103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4751

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Rep. Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
220 ILCS 5/8-402.2

    Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that "confidential information" means, for purposes of a provision requiring the results of each public school's Carbon-Free Assessment to be memorialized in a non-confidential report that redacts confidential information, information or facts exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "confidential information" does not include program offerings, solar opportunities, health and safety certifications, energy efficiency recommendations, information about transportation and other funding offerings. Provides that a copy of the Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment report shall be provided to the applicable public school by the utility or the third party acting on behalf of the utility.


LRB103 37698 CES 67825 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4751LRB103 37698 CES 67825 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 8-402.2 as follows:
 
6    (220 ILCS 5/8-402.2)
7    Sec. 8-402.2. Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
8programs.
9    (a) Within one year after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, each electric
11utility serving over 500,000 retail customers in this State
12shall implement a Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
13program.
14    (b) Each utility's Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
15program shall include the following requirements:
16        (1) Each plan shall be designed to offer within the
17    utility's service territory to assist public schools, as
18    defined by Section 1-3 of the School Code, to increase the
19    efficiency of their energy usage, to reduce the carbon
20    emissions associated with their energy usage, and to move
21    toward a goal of public schools being carbon-free in their
22    energy usage by 2030. The program shall include a target
23    of completing Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment for

 

 

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1    all public schools in the utility's service territory by
2    December 31, 2029.
3        (2) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
4    a generally standardized assessment, but may incorporate
5    flexibility to reflect the circumstances of individual
6    public schools and public school districts.
7        (3) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall
8    include, but not be limited to, comprehensive analyses of
9    the following subjects:
10            (A) The top energy efficiency savings
11        opportunities for the public school, by energy saved;
12            (B) The total achievable solar energy potential on
13        or nearby a public school's premises and able to
14        provide power to a school;
15            (C) The infrastructure required to support
16        electrification of the facility's space heating and
17        water heating needs;
18            (D) The infrastructure requirements to support
19        electrification of a school's transportation needs;
20        and
21            (E) The investments required to achieve a WELL
22        Certification or similar certification as determined
23        through methods developed and updated by the
24        International WELL Building Institute or similar or
25        successor organizations.
26        (4) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment also

 

 

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1    shall include, but not be limited to, mechanical
2    insulation evaluation inspection and inspection of the
3    building envelope(s).
4        (5) With respect to those public school construction
5    projects for public schools within the service territory
6    of a utility serving over 500,000 retail customers in this
7    State and for which a public school district applies for a
8    grant under Section 5-40 of the School Construction Law on
9    or after June 1, 2023, the district must submit a copy of
10    the applicable Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
11    report, or, if no such Public Schools Carbon-Free
12    Assessment has been performed, request the applicable
13    utility to perform such a Public Schools Carbon-Free
14    Assessment and submit a copy of the Public Schools
15    Carbon-Free Assessment report promptly when it becomes
16    available. The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
17    report shall include, but not limited to, an energy audit
18    of both the building envelope and the building's
19    mechanical insulation system. It shall also include an
20    inspection of both the building envelope and the
21    mechanical insulation system. The district must
22    demonstrate how the construction project is designed and
23    managed to achieve the goals that all public elementary
24    and secondary school facilities in the State are able to
25    be powered by clean energy by 2030, and for such
26    facilities to achieve carbon-free energy sources for space

 

 

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1    heat, water heat, and transportation by 2050.
2        (6) The results of each Public Schools Carbon-Free
3    Assessment shall be memorialized by the utility or by a
4    third party acting on behalf of the utility in a
5    non-confidential report form that includes recommendations
6    and redacts all confidential information. For purposes of
7    this Section, "confidential information" means information
8    or facts expected and intended to be exempt from
9    disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
10    "Confidential information" does not include program
11    offerings, solar opportunities, health and safety
12    certifications, energy efficiency recommendations,
13    information about transportation and other funding
14    offerings. The non-confidential form and shall be provided
15    to the applicable public school by the utility or the
16    third party acting on behalf of the utility. Each utility
17    shall be required to retain a copy of each Public Schools
18    Carbon-Free Assessment report and to provide copies of
19    each non-confidential report to the Illinois Power Agency
20    and the Illinois Capital Development Board within 3 months
21    after of its completion. The Illinois Power Agency shall
22    promptly make the results of each non-confidential report
23    available for public inspection on its website.
24        (7) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
25    conducted in coordination with each utility's energy
26    efficiency and demand-response plans under Sections 8-103,

 

 

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1    8-103A, and 8-103B of this Act, to the extent applicable.
2    Nothing in this Section is intended to modify or require
3    modification of those plans. However, the utility may
4    request a modification of a plan approved by the
5    Commission, and the Commission may approve the requested
6    modification, if the modification is consistent with the
7    provisions of this Section and Section 8-103B of this Act.
8        (8) If there are no other providers of assessments
9    that are substantively the same as those being performed
10    by utilities pursuant to this Section by 2024, a utility
11    that has a Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment program
12    may offer assessments to public schools that are not
13    served by a utility subject to this Section at the
14    utility's cost.
15        (9) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
16    offered to and performed for public schools in the
17    utility's service territory on a complimentary basis by
18    each utility, with no Assessment fee charged to the public
19    schools for the Assessments. Nothing in this Section is
20    intended to prohibit the utility from recovering through
21    rates approved by the Commission the utility's prudent and
22    reasonable costs of complying with this Section.
23        (10) Utilities shall make efforts to prioritize the
24    completion of Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessments for
25    the following school districts by December 31, 2022: East
26    St. Louis School District 189, Harvey School District 152,

 

 

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1    Thornton Township High School District 205. Utilities
2    shall also prioritize the completion of Public Schools
3    Carbon-Free Assessments for schools located within
4    environmental justice communities or schools that are
5    categorized as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 school based on the
6    latest annual evidence-based funding distribution process
7    by the State Board of Education.
8(Source: P.A. 102-662, eff. 9-15-21; 102-1123, eff. 1-27-23.)