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91_SB0385ccr001 1 91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2 FIRST CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT 3 ON SENATE BILL 385 4 To the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the 5 House of Representatives: 6 We, the conference committee appointed to consider the 7 differences between the houses in relation to House 8 Amendments No. 1 and No. 2 to Senate Bill 385, recommend the 9 following: 10 (1) that the Senate concur in House Amendments No. 1 and 11 No. 2; and 12 (2) that Senate Bill 385, AS AMENDED, be further amended 13 as follows: 14 by replacing the title with the following: 15 "AN ACT concerning the Illinois Clean Energy Community 16 Trust, amending named Acts."; and 17 in Section 5 of the bill, in subsection (k) of Sec. 2, after 18 "trustees", by inserting ", or their appointing 19 authorities,"; and 20 by inserting immediately below the last line of Section 5 of 21 the bill the following: 22 "Section 10. The Public Utilities Act is amended by 23 changing Section 16-111.1 as follows: 24 (220 ILCS 5/16-111.1) 25 Sec. 16-111.1. Illinois Clean Energy Community Trust. 26 (a) An electric utility which has sold or transferred 27 generating facilities in a transaction to which subsection 28 (k) of Section 16-111 applies is authorized to establish an 29 Illinois clean energy community trust or foundation for the 30 purposes of providing financial support and assistance to 31 entities, public or private, within the State of Illinois 32 including, but not limited to, units of State and local 33 government, educational institutions, corporations, and 34 charitable, educational, environmental and community 35 organizations, for programs and projects that benefit the 36 public by improving energy efficiency, developing renewable 37 energy resources, supporting other energy related projects 38 that improve the State's environmental quality, and 39 supporting projects and programs intended to preserve or 40 enhance the natural habitats and wildlife areas of the State. 41 Provided, however, that the trust or foundation funds shall 42 not be used for the remediation of environmentally impaired 43 property. The trust or foundation may also assist in 44 identifying other energy and environmental grant 45 opportunities. 46 (b) Such trust or foundation shall be governed by a 47 declaration of trust or articles of incorporation and bylaws 48 which shall, at a minimum, provide that: 49 (1) There shall be 6 voting trustees of the trust 50 or foundation, one of whom shall be appointed by the 51 Governor, one of whom shall be appointed by the President 52 of the Illinois Senate, one of whom shall be appointed by 53 the Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate, one of whom 54 shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Illinois House 55 of Representatives, one of whom shall be appointed by the 56 Minority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, 57 and one of whom shall be appointed by the electric 58 utility establishing the trust or foundation, provided 59 that the voting trustee appointed by the utility shall be 60 a representative of a recognized environmental action 61 group selected by the utility. The Governor shall 62 designateselectone of the 6 voting trustees to serve 63 as, once appointed, to be the firstchairman of the trust 64 or foundation, who shall serve as chairman of the trust 65 or foundation at the pleasure of the Governorpending the66first election of officers. In addition, there shall be 4 67 non-voting trustees, one of whom shall be appointed by 68 the Director of the Department of Commerce and Community 69 Affairs, one of whom shall be appointed by the Director 70 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, one of 71 whom shall be appointed by the Director of the Department 1 of Natural Resources, and one of whom shall be appointed 2 by the electric utility establishing the trust or 3 foundation, provided that the non-voting trustee 4 appointed by the utility shall bring financial expertise 5 to the trust or foundation and shall have appropriate 6 credentials therefor. 7 (2) All voting trustees and the non-voting trustee 8 with financial expertise shall be entitled to 9 compensation for their services as trustees, provided, 10 however, that no member of the General Assembly and no 11 employee of the electric utility establishing the trust 12 or foundation serving as a voting trustee shall receive 13 any compensation for his or her services as a trustee, 14 and provided further that the compensation to the 15 chairman of the trust shall not exceed $25,000 annually 16 and the compensation to any other trustee shall not 17 exceed $20,000 annually. All trustees shall be entitled 18 to reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred on 19 behalf of the trust in the performance of their duties as 20 trustees. All such compensation and reimbursements shall 21 be paid out of the trust. 22 (3) Trustees shall be appointed within 30 days 23 after the creation of the trust or foundation and shall 24 serve for a term of 5 years commencing upon the date of 25 their respective appointments, until their respective 26 successors are appointed and qualified. 27 (4) A vacancy in the office of trustee shall be 28 filled by the person holding the office responsible for 29 appointing the trustee whose death or resignation creates 30 the vacancy, and a trustee appointed to fill a vacancy 31 shall serve the remainder of the term of the trustee 32 whose resignation or death created the vacancy. 33 (5) The trust or foundation shall have an 34 indefinite term, and shall terminate at such time as no 35 trust assets remain. 36 (6) The trust or foundation shall be funded in the 37 minimum amount of $250,000,000, with the allocation and 38 disbursement of funds for the various purposes for which 39 the trust or foundation is established to be determined 40 by the trustees in accordance with the declaration of 41 trust or the articles of incorporation and bylaws; 42 provided, however, that this amount may be reduced by up 43 to $25,000,000 if, at the time the trust or foundation is 44 funded, a corresponding amount is contributed by the 45 electric utility establishing the trust or foundation to 46 the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University for 47 the purpose of funding programs or projects related to 48 clean coal and provided further that $25,000,000 of the 49 amount contributed to the trust or foundation shall be 50 available to fund programs or projects related to clean 51 coal. 52 (7) The trust or foundation shall be authorized to 53 employ an executive director and other employees, to 54 enter into leases, contracts and other obligations on 55 behalf of the trust or foundation, and to incur expenses 56 that the trustees deem necessary or appropriate for the 57 fulfillment of the purposes for which the trust or 58 foundation is established, provided, however, that 59 salaries and administrative expenses incurred on behalf 60 of the trust or foundation shall not exceed $500,000 in 61 the first fiscal year after the trust or foundation is 62 established and shall not exceed $1,000,000 in each 63 subsequent fiscal year. 64 (8) The trustees may create and appoint advisory 65 boards or committees to assist them with the 66 administration of the trust or foundation, and to advise 67 and make recommendations to them regarding the 68 contribution and disbursement of the trust or foundation 69 funds. 70 (c)(1) In addition to the allocation and disbursement of 71 funds for the purposes set forth in subsection (a) of 72 this Section, the trustees of the trust or foundation 73 shall annually contribute funds in amounts set forth in 74 subparagraph (2) of this subsection to the Citizens 75 Utility Board created by the Citizens Utility Board Act; 76 provided, however, that any such funds shall be used 77 solely for the representation of the interests of utility 78 consumers before the Illinois Commerce Commission, the 1 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Federal 2 Communications Commission and for the provision of 3 consumer education on utility service and prices and on 4 benefits and methods of energy conservation. Provided, 5 however, that no part of such funds shall be used to 6 support (i) any lobbying activity, (ii) activities 7 related to fundraising, (iii) advertising or other 8 marketing efforts regarding a particular utility, or (iv) 9 solicitation of support for, or advocacy of, a particular 10 position regarding any specific utility or a utility's 11 docketed proceeding. 12 (2) In the calendar year in which the trust or 13 foundation is first funded, the trustees shall contribute 14 $1,000,000 to the Citizens Utility Board within 60 days 15 after such trust or foundation is established; provided, 16 however, that such contribution shall be made after 17 December 31, 1999. In each of the 6 calendar years 18 subsequent to the first contribution, if the trust or 19 foundation is in existence, the trustees shall contribute 20 to the Citizens Utility Board an amount equal to the 21 total expenditures by such organization in the prior 22 calendar year, as set forth in the report filed by the 23 Citizens Utility Board with the chairman of such trust or 24 foundation as required by subparagraph (3) of this 25 subsection. Such subsequent contributions shall be made 26 within 30 days of submission by the Citizens Utility 27 Board of such report to the Chairman of the trust or 28 foundation, but in no event shall any annual contribution 29 by the trustees to the Citizens Utility Board exceed 30 $1,000,000. Following such 7-year period, an Illinois 31 statutory consumer protection agency may petition the 32 trust or foundation for contributions to fund 33 expenditures of the type identified in paragraph (1), but 34 in no event shall annual contributions by the trust or 35 foundation for such expenditures exceed $1,000,000. 36 (3) The Citizens Utility Board shall file a report 37 with the chairman of such trust or foundation for each 38 year in which it expends any funds received from the 39 trust or foundation setting forth the amount of any 40 expenditures (regardless of the source of funds for such 41 expenditures) for: (i) the representation of the 42 interests of utility consumers before the Illinois 43 Commerce Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory 44 Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission, 45 and (ii) the provision of consumer education on utility 46 service and prices and on benefits and methods of energy 47 conservation. Such report shall separately state the 48 total amount of expenditures for the purposes or 49 activities identified by items (i) and (ii) of this 50 paragraph, the name and address of the external recipient 51 of any such expenditure, if applicable, and the specific 52 purposes or activities (including internal purposes or 53 activities) for which each expenditure was made. Any 54 report required by this subsection shall be filed with 55 the chairman of such trust or foundation no later than 56 March 31 of the year immediately following the year for 57 which the report is required. 58 (Source: P.A. 91-50, eff. 6-30-99.)". 59 Submitted on April 15, 2000. 60 Sen. Steven Rauschenberger s/Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie 61 s/Sen. John Philip Rep. Gary Hannig 62 s/Sen. Stanley B. Weaver s/Rep. Monique Davis 63 Sen. Robert Molaro s/Rep. Art Tenhouse 64 Sen. Emil Jones s/Rep. Raymond Poe 65 Committee for the Senate Committee for the House