Amends the Public Utilities  Act  in  relation  to  power
      interruptions  and  surges.   Provides  that  in the event of
      power failures that total more than 4 hours  in  any  30  day
      period,  electric  public  utilities  must  waive the monthly
      fixed fee to  customers,  compensate  customers  for  damages
      incurred  because  of the failure, and reimburse governmental
      units  for  emergency  and  contingency  expenses   incurred.
      Requires  compensation  to  customers  for  damages caused by
      power surges.  Imposes certain recordkeeping requirements  on
      all public utilities.  Defines terms.
                                                     LRB9000761JSgc
                                               LRB9000761JSgc
 1        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  Public  Utilities  Act by adding
 2    Section 8-408.
 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:
 5        Section 5.  The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
 6    Section 8-408 as follows:
 7        (220 ILCS 5/8-408 new)
 8        Sec. 8-408.  Power interruptions and surges; damages.
 9        (a)  In  the  event that a customer of an electric public
10    utility is subjected to power interruptions  of  4  hours  or
11    more,  cumulatively, that result in the transmission of power
12    at less than 50% of the standard voltage or the total loss of
13    power transmission during any 30 day period, the utility  may
14    not  charge  or  collect  the  fixed  service  charge  on the
15    customer's periodic bill.  In addition, the utility shall  be
16    responsible  for  compensating  affected  customers  for  all
17    damages  suffered as a result of the power interruption.  The
18    utility  shall  also  reimburse  the  affected  municipality,
19    county, or other unit of local government in which the  power
20    interruption  or  interruptions  have  taken  place  for  all
21    emergency  and  contingency  expenses incurred by the unit of
22    local government as a result of the interruption.   A  waiver
23    of  the requirements of this subsection may be granted by the
24    Commission in instances in which the utility  can  show  that
25    the  power interruption or interruptions were a result of any
26    one or more of the following causes:
27             (1)  Unpreventable  damage   due   to   catastrophic
28        weather events or conditions.
29             (2)  Customer tampering.
30             (3)  Unpreventable    damage   due   to   civil   or
31        international unrest or animals.
                            -2-                LRB9000761JSgc
 1             (4)  Damage to utility equipment by  a  party  other
 2        than the utility, its employees, agents, or contractors.
 3        Loss  of  revenue and expenses incurred in complying with
 4    this subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers.
 5        (b)  In the event of a power surge or  other  fluctuation
 6    in  voltage more than 5% above the standard voltage level for
 7    secondary distribution systems (600 volts or less) lasting 10
 8    milliseconds or more,  the  utility  shall  pay  to  affected
 9    customers  the  replacement  value  of all goods damaged as a
10    result of the power fluctuation unless the utility  can  show
11    that  the  power  fluctuation  was  due to one or more of the
12    following causes:
13             (1)  Unpreventable  damage   due   to   catastrophic
14        weather events or conditions.
15             (2)  Customer tampering.
16             (3)  Unpreventable    damage   due   to   civil   or
17        international unrest or animals.
18             (4)  Damage to utility equipment by  a  party  other
19        than the utility, its employees, agents, or contractors.
20        Loss  of  revenue and expenses incurred in complying with
21    this subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers.
22        (c)  Whenever a utility must perform planned  or  routine
23    maintenance  or  repairs on its equipment that will result in
24    transmission of power  at  less  than  50%  of  the  standard
25    voltage,  loss  of power, or power fluctuation (as defined in
26    subsection (b)), the utility shall make reasonable efforts to
27    notify potentially affected customers no less than  24  hours
28    in advance of performance of the repairs or maintenance.
29        (d)  The  provisions of this Section shall not in any way
30    diminish or replace other civil  or  administrative  remedies
31    available to a customer or a class of customers.
32        (e)  All electric public utilities shall maintain service
33    records   detailing   information   on   each   instance   of
34    transmission  of  power  at  less  than  50%  of the standard
                            -3-                LRB9000761JSgc
 1    voltage, loss of power, or power fluctuation (as  defined  in
 2    subsection  (b)),  that  affects  10  or more customers.  The
 3    service  record  shall  include,  for  each  occurrence,  the
 4    following information:
 5             (1)  The date.
 6             (2)  The time of occurrence.
 7             (3)  The duration of the incident.
 8             (4)  The number of customers affected.
 9             (5)  A description of the cause.
10             (6)  The geographic area affected.
11             (7)  The  specific   equipment   involved   in   the
12        fluctuation or interruption.
13             (8)  A  description  of  measures  taken  to restore
14        service.
15             (9)  A description of measures taken to  remedy  the
16        cause of the power interruption or fluctuation.
17             (10)  A  description  of  measures  taken to prevent
18        future occurrence.
19             (11)  The amount of remuneration, if  any,  paid  to
20        affected customers.
21             (12)  A  statement  of  whether the fixed charge was
22        waived for affected customers.
23        Copies of the records containing this  information  shall
24    be  available for public inspection at the utility's offices,
25    and copies thereof may be obtained upon payment of a fee  not
26    exceeding  the  reasonable  cost  of reproduction.  A copy of
27    each record shall be filed with the Commission and  shall  be
28    available  for  public inspection.  Copies of the records may
29    be  obtained  upon  payment  of  a  fee  not  exceeding   the
30    reasonable cost of reproduction.
31        (f)  All public utilities shall make available for public
32    inspection records detailing all capital improvement, repair,
33    and  replacement  plans and budgets for each year since 1980,
34    as well as  annual  reports  of  work  completed  on  capital
                            -4-                LRB9000761JSgc
 1    improvement,  repair,  and  replacement  for  each year since
 2    1980.  If planned work has been deferred, an  explanation  of
 3    the  deferral  shall  accompany  the  report.  A  copy of the
 4    records shall be filed  with  the  Commission  and  shall  be
 5    available for public inspection. Copies of the records may be
 6    obtained  from  the  public  utility  or  the Commission upon
 7    payment of  a  fee  not  exceeding  the  reasonable  cost  of
 8    reproduction.

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