101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB1563

 

Introduced , by Rep. Fred Crespo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new

    Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Defines "underground" and "undergrounding". Provides that public utilities shall underground specified electric transmission lines under certain conditions. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to recover from all retail customers in its service territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of such transmission lines. Provides that a public utility shall record and defer such costs as a regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the expected life of such transmission line. Effective immediately.


LRB101 05826 AWJ 50842 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB1563LRB101 05826 AWJ 50842 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by adding
5Division 15.5 to Article 11 as follows:
 
6    (65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new)
7
DIVISION 15.5. UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY FACILITIES

 
8    (65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new)
9    Sec. 11-15.5-5. Undergrounding utility facilities.
10    (a) As used in this Division and unless the context
11requires otherwise, "underground" or "undergrounding" means
12routing and constructing electric transmission lines and their
13associated components below ground, consistent with sound
14engineering and utility practices.
15    (b) In the interest of public health and safety,
16reliability, and electric grid security, a public utility, as
17defined by Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, shall
18underground any 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
19line constructed after the effective date of this amendatory
20Act of the 101st General Assembly where:
21        (1) such transmission line or any portion thereof is to
22    be located within 26,000 feet of an airport that is located

 

 

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1    in and owned by a municipality with a population greater
2    than 70,000 and less than 80,000 located in or contiguous
3    to a county with a population in excess of 1,000,000
4    inhabitants; or
5        (2) such transmission line is to be located in 4 or
6    more contiguous municipalities with a population density
7    of 1,000 per square mile or more as of the most recent
8    federal decennial census.
9    (c) The costs for undergrounding a new transmission line
10shall not be allocated solely to the municipality or
11municipalities in which it is underground; instead, the
12Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to
13fully recover from all retail customers in its service
14territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs
15related to the undergrounding of transmission lines. The public
16utility shall record and defer such costs as a regulatory asset
17to be included in the public utility's total rate base and
18amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the
19expected life of the transmission line. Such regulatory assets
20shall be collected from all ratepayers system-wide, and not
21only from ratepayers in the corporate limits of the
22municipality or municipalities within which the transmission
23line is constructed.
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.