100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
SB3577

 

Introduced 2/16/2018, by Sen. Don Harmon

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
220 ILCS 5/16-115
220 ILCS 5/16-115B

    Amends the Electric Service Customer Choice and Rate Relief Law Of 1997 of the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall grant the application for a certificate of service authority if it finds, among other findings, that the applicant discloses any formal complaints that seek a binding determination from a state or federal regulatory body and verifies that a complaint should not be a basis for denying the certificate of service authority. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall conduct at least one compliance education training meeting annually for certain alternative retail electric suppliers to discuss regulatory requirements, complaint statistics, and other information determined necessary by the Commission. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3577LRB100 20692 SMS 36150 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
5Sections 16-115 and 16-115B as follows:
 
6    (220 ILCS 5/16-115)
7    Sec. 16-115. Certification of alternative retail electric
8suppliers.
9    (a) Any alternative retail electric supplier must obtain a
10certificate of service authority from the Commission in
11accordance with this Section before serving any retail customer
12or other user located in this State. An alternative retail
13electric supplier may request, and the Commission may grant, a
14certificate of service authority for the entire State or for a
15specified geographic area of the State.
16    (b) An alternative retail electric supplier seeking a
17certificate of service authority shall file with the Commission
18a verified application containing information showing that the
19applicant meets the requirements of this Section. The
20alternative retail electric supplier shall publish notice of
21its application in the official State newspaper within 10 days
22following the date of its filing. No later than 45 days after
23the application is properly filed with the Commission, and such

 

 

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1notice is published, the Commission shall issue its order
2granting or denying the application.
3    (c) An application for a certificate of service authority
4shall identify the area or areas in which the applicant intends
5to offer service and the types of services it intends to offer.
6Applicants that seek to serve residential or small commercial
7retail customers within a geographic area that is smaller than
8an electric utility's service area shall submit evidence
9demonstrating that the designation of this smaller area does
10not violate Section 16-115A. An applicant that seeks to serve
11residential or small commercial retail customers may state in
12its application for certification any limitations that will be
13imposed on the number of customers or maximum load to be
14served.
15    (d) The Commission shall grant the application for a
16certificate of service authority if it makes the findings set
17forth in this subsection based on the verified application and
18such other information as the applicant may submit:
19        (1) That the applicant possesses sufficient technical,
20    financial and managerial resources and abilities to
21    provide the service for which it seeks a certificate of
22    service authority. In determining the level of technical,
23    financial and managerial resources and abilities which the
24    applicant must demonstrate, the Commission shall consider
25    (i) the characteristics, including the size and financial
26    sophistication, of the customers that the applicant seeks

 

 

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1    to serve, and (ii) whether the applicant seeks to provide
2    electric power and energy using property, plant and
3    equipment which it owns, controls or operates;
4        (2) That the applicant will comply with all applicable
5    federal, State, regional and industry rules, policies,
6    practices and procedures for the use, operation, and
7    maintenance of the safety, integrity and reliability, of
8    the interconnected electric transmission system;
9        (3) That the applicant will only provide service to
10    retail customers in an electric utility's service area that
11    are eligible to take delivery services under this Act;
12        (4) That the applicant will comply with such
13    informational or reporting requirements as the Commission
14    may by rule establish and provide the information required
15    by Section 16-112. Any data related to contracts for the
16    purchase and sale of electric power and energy shall be
17    made available for review by the Staff of the Commission on
18    a confidential and proprietary basis and only to the extent
19    and for the purposes which the Commission determines are
20    reasonably necessary in order to carry out the purposes of
21    this Act;
22        (5) That the applicant will procure renewable energy
23    resources in accordance with Section 16-115D of this Act,
24    and will source electricity from clean coal facilities, as
25    defined in Section 1-10 of the Illinois Power Agency Act,
26    in amounts at least equal to the percentages set forth in

 

 

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1    subsections (c) and (d) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois
2    Power Agency Act. For purposes of this Section:
3            (i) (Blank);
4            (ii) (Blank);
5            (iii) the required sourcing of electricity
6        generated by clean coal facilities, other than the
7        initial clean coal facility, shall be limited to the
8        amount of electricity that can be procured or sourced
9        at a price at or below the benchmarks approved by the
10        Commission each year in accordance with item (1) of
11        subsection (c) and items (1) and (5) of subsection (d)
12        of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act;
13            (iv) all alternative retail electric suppliers
14        shall execute a sourcing agreement to source
15        electricity from the initial clean coal facility, on
16        the terms set forth in paragraphs (3) and (4) of
17        subsection (d) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power
18        Agency Act, except that in lieu of the requirements in
19        subparagraphs (A)(v), (B)(i), (C)(v), and (C)(vi) of
20        paragraph (3) of that subsection (d), the applicant
21        shall execute one or more of the following:
22                (1) if the sourcing agreement is a power
23            purchase agreement, a contract with the initial
24            clean coal facility to purchase in each hour an
25            amount of electricity equal to all clean coal
26            energy made available from the initial clean coal

 

 

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1            facility during such hour, which the utilities are
2            not required to procure under the terms of
3            subsection (d) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois
4            Power Agency Act, multiplied by a fraction, the
5            numerator of which is the alternative retail
6            electric supplier's retail market sales of
7            electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in
8            the State during the prior calendar month and the
9            denominator of which is the total sales of
10            electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in
11            the State by alternative retail electric suppliers
12            during such prior month that are subject to the
13            requirements of this paragraph (5) of subsection
14            (d) of this Section and subsection (d) of Section
15            1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act plus the
16            total sales of electricity (expressed in
17            kilowatthours sold) by utilities outside of their
18            service areas during such prior month, pursuant to
19            subsection (c) of Section 16-116 of this Act; or
20                (2) if the sourcing agreement is a contract for
21            differences, a contract with the initial clean
22            coal facility in each hour with respect to an
23            amount of electricity equal to all clean coal
24            energy made available from the initial clean coal
25            facility during such hour, which the utilities are
26            not required to procure under the terms of

 

 

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1            subsection (d) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois
2            Power Agency Act, multiplied by a fraction, the
3            numerator of which is the alternative retail
4            electric supplier's retail market sales of
5            electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in
6            the State during the prior calendar month and the
7            denominator of which is the total sales of
8            electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in
9            the State by alternative retail electric suppliers
10            during such prior month that are subject to the
11            requirements of this paragraph (5) of subsection
12            (d) of this Section and subsection (d) of Section
13            1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act plus the
14            total sales of electricity (expressed in
15            kilowatthours sold) by utilities outside of their
16            service areas during such prior month, pursuant to
17            subsection (c) of Section 16-116 of this Act;
18            (v) if, in any year after the first year of
19        commercial operation, the owner of the clean coal
20        facility fails to demonstrate to the Commission that
21        the initial clean coal facility captured and
22        sequestered at least 50% of the total carbon emissions
23        that the facility would otherwise emit or that
24        sequestration of emissions from prior years has
25        failed, resulting in the release of carbon into the
26        atmosphere, the owner of the facility must offset

 

 

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1        excess emissions. Any such carbon offsets must be
2        permanent, additional, verifiable, real, located
3        within the State of Illinois, and legally and
4        practicably enforceable. The costs of any such offsets
5        that are not recoverable shall not exceed $15 million
6        in any given year. No costs of any such purchases of
7        carbon offsets may be recovered from an alternative
8        retail electric supplier or its customers. All carbon
9        offsets purchased for this purpose and any carbon
10        emission credits associated with sequestration of
11        carbon from the facility must be permanently retired.
12        The initial clean coal facility shall not forfeit its
13        designation as a clean coal facility if the facility
14        fails to fully comply with the applicable carbon
15        sequestration requirements in any given year, provided
16        the requisite offsets are purchased. However, the
17        Attorney General, on behalf of the People of the State
18        of Illinois, may specifically enforce the facility's
19        sequestration requirement and the other terms of this
20        contract provision. Compliance with the sequestration
21        requirements and offset purchase requirements that
22        apply to the initial clean coal facility shall be
23        reviewed annually by an independent expert retained by
24        the owner of the initial clean coal facility, with the
25        advance written approval of the Attorney General;
26            (vi) The Commission shall, after notice and

 

 

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1        hearing, revoke the certification of any alternative
2        retail electric supplier that fails to execute a
3        sourcing agreement with the initial clean coal
4        facility as required by item (5) of subsection (d) of
5        this Section. The sourcing agreements with this
6        initial clean coal facility shall be subject to both
7        approval of the initial clean coal facility by the
8        General Assembly and satisfaction of the requirements
9        of item (4) of subsection (d) of Section 1-75 of the
10        Illinois Power Agency Act, and shall be executed within
11        90 days after any such approval by the General
12        Assembly. The Commission shall not accept an
13        application for certification from an alternative
14        retail electric supplier that has lost certification
15        under this subsection (d), or any corporate affiliate
16        thereof, for at least one year from the date of
17        revocation;
18        (6) With respect to an applicant that seeks to serve
19    residential or small commercial retail customers, that the
20    area to be served by the applicant and any limitations it
21    proposes on the number of customers or maximum amount of
22    load to be served meet the provisions of Section 16-115A,
23    provided, that the Commission can extend the time for
24    considering such a certificate request by up to 90 days,
25    and can schedule hearings on such a request;
26        (7) That the applicant meets the requirements of

 

 

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1    subsection (a) of Section 16-128; and
2        (8) That the applicant will comply with all other
3    applicable laws and regulations; and .
4        (9) That the applicant discloses any formal complaints
5    that seek a binding determination from a state or federal
6    regulatory body and verifies that such complaints should
7    not be a basis for denying the certificate of service
8    authority by the Commission.
9    (d-5) (Blank).
10    (e) A retail customer that owns a cogeneration or
11self-generation facility and that seeks certification only to
12provide electric power and energy from such facility to retail
13customers at separate locations which customers are both (i)
14owned by, or a subsidiary or other corporate affiliate of, such
15applicant and (ii) eligible for delivery services, shall be
16granted a certificate of service authority upon filing an
17application and notifying the Commission that it has entered
18into an agreement with the relevant electric utilities pursuant
19to Section 16-118. Provided, however, that if the retail
20customer owning such cogeneration or self-generation facility
21would not be charged a transition charge due to the exemption
22provided under subsection (f) of Section 16-108 prior to the
23certification, and the retail customers at separate locations
24are taking delivery services in conjunction with purchasing
25power and energy from the facility, the retail customer on
26whose premises the facility is located shall not thereafter be

 

 

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1required to pay transition charges on the power and energy that
2such retail customer takes from the facility.
3    (f) The Commission shall have the authority to promulgate
4rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this
5Section. On or before May 1, 1999, the Commission shall adopt a
6rule or rules applicable to the certification of those
7alternative retail electric suppliers that seek to serve only
8nonresidential retail customers with maximum electrical
9demands of one megawatt or more which shall provide for (i)
10expedited and streamlined procedures for certification of such
11alternative retail electric suppliers and (ii) specific
12criteria which, if met by any such alternative retail electric
13supplier, shall constitute the demonstration of technical,
14financial and managerial resources and abilities to provide
15service required by subsection (d) (1) of this Section, such as
16a requirement to post a bond or letter of credit, from a
17responsible surety or financial institution, of sufficient
18size for the nature and scope of the services to be provided;
19demonstration of adequate insurance for the scope and nature of
20the services to be provided; and experience in providing
21similar services in other jurisdictions.
22    (g) An alternative retail electric supplier may seek
23confidential treatment for the following information by filing
24an affidavit with the Commission so long as the affidavit meets
25the requirements in this subsection (g):
26        (1) the total annual kilowatt-hours delivered and sold

 

 

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1    by an alternative retail electric supplier to retail
2    customers within each utility service territory and the
3    total annual kilowatt-hours delivered and sold by an
4    alternative retail electric supplier to retail customers
5    in all utility service territories in the preceding
6    calendar year as required by 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451.770;
7        (2) the total peak demand supplied by an alternative
8    retail electric supplier during the previous year in each
9    utility service territory as required by 83 Ill. Adm. Code
10    465.40;
11        (3) a good faith estimate of the amount an alternative
12    retail electric supplier expects to be obliged to pay the
13    utility under single billing tariffs during the next 12
14    months and the amount of any bond or letter of credit used
15    to demonstrate an alternative retail electric supplier's
16    credit worthiness to provide single billing services
17    pursuant to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451.510(a) and (b).
18    The affidavit must be filed contemporaneously with the
19information for which confidential treatment is sought and must
20clearly state that the affiant seeks confidential treatment
21pursuant to this subsection (g) and the information for which
22confidential treatment is sought must be clearly identified on
23the confidential version of the document filed with the
24Commission. The affidavit must be accompanied by a
25"confidential" and a "public" version of the document or
26documents containing the information for which confidential

 

 

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1treatment is sought.
2    If the alternative retail electric supplier has met the
3affidavit requirements of this subsection (g), then the
4Commission shall afford confidential treatment to the
5information identified in the affidavit for a period of 2 years
6after the date the affidavit is received by the Commission.
7    Nothing in this subsection (g) prevents an alternative
8retail electric supplier from filing a petition with the
9Commission seeking confidential treatment for information
10beyond that identified in this subsection (g) or for
11information contained in other reports or documents filed with
12the Commission.
13    Nothing in this subsection (g) prevents the Commission, on
14its own motion, or any party from filing a formal petition with
15the Commission seeking to reconsider the conferring of
16confidential status on an item of information afforded
17confidential treatment pursuant to this subsection (g).
18    The Commission, on its own motion, may at any time initiate
19a docketed proceeding to investigate the continued
20applicability of this subsection (g) to the information
21contained in items (i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection (g).
22If, at the end of such investigation, the Commission determines
23that a particular item of information should no longer be
24eligible for the affidavit-based process outlined in this
25subsection (g), the Commission may enter an order to remove
26that item from the list of items eligible for the process set

 

 

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1forth in this subsection (g). Notwithstanding any such order,
2in the event the Commission makes such a determination, nothing
3in this subsection (g) prevents an alternative retail electric
4supplier desiring confidential treatment for such information
5from filing a formal petition with the Commission seeking
6confidential treatment for such information.
7(Source: P.A. 99-332, eff. 8-10-15.)
 
8    (220 ILCS 5/16-115B)
9    Sec. 16-115B. Commission oversight of services provided by
10alternative retail electric suppliers.
11    (a) The Commission shall have jurisdiction in accordance
12with the provisions of Article X of this Act to entertain and
13dispose of any complaint against any alternative retail
14electric supplier alleging (i) that the alternative retail
15electric supplier has violated or is in nonconformance with any
16applicable provisions of Section 16-115 through Section
1716-115A; (ii) that an alternative retail electric supplier
18serving retail customers having maximum demands of less than
19one megawatt has failed to provide service in accordance with
20the terms of its contract or contracts with such customer or
21customers; (iii) that the alternative retail electric supplier
22has violated or is in non-conformance with the delivery
23services tariff of, or any of its agreements relating to
24delivery services with, the electric utility, municipal
25system, or electric cooperative providing delivery services;

 

 

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1or (iv) that the alternative retail electric supplier has
2violated or failed to comply with the requirements of Sections
38-201 through 8-207, 8-301, 8-505, or 8-507 of this Act as made
4applicable to alternative retail electric suppliers.
5    (b) The Commission shall have authority, after notice and
6hearing held on complaint or on the Commission's own motion:
7        (1) To order an alternative retail electric supplier to
8    cease and desist, or correct, any violation of or
9    non-conformance with the provisions of Section 16-115 or
10    16-115A;
11        (2) To impose financial penalties for violations of or
12    non-conformances with the provisions of Section 16-115 or
13    16-115A, not to exceed (i) $10,000 per occurrence or (ii)
14    $30,000 per day for those violations or non-conformances
15    which continue after the Commission issues a cease and
16    desist order; and
17        (3) To alter, modify, revoke or suspend the certificate
18    of service authority of an alternative retail electric
19    supplier for substantial or repeated violations of or
20    non-conformances with the provisions of Section 16-115 or
21    16-115A.
22    (c) The Commission shall conduct a least one compliance
23education training meeting annually for alternative retail
24electric suppliers that service retail and small commercial
25retail customers in an electric utility's service area
26regarding statutory and rule requirements, consumer complaint

 

 

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1statistics, and any other information determined necessary by
2the Commission. Completion of the Commission's compliance
3education training is a condition for continuing compliance
4with certification requirements for alternative retail
5electric suppliers under 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451.Subpart H.
6(Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97.)
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.