103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5805

 

Introduced 4/2/2024, by Rep. Maurice A. West, II

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
220 ILCS 5/8-306

    Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that in a community of manufactured homes, where the water system in the community is connected to a municipal public water supply system, potable water shall be provided at each manufactured home site. Provides that where a manufactured home community owner or operator bills the residents of the community using monthly line-item charges for utilities, including, but not limited to, water, those charges shall be based on either: (i) a resident's actual usage, as measured by submeters installed on each manufactured home site within the community; or (ii) a ratio utility billing system, in the absence of submeters, in which charges for water shall be divided by certain criteria, including, but not limited to, the number of occupants per household, the square footage of the manufactured home, or other factors. Provides that the ratio utility billing system shall not bill all residents of the community equally for a water utility bill issued to the manufactured home community owner or operator by the municipal public water supply system. Provides that where a manufactured home community does not have existing submeters, submeters shall be installed at the expense of the manufactured home community owner or operator. Provides that the community owner or operator shall be considered the water supplier and is the party responsible for the water distribution system up to the individual service line at each manufactured home site. Provides that the owner or operator shall be responsible for all maintenance and associated costs of any meters and submeters, within the community, installed outside and beneath a manufactured home. Provides that the amendatory Act shall not apply to any manufactured home community that has its own water source, including, but not limited to, a well.


LRB103 39945 CES 71474 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5805LRB103 39945 CES 71474 b

1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
5Section 8-306 as follows:
 
6    (220 ILCS 5/8-306)
7    Sec. 8-306. Special provisions relating to water and sewer
8utilities.
9    (a) No later than 120 days after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 94th General Assembly, the Commission
11shall prepare, make available to customers upon request, and
12post on its Internet web site information concerning the
13service obligations of water and sewer utilities and remedies
14that a customer may pursue for a violation of the customer's
15rights. The information shall specifically address the rights
16of a customer of a water or sewer utility in the following
17situations:
18        (1) The customer's water meter is replaced.
19        (2) The customer's bill increases by more than 50%
20    within one billing period.
21        (3) The customer's water service is terminated.
22        (4) The customer wishes to complain after receiving a
23    termination of service notice.

 

 

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1        (5) The customer is unable to make payment on a
2    billing statement.
3        (6) A rate is filed, including without limitation a
4    surcharge or annual reconciliation filing, that will
5    increase the amount billed to the customer.
6        (7) The customer is billed for services provided prior
7    to the date covered by the billing statement.
8        (8) The customer is due to receive a credit.
9    Each billing statement issued by a water or sewer utility
10shall include an Internet web site address where the customer
11can view the information required under this subsection (a)
12and a telephone number that the customer may call to request a
13copy of the information.
14    (b) A water or sewer utility may discontinue service only
15after it has mailed or delivered by other means a written
16notice of discontinuance substantially in the form of Appendix
17A of 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280. The notice must include the
18Internet web site address where the customer can view the
19information required under subsection (a) and a telephone
20number that the customer may call to request a copy of the
21information. Any notice required to be delivered or mailed to
22a customer prior to discontinuance of service shall be
23delivered or mailed separately from any bill. Service shall
24not be discontinued until at least 5 days after delivery or 8
25days after the mailing of this notice. Service shall not be
26discontinued and shall be restored if discontinued for the

 

 

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1reason which is the subject of a dispute or complaint during
2the pendency of informal or formal complaint procedures of the
3Illinois Commerce Commission under 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.160
4or 280.170, where the customer has complied with those rules.
5Service shall not be discontinued and shall be restored if
6discontinued where a customer has established a deferred
7payment agreement pursuant to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.110 and
8has not defaulted on such agreement. Residential customers who
9are indebted to a utility for past due utility service shall
10have the opportunity to make arrangements with the utility to
11retire the debt by periodic payments, referred to as a
12deferred payment agreement, unless this customer has failed to
13make payment under such a plan during the past 12 months. The
14terms and conditions of a reasonable deferred payment
15agreement shall be determined by the utility after
16consideration of the following factors, based upon information
17available from current utility records or provided by the
18customer or applicant:
19        (1) size of the past due account;
20        (2) customer or applicant's ability to pay;
21        (3) customer or applicant's payment history;
22        (4) reason for the outstanding indebtedness; and
23        (5) any other relevant factors relating to the
24    circumstances of the customer or applicant's service.
25A residential customer shall pay a maximum of one-fourth of
26the amount past due and owing at the time of entering into the

 

 

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1deferred payment agreement, and the water or sewer utility
2shall allow a minimum of 2 months from the date of the
3agreement and a maximum of 12 months for payment to be made
4under a deferred payment agreement. Late payment charges may
5be assessed against the amount owing that is the subject of a
6deferred payment agreement.
7    (c) A water or sewer utility shall provide notice as
8required by subsection (a) of Section 9-201 after the filing
9of each information sheet under a purchased water surcharge,
10purchased sewage treatment surcharge, or qualifying
11infrastructure plant surcharge. The utility also shall post
12notice of the filing in accordance with the requirements of 83
13Ill. Adm. Code 255. Unless filed as part of a general rate
14increase, notice of the filing of a purchased water surcharge
15rider, purchased sewage treatment surcharge rider, or
16qualifying infrastructure plant surcharge rider also shall be
17given in the manner required by this subsection (c) for the
18filing of information sheets.
19    (d) Commission rules pertaining to formal and informal
20complaints against public utilities shall apply with full and
21equal force to water and sewer utilities and their customers,
22including provisions of 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.170, and the
23Commission shall respond to each complaint by providing the
24consumer with a copy of the utility's response to the
25complaint and a copy of the Commission's review of the
26complaint and its findings. The Commission shall also provide

 

 

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1the consumer with all available options for recourse.
2    (e) Any refund shown on the billing statement of a
3customer of a water or sewer utility must be itemized and must
4state if the refund is an adjustment or credit.
5    (f) Water service for building construction purposes. At
6the request of any municipality or township within the service
7area of a public utility that provides water service to
8customers within the municipality or township, a public
9utility must (1) require all water service used for building
10construction purposes to be measured by meter and subject to
11approved rates and charges for metered water service and (2)
12prohibit the unauthorized use of water taken from hydrants or
13service lines installed at construction sites.
14    (g) Water meters.
15        (1) Periodic testing. Unless otherwise approved by the
16    Commission, each service water meter shall be periodically
17    inspected and tested in accordance with the schedule
18    specified in 83 Ill. Adm. Code 600.340, or more frequently
19    as the results may warrant, to insure that the meter
20    accuracy is maintained within the limits set out in 83
21    Ill. Adm. Code 600.310.
22        (2) Meter tests requested by customer.
23            (A) Each utility furnishing metered water service
24        shall, without charge, test the accuracy of any meter
25        upon request by the customer served by such meter,
26        provided that the meter in question has not been

 

 

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1        tested by the utility or by the Commission within 2
2        years previous to such request. The customer or his or
3        her representatives shall have the privilege of
4        witnessing the test at the option of the customer. A
5        written report, giving the results of the test, shall
6        be made to the customer.
7            (B) When a meter that has been in service less than
8        2 years since its last test is found to be accurate
9        within the limits specified in 83 Ill. Adm. Code
10        600.310, the customer shall pay a fee to the utility
11        not to exceed the amounts specified in 83 Ill. Adm.
12        Code 600.350(b). Fees for testing meters not included
13        in this Section or so located that the cost will be out
14        of proportion to the fee specified will be determined
15        by the Commission upon receipt of a complete
16        description of the case.
17        (3) Commission referee tests. Upon written application
18    to the Commission by any customer, a test will be made of
19    the customer's meter by a representative of the
20    Commission. For such a test, a fee as provided for in
21    subsection (g)(2) shall accompany the application. If the
22    meter is found to be registering more than 1.5% fast on the
23    average when tested as prescribed in 83 Ill. Adm. Code
24    600.310, the utility shall refund to the customer the
25    amount of the fee. The utility shall in no way disturb the
26    meter after a customer has made an application for a

 

 

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1    referee test until authority to do so is given by the
2    Commission or the customer in writing.
3        (4) In a community of manufactured homes, as that term
4    is defined in Section 5-5 of the Conveyance and
5    Encumbrance of Manufactured Homes as Real Property and
6    Severance Act, where the water system in the community is
7    connected to a municipal public water supply system,
8    potable water shall be provided at each manufactured home
9    site. Where a manufactured home community owner or
10    operator bills the residents of the community using
11    monthly line-item charges for utilities, including, but
12    not limited to, water, those charges shall be based on
13    either:
14            (A) a resident's actual usage, as measured by
15        submeters installed on each manufactured home site
16        within the community; or
17            (B) a ratio utility billing system, in the absence
18        of submeters, in which charges for water shall be
19        divided by certain criteria, including, but not
20        limited to, the number of occupants per household, the
21        square footage of the manufactured home, or other
22        factors. The ratio utility billing system shall not
23        bill all residents of the community equally for a
24        water utility bill issued to the manufactured home
25        community owner or operator by the municipal public
26        water supply system.

 

 

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1    Where a manufactured home community does not have existing
2submeters, submeters shall be installed in compliance with all
3rules adopted by the Department of Public Health and the
4Illinois Plumbing Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 890) at the expense
5of the manufactured home community owner or operator.
6    For purposes of this paragraph, the manufactured home
7community owner or operator shall be considered the water
8supplier and is the party responsible for the water
9distribution system up to the individual service line at each
10manufactured home site. The owner or operator shall be
11responsible for all maintenance and associated costs of any
12meters and submeters installed outside and beneath a
13manufactured home within the community. This paragraph shall
14not apply to any manufactured home community that has its own
15water source, including, but not limited to, a well.
16    (h) Water and sewer utilities; low usage. Each public
17utility that provides water and sewer service must establish a
18unit sewer rate, subject to review by the Commission, that
19applies only to those customers who use less than 1,000
20gallons of water in any billing period.
21    (i) Water and sewer utilities; separate meters. Each
22public utility that provides water and sewer service must
23offer separate rates for water and sewer service to any
24commercial or residential customer who uses separate meters to
25measure each of those services. In order for the separate rate
26to apply, a combination of meters must be used to measure the

 

 

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1amount of water that reaches the sewer system and the amount of
2water that does not reach the sewer system.
3    (j) Each water or sewer public utility must disclose on
4each billing statement any amount billed that is for service
5provided prior to the date covered by the billing statement.
6The disclosure must include the dates for which the prior
7service is being billed. Each billing statement that includes
8an amount billed for service provided prior to the date
9covered by the billing statement must disclose the dates for
10which that amount is billed and must include a copy of the
11document created under subsection (a) and a statement of
12current Commission rules concerning unbilled or misbilled
13service.
14    (k) When the customer is due a refund resulting from
15payment of an overcharge, the utility shall credit the
16customer in the amount of overpayment with interest from the
17date of overpayment by the customer. The rate for interest
18shall be at the appropriate rate determined by the Commission
19under 83 Ill. Adm. Code 280.70.
20    (l) Water and sewer public utilities; subcontractors. The
21Commission shall adopt rules for water and sewer public
22utilities to provide notice to the customers of the proper
23kind of identification that a subcontractor must present to
24the customer, to prohibit a subcontractor from soliciting or
25receiving payment of any kind for any service provided by the
26water or sewer public utility or the subcontractor, and to

 

 

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1establish sanctions for violations.
2    (m) Water and sewer public utilities; unaccounted-for
3water. By December 31, 2006, each water public utility shall
4file tariffs with the Commission to establish the maximum
5percentage of unaccounted-for water that would be considered
6in the determination of any rates or surcharges. The rates or
7surcharges approved for a water public utility shall not
8include charges for unaccounted-for water in excess of this
9maximum percentage without well-documented support and
10justification for the Commission to consider in any request to
11recover charges in excess of the tariffed maximum percentage.
12    (n) Rate increases; public forums. When any public utility
13providing water or sewer service proposes a general rate
14increase, in addition to other notice requirements, the water
15or sewer public utility must notify its customers of their
16right to request a public forum. A customer or group of
17customers must make written request to the Commission for a
18public forum and must also provide written notification of the
19request to the customer's municipal or, for unincorporated
20areas, township government. The Commission, at its discretion,
21may schedule the public forum. If it is determined that public
22forums are required for multiple municipalities or townships,
23the Commission shall schedule these public forums, in
24locations within approximately 45 minutes drive time of the
25municipalities or townships for which the public forums have
26been scheduled. The public utility must provide advance notice

 

 

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1of 30 days for each public forum to the governing bodies of
2those units of local government affected by the increase. The
3day of each public forum shall be selected so as to encourage
4the greatest public participation. Each public forum will
5begin at 7:00 p.m. Reports and comments made during or as a
6result of each public forum must be made available to the
7hearing officials and reviewed when drafting a recommended or
8tentative decision, finding or order pursuant to Section
910-111 of this Act.
10(Source: P.A. 94-950, eff. 6-27-06.)