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| 1 | AN ACT concerning utilities.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | ||||||
| 5 | Section 4-304 as follows:
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| 6 | (220 ILCS 5/4-304) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 4-304)
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| 7 | Sec. 4-304.
Beginning in 1986, the Commission shall prepare | ||||||
| 8 | an
annual report which shall be filed by January 31 of each | ||||||
| 9 | year with the Joint
Committee on Legislative Support Services | ||||||
| 10 | of the General Assembly, the
Public Counsel and the Governor | ||||||
| 11 | and which shall be publicly available. Such
report shall | ||||||
| 12 | include:
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| 13 | (1) A general review of agency activities and changes, | ||||||
| 14 | including:
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| 15 | (a) a review of significant decisions and other | ||||||
| 16 | regulatory actions for
the preceding year, and pending | ||||||
| 17 | cases, and an analysis of the impact of
such decisions and | ||||||
| 18 | actions, and potential impact of any significant pending
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| 19 | cases;
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| 20 | (b) for each significant decision, regulatory action | ||||||
| 21 | and pending
case, a description of the positions advocated | ||||||
| 22 | by major parties, including
Commission staff, and for each | ||||||
| 23 | such decision rendered or action taken, the
position | ||||||
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| 1 | adopted by the Commission and reason therefor;
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| 2 | (c) a description of the Commission's budget, | ||||||
| 3 | caseload, and staff
levels, including specifically:
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| 4 | (i) a breakdown by type of case of the cases | ||||||
| 5 | resolved and filed during
the year and of pending | ||||||
| 6 | cases;
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| 7 | (ii) a description of the allocation of the | ||||||
| 8 | Commission's budget,
identifying amounts budgeted for | ||||||
| 9 | each significant regulatory function or
activity and | ||||||
| 10 | for each department, bureau, section, division or | ||||||
| 11 | office of
the Commission and its employees;
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| 12 | (iii) a description of current employee levels, | ||||||
| 13 | identifying any change
occurring during the year in the | ||||||
| 14 | number of employees, personnel policies
and practices | ||||||
| 15 | or compensation levels; and identifying the number and | ||||||
| 16 | type
of employees assigned to each Commission | ||||||
| 17 | regulatory function and to each
department, bureau, | ||||||
| 18 | section, division or office of the Commission;
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| 19 | (d) a description of any significant changes in | ||||||
| 20 | Commission policies,
programs or practices with respect to | ||||||
| 21 | agency organization and
administration, hearings and | ||||||
| 22 | procedures or substantive regulatory
activity.
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| 23 | (2) A discussion and analysis of the state of each utility | ||||||
| 24 | industry
regulated by the Commission and significant changes, | ||||||
| 25 | trends and developments
therein, including the number and types | ||||||
| 26 | of firms offering each utility
service, existing, new and | ||||||
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| 1 | prospective technologies, variations in the
quality, | ||||||
| 2 | availability and price for utility services in different
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| 3 | geographic areas of the State, and any other industry factors | ||||||
| 4 | or
circumstances which may affect the public interest or the | ||||||
| 5 | regulation of such
industries.
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| 6 | (3) A specific discussion of the energy planning | ||||||
| 7 | responsibilities and
activities of the Commission and energy | ||||||
| 8 | utilities, including:
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| 9 | (a) the extent to which conservation, cogeneration, | ||||||
| 10 | renewable energy
technologies and improvements in energy | ||||||
| 11 | efficiency are being utilized by energy
consumers, the | ||||||
| 12 | extent to which additional potential exists for the | ||||||
| 13 | economical
utilization of such supplies, and a description | ||||||
| 14 | of existing and proposed
programs and policies designed to | ||||||
| 15 | promote and encourage such utilization;
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| 16 | (b) a description of each energy plan filed with the | ||||||
| 17 | Commission pursuant
to the provisions of this Act, and a | ||||||
| 18 | copy, or detailed summary of the most
recent energy plans | ||||||
| 19 | adopted by the Commission; and
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| 20 | (c) a discussion of the powers by which the Commission | ||||||
| 21 | is implementing
the planning responsibilities of Article | ||||||
| 22 | VIII, including a description of
the staff and budget | ||||||
| 23 | assigned to such function, the procedures by which
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| 24 | Commission staff reviews and analyzes energy plans | ||||||
| 25 | submitted by the utilities,
the Department of Natural | ||||||
| 26 | Resources, and any other person or
party; and .
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| 1 | (d) a summary of the adoption of solar photovoltaic | ||||||
| 2 | systems by residential and small business consumers in | ||||||
| 3 | Illinois and a description of any and all barriers to | ||||||
| 4 | residential and small business consumers' financing, | ||||||
| 5 | installation, and valuation of energy produced by solar | ||||||
| 6 | photovoltaic systems; electric utilities, alternative | ||||||
| 7 | retail electric suppliers, and installers of distributed | ||||||
| 8 | generation shall provide all information requested by the | ||||||
| 9 | Commission or its staff necessary to complete the analysis | ||||||
| 10 | required by this paragraph (d). | ||||||
| 11 | (4) A discussion of the extent to which utility services | ||||||
| 12 | are available
to all Illinois citizens including:
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| 13 | (a) the percentage and number of persons or households | ||||||
| 14 | requiring each
such service who are not receiving such | ||||||
| 15 | service, and the reasons therefore,
including specifically | ||||||
| 16 | the number of such persons or households who are
unable to | ||||||
| 17 | afford such service;
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| 18 | (b) a critical analysis of existing programs designed | ||||||
| 19 | to promote and
preserve the availability and affordability | ||||||
| 20 | of utility services; and
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| 21 | (c) an analysis of the financial impact on utilities | ||||||
| 22 | and other
ratepayers of the inability of some customers or | ||||||
| 23 | potential customers to
afford utility service, including | ||||||
| 24 | the number of service disconnections and
reconnections, | ||||||
| 25 | and cost thereof and the dollar amount of uncollectible
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| 26 | accounts recovered through rates.
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| 1 | (5) A detailed description of the means by which the | ||||||
| 2 | Commission is
implementing its new statutory responsibilities | ||||||
| 3 | under this Act, and the
status of such implementation, | ||||||
| 4 | including specifically:
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| 5 | (a) Commission reorganization resulting from the | ||||||
| 6 | addition of an
Executive Director and hearing examiner | ||||||
| 7 | qualifications and review;
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| 8 | (b) Commission responsibilities for construction and | ||||||
| 9 | rate supervision,
including construction cost audits, | ||||||
| 10 | management audits, excess capacity
adjustments, phase-ins | ||||||
| 11 | of new plant and the means and capability for monitoring
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| 12 | and reevaluating existing or future construction projects;
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| 13 | (c) promulgation and application of rules concerning | ||||||
| 14 | ex parte
communications, circulation of recommended orders | ||||||
| 15 | and transcription of closed
meetings.
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| 16 | (6) A description of all appeals taken from Commission | ||||||
| 17 | orders, findings
or decisions and the status and outcome of | ||||||
| 18 | such appeals.
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| 19 | (7) A description of the status of all studies and | ||||||
| 20 | investigations
required by this Act, including those ordered | ||||||
| 21 | pursuant to Sections 8-304,
9-242, 9-244 and 13-301 and all
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| 22 | such subsequently ordered studies or investigations.
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| 23 | (8) A discussion of new or potential developments in | ||||||
| 24 | federal
legislation, and federal agency and judicial decisions | ||||||
| 25 | relevant to State
regulation of utility services.
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| 26 | (9) All recommendations for appropriate legislative action | ||||||
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| 1 | by the General
Assembly.
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| 2 | The Commission may include such other information as it | ||||||
| 3 | deems to be
necessary or beneficial in describing or explaining | ||||||
| 4 | its activities or
regulatory responsibilities. The report | ||||||
| 5 | required by this Section shall be
adopted by a vote of the full | ||||||
| 6 | Commission prior to filing.
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| 7 | (Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
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| 8 | Section 10. If and only if House Bill 3766 of the 99th | ||||||
| 9 | General Assembly becomes law in the form in which it passed | ||||||
| 10 | both houses on May 26, 2015, then the Public Utilities Act is | ||||||
| 11 | amended by changing Section 16-119 as follows:
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| 12 | (220 ILCS 5/16-119)
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| 13 | Sec. 16-119. Switching suppliers. An electric utility or an | ||||||
| 14 | alternative retail electric
supplier may establish a term of | ||||||
| 15 | service, notice period for
terminating service and provisions | ||||||
| 16 | governing early termination
through a tariff or contract. A | ||||||
| 17 | customer may change its
supplier subject to tariff or contract | ||||||
| 18 | terms and conditions.
Any notice provisions; or provision for a | ||||||
| 19 | fee, charge or
penalty with early termination of a contract; | ||||||
| 20 | shall be
conspicuously disclosed in any tariff or contract. Any | ||||||
| 21 | tariff filed or contract renewed or entered into on and after | ||||||
| 22 | the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General | ||||||
| 23 | Assembly that contains an early termination clause shall | ||||||
| 24 | disclose the amount of the early termination fee or penalty, | ||||||
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| 1 | provided that any early termination fee or penalty shall not | ||||||
| 2 | exceed $50 total for residential customers and $150 for small | ||||||
| 3 | commercial retail customers as defined in Section 16-102 of | ||||||
| 4 | this Act, regardless of whether or not the tariff or contract | ||||||
| 5 | is a multiyear tariff or contract. A customer
shall remain | ||||||
| 6 | responsible for any unpaid charges owed to an
electric utility | ||||||
| 7 | or alternative retail electric supplier at
the time it switches | ||||||
| 8 | to another provider.
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| 9 | The caps on early termination fees and penalties under this | ||||||
| 10 | Section shall apply only to early termination fees and | ||||||
| 11 | penalties for early termination of electric service. The caps | ||||||
| 12 | shall not apply to charges or fees for devices, equipment, or | ||||||
| 13 | other services provided by the utility or alternative retail | ||||||
| 14 | electric supplier. | ||||||
| 15 | (Source: P.A. 90-561, eff. 12-16-97; 09900HB3766enr.)
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| 16 | Section 99. Effective date. This Section takes effect upon | ||||||
| 17 | becoming law. Section 10 takes effect upon becoming law or on | ||||||
| 18 | the date House Bill 3766 of the 99th General Assembly takes | ||||||
| 19 | effect, whichever is later.
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