Full Text of SB1603 96th General Assembly
SB1603sam001 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford
Filed: 3/5/2009
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1603
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1603 on page 1, by | 3 |
| replacing line 5 with the following: | 4 |
| "Sections 16-111.7, 16-111.9, 19-140 and 19-150 as follows:"; | 5 |
| and
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| on page 4, immediately below line 19, by inserting the | 7 |
| following: | 8 |
| "(220 ILCS 5/19-140 new)
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| Sec. 19-140. Financial assistance; payment plans; gas | 10 |
| utilities. | 11 |
| (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a gas | 12 |
| utility may offer programs that are approved by the Commission | 13 |
| specifically designed to provide bill payment assistance to | 14 |
| low-income customers. The programs may be designed in a number | 15 |
| of ways, including, but not limited to, flat grants, | 16 |
| forgiveness of past due amounts in exchange for regular |
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| payments, percentage of income payments, energy efficiency and | 2 |
| demand-response measures, and education. After receiving a | 3 |
| request from a gas utility for the approval of a proposed | 4 |
| program pursuant to this Section, the Commission shall render | 5 |
| its decision within 120 days. If no decision is rendered within | 6 |
| 120 days, then the request shall be deemed to be approved. | 7 |
| (b) If a gas utility elects to offer programs under this | 8 |
| Section, the utility must first offer a Percentage of Income | 9 |
| Payment Plan (PIP Plan) that has been approved by the | 10 |
| Commission and that contains the following components: | 11 |
| (1) The gas utility shall coordinate with the | 12 |
| Department of Healthcare and Family Services (Department) | 13 |
| to identify eligible participants, which shall be based on | 14 |
| the same criteria established by the Department to | 15 |
| determine eligibility for the Illinois Low Income Home | 16 |
| Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) pursuant to the Energy | 17 |
| Assistance Act. | 18 |
| (2) The gas utility, in conjunction with the | 19 |
| Department, shall establish the percentage of income | 20 |
| formula that will be applied to PIP Plan participants' gas | 21 |
| utility bills to determine the portion of the bill that is | 22 |
| the responsibility of the participant. | 23 |
| (3) The Department shall remit to the gas utility that | 24 |
| portion of the PIP Plan participant's bill that is not the | 25 |
| responsibility of the participant; in the event that the | 26 |
| Department fails to remit payment to the gas utility as |
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| required by this Section, the utility shall be entitled to | 2 |
| recover all costs related to nonpayment through the | 3 |
| automatic adjustment clause tariff established pursuant to | 4 |
| Section 19-150 of this Act, and the limitations of | 5 |
| subsection (c) of this Section shall not apply. | 6 |
| (4) For each month that a PIP Plan participant pays its | 7 |
| gas utility bill on time, the gas utility shall apply a | 8 |
| credit to a portion of the participant's arrearage, if any, | 9 |
| and costs shall be recoverable by the utility pursuant to | 10 |
| subsection (c) of this Section. | 11 |
| (5) A PIP Plan participant shall no longer be eligible | 12 |
| for the PIP Plan if the participant fails to make an on | 13 |
| time payment in any given month. | 14 |
| (6) Subsequent to Commission approval, the gas utility | 15 |
| shall have the discretion to adjust the number of program | 16 |
| participants, the percentage of income formula, and the | 17 |
| amount of arrearages credits in order to add additional | 18 |
| programs or control annual expenditures under this | 19 |
| Section. | 20 |
| (c) A gas utility shall recover all of the costs it incurs | 21 |
| in offering programs approved by the Commission pursuant to | 22 |
| this Section, including all start-up and administrative costs, | 23 |
| provided that the costs do not exceed $10 million annually. All | 24 |
| costs incurred under this Section shall be recovered from the | 25 |
| gas utility's retail customers through an automatic adjustment | 26 |
| clause tariff filed with and approved by the Commission. |
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| (d) In the event a gas utility offering programs under this | 2 |
| Section elects to discontinue a program, it shall provide 60 | 3 |
| days notice both (i) to program participants through a bill | 4 |
| insert and (ii) to the Commission through an informational | 5 |
| filing. | 6 |
| (220 ILCS 5/19-150 new)
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| Sec. 19-150. Automatic adjustment clause tariff; | 8 |
| uncollectibles; gas utilities. A gas utility that has filed a | 9 |
| request with the Commission for approval of a Percentage of | 10 |
| Income Payment Plan pursuant to Section 19-140 of this Act | 11 |
| shall be permitted to recover all of its uncollectibles through | 12 |
| an automatic adjustment clause tariff. The tariff shall be | 13 |
| established outside the context of a general rate case. A gas | 14 |
| utility may file a compliant tariff within 45 days after the | 15 |
| effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General | 16 |
| Assembly. The Commission shall conclude any investigation of | 17 |
| the tariff within 45 days after the date on which it is filed. | 18 |
| An approved tariff shall be applicable beginning with the | 19 |
| utility's next monthly billing period commencing at least 15 | 20 |
| days after the date of approval. Thereafter, the Commission | 21 |
| shall annually initiate a review to reconcile any amounts | 22 |
| collected with actual uncollectibles in the prior annual period | 23 |
| and to determine any required adjustment to account for any | 24 |
| difference in those amounts. Nothing in this Section or the | 25 |
| implementing tariffs shall affect or alter the gas utility's |
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| existing obligation to pursue collection of uncollectibles or | 2 |
| the gas utility's right to disconnect service. ".
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