102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2365

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. John Connor

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
35 ILCS 200/10-5

    Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that photovoltaic electricity generation systems subject to power purchase agreements or leases for solar energy between a third-party owner, an operator, or both, and an end user of electricity are considered solar energy systems. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning revenue.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing
5Section 10-5 as follows:
 
6    (35 ILCS 200/10-5)
7    Sec. 10-5. Solar energy systems; definitions. It is the
8policy of this State that the use of solar energy systems
9should be encouraged because they conserve nonrenewable
10resources, reduce pollution and promote the health and
11well-being of the people of this State, and should be valued in
12relation to these benefits.
13    (a) "Solar energy" means radiant energy received from the
14sun at wave lengths suitable for heat transfer, photosynthetic
15use, or photovoltaic use.
16    (b) "Solar collector" means
17        (1) An assembly, structure, or design, including
18    passive elements, used for gathering, concentrating, or
19    absorbing direct and indirect solar energy, specially
20    designed for holding a substantial amount of useful
21    thermal energy and to transfer that energy to a gas,
22    solid, or liquid or to use that energy directly; or
23        (2) A mechanism that absorbs solar energy and converts

 

 

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1    it into electricity; or
2        (3) A mechanism or process used for gathering solar
3    energy through wind or thermal gradients; or
4        (4) A component used to transfer thermal energy to a
5    gas, solid, or liquid, or to convert it into electricity.
6    (c) "Solar storage mechanism" means equipment or elements
7(such as piping and transfer mechanisms, containers, heat
8exchangers, or controls thereof, and gases, solids, liquids,
9or combinations thereof) that are utilized for storing solar
10energy, gathered by a solar collector, for subsequent use.
11    (d) "Solar energy system" means
12        (1)(A) A complete assembly, structure, or design of
13    solar collector, or a solar storage mechanism, which uses
14    solar energy for generating electricity that is primarily
15    consumed on the property on which the solar energy system
16    resides, or for heating or cooling gases, solids, liquids,
17    or other materials for the primary benefit of the property
18    on which the solar energy system resides;
19        (B) The design, materials, or elements of a system and
20    its maintenance, operation, and labor components, and the
21    necessary components, if any, of supplemental conventional
22    energy systems designed or constructed to interface with a
23    solar energy system; and
24        (C) Any legal, financial, or institutional orders,
25    certificates, or mechanisms, including easements, leases,
26    and agreements, required to ensure continued access to

 

 

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1    solar energy, its source, or its use in a solar energy
2    system, and including monitoring and educational elements
3    of a demonstration project; or .
4        (D) Photovoltaic electricity generation systems
5    subject to power purchase agreements or leases for solar
6    energy between a third-party owner, an operator, or both,
7    and an end user of electricity, where such systems are
8    located on the end user of electricity's side of the
9    electric meter and which primarily are used to offset the
10    electricity load of the end user behind whose electric
11    meter the system is connected. A system primarily is used
12    to offset the electricity load of the end user of
13    electricity if the system is estimated to produce 110% or
14    fewer kilowatt-hours of electricity than consumed by the
15    end user of electricity at such meter in the last 12 full
16    months prior to the system being placed in service.
17        (2) "Solar energy system" does not include:
18            (A) Distribution equipment that is equally usable
19        in a conventional energy system except for those
20        components of the equipment that are necessary for
21        meeting the requirements of efficient solar energy
22        utilization;
23            (B) Components of a solar energy system that serve
24        structural, insulating, protective, shading,
25        aesthetic, or other non-solar energy utilization
26        purposes, as defined in the regulations of the

 

 

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1        Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; or
2        and
3            (C) A commercial solar energy system, as defined
4        by this Code, in counties with fewer than 3,000,000
5        inhabitants.
6        (3) The solar energy system shall conform to the
7    standards for those systems established by regulation of
8    the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
9(Source: P.A. 100-781, eff. 8-10-18.)
 
10    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
11becoming law.