(35 ILCS 645/5-6)
Sec. 5-6. Validity of existing franchise fees and agreement; police
powers. (a) On and after the effective date of this Law, no electricity deliverer
paying an
infrastructure maintenance fee imposed under this Law may be denied the right
to use, directly or
indirectly, public rights of way because of the failure to pay any other fee or
charge for the right to use those rights of way except to the extent that the
electricity deliverer during the Initial Period fails under any existing
franchise agreement to pay franchise fees which are based on the gross receipts
or gross revenues attributable
to non-residential customers or to provide free electrical service or other
compensation attributable to non-residential customers. A municipality that
imposes an infrastructure
maintenance fee pursuant to Section 5-5 shall impose no other fees or charges
upon electricity
deliverers for such use except as provided by
subsections (b) or (c) of this Section.
(b) Agreements between electricity deliverers and municipalities regarding
use of the
public way shall remain valid according to and for their stated terms.
However, a municipality
that, pursuant to a franchise agreement in existence on the effective date of
this Law, receives any
franchise fees, permit fees, free electrical service or other compensation for
use of the public
rights of way, may impose an infrastructure maintenance fee pursuant to this
Law only if the
municipality: (1) waives its right to receive all compensation from the
electricity deliverer for use of the public rights of way during the time the
infrastructure maintenance fee is imposed, except as provided in subsection
(c), and except that during
the Initial Period any municipality may continue to receive franchise fees,
free
electrical service or other compensation from the electricity deliverer which
are equal in value to the Initial Period Compensation;
and (2) provides written notice of this waiver to
the appropriate
electricity deliverer at the time that the municipality provides notice of the
imposition of the
infrastructure maintenance fee under subsection (d) of Section 5-5.
For purposes of this Section, "Initial Period Compensation" shall mean the
total amount of compensation due under the existing franchise agreement during
the Initial Period less the amount of the infrastructure maintenance fee
imposed under this Section during
the Initial Period.
(c) Nothing in this Law prohibits a municipality from the reasonable
exercise of its police
powers over the public rights of way. In addition, a municipality may require
an electricity
deliverer to reimburse any special or extraordinary expenses or costs
reasonably incurred by the
municipality as a direct result of damages to its property or public rights of
way, such as the costs
of restoration of streets damaged by an electricity deliverer that does not make
timely repair of the
damage, or for the loss of revenue due to the inability to use public
facilities as a direct result of
the actions of the electricity deliverer, such as parking meters that are
required to be removed
because of work of an electricity deliverer.
(Source: P.A. 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)
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