Bill Amendment: IL SB1083 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: REGULATION-TECH

Status: 2021-07-16 - Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b) / Referred to Assignments [SB1083 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SB1083-Senate_Amendment_001.html

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Sen. Linda Holmes

Filed: 4/8/2021

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1083
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1083 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
Section 9-254 as follows:
(220 ILCS 5/9-254 new)
Sec. 9-254. Greenhouse Gas Plan; multi-year rate
structure, tariff, and protocols; annual reconciliations.
(a) Participating gas utility commitments.
(1) For purposes of this Section, "participating gas
utility" means a public utility that provides natural gas
distribution services to more than 150,000 retail
customers in Illinois that voluntarily elects and commits
to develop and implement a Greenhouse Gas Plan that
significantly reduces, offsets, or avoids greenhouse gas
emissions in the State of Illinois attributable to the

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utility's operations and customers' end use of gas
delivered by the utility. A participating gas utility
shall commit, at the time it elects to participate, that,
by 2030, it will: (i) lower the overall carbon intensity
of the fuel supply provided to its customers as set forth
in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of this subsection;
(ii) make qualified investments as described in
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of this subsection
designed to, among other things, measure, reduce,
displace, or offset methane and other greenhouse gas
emissions from utility operations; and (iii) implement and
deploy customer programs and make qualified investments
designed to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions in
the State of Illinois as set forth in subparagraph (C) of
paragraph (2) of this subsection. A participating gas
utility is entitled to recover the expenditures made under
the Greenhouse Gas Plan through its regulated rates,
including, but not limited to, through the multi-year
performance-based rate process set forth in subsection (b)
of this Section.
(2) Each participating gas utility shall implement a
Greenhouse Gas Plan that contains the following
commitments to lower the overall carbon intensity of the
fuel supply provided to its customers and reducing,
offsetting, or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in the
State of Illinois attributable to the utility's operations

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and customers' end use by 2030:
(A) A participating gas utility shall commit to
lowering the overall carbon intensity of the fuel
supply delivered to its customers by incorporating
sustainable gas into its gas supply portfolio by not
less than 2% of the natural gas utility's total gas
supply portfolio (by volume) by the year 2030 through
activities that may include, but are not limited to:
(i) contracting with a producer of sustainable
gas to purchase gas supply from a sustainable gas
facility;
(ii) purchasing gas produced from a
sustainable gas facility, whether or not the gas
has environmental commodities;
(iii) incorporating the gas produced from a
sustainable gas facility into the supply portfolio
of the natural gas utility; and
(iv) selling the gas produced from a
sustainable gas facility directly to the customers
of the natural gas utility;
(B) The calculation of the share of the supply
portfolio shall not include the volume of gas of any
type delivered but not sold by the natural gas
utility. For purposes of this subsection, sustainable
gas shall include the following:
(i) renewable natural gas, which includes any

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of the following products processed to meet
applicable utility pipeline quality standards or
transportation fuel grade requirements that it may
blend with, or substitute for, geologic natural
gas:
(1) biogas, which is a mixture of carbon
dioxide and hydrocarbons, primarily methane
gas, released from the biological
decomposition of organic materials, including,
without limitation, biomass, manure, plant
material, sewage, and landfill waste;
(2) hydrogen gas derived from renewable
energy sources; and
(3) methane gas derived from any
combination of: biogas; hydrogen gas or carbon
oxides derived from renewable energy sources;
or carbon dioxide;
(ii) other low-carbon fuels, which include:
(1) hydrogen or other fuels derived from
zero-carbon or low-carbon energy sources or
from other sources where the CO2 produced is
capture and stored;
(2) methane gas derived from hydrogen or
other fuels derived from zero-carbon or
low-carbon energy sources or from other
sources where the CO2 produced is capture and

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stored; and
(3) any additional fuel that has a lower
lifecycle carbon emissions than traditionally
derived geological natural gas; and
(iii) next generation natural gas, which is a
geological natural gas supplied from a producer
who has certified contractually or through a third
party to a lower methane intensity from production
and gathering operations that results in a lower
lifecycle carbon dioxide equivalent emissions than
an established baseline for geologic natural gas
or otherwise has certified that the gas has been
produced through operational practices to lower
emissions.
Nothing in this Section shall be interpreted as
preventing the gas utility from purchasing sustainable
fuels without environmental commodities, although such
purchases shall not be applicable to meeting the goals
set forth in this Section if environmental commodities
do apply to such fuels. As used in this paragraph,
"sustainable fuels" includes renewable natural gas and
other low-carbon fuels.
(C) A participating gas utility shall commit to
making qualified investments in gas distribution
system improvements designed to, among other things,
support the measurement, reduction, displacement, or

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offset of greenhouse gas emissions from utility
operations. The participating gas utility shall,
except as provided in this subsection (a), make these
qualified investments over a 9-year period beginning
no later than 180 days after a participating gas
utility files a multi-year performance-based rate
tariff pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section or
beginning no later than January 1, 2022. As used in
this subparagraph (C), "qualified investments"
includes, but is not limited to:
(i) investments in pipeline replacement,
meter, and other infrastructure modernization
targeted at lowering system leakage;
(ii) improvements in nonemergency operational
programs for pipe maintenance to reduce venting;
(iii) advanced leak detection, response, and
repair;
(iv) investments that improve direct
measurement of emissions from operations;
(v) other operational investments targeted at
developing sources of sustainable fuels in the
State of Illinois for the purpose of providing
environmental benefits and diversifying the supply
of energy in the State or otherwise targeted at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions from utility
operations, including, without limitation,

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investments in research and development in
emerging technologies;
(vi) investments in sustainable fuels
facilities, including, but not limited to, owning,
in whole or in part, and operating a sustainable
fuels facility connected to the distribution
system where the utility retains all or a majority
of the environmental commodities unless otherwise
determined by the natural gas utility;
(vii) extending the transmission or
distribution system of the natural gas utility to
interconnect with a sustainable fuels facility
where the utility retains all or a majority of the
environmental commodities unless otherwise
determined by the natural gas utility unless
otherwise determined by the natural gas utility;
(viii) sustainable fuels investments that
reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in the
State of Illinois, where the utility retains all
or a majority of the environmental commodities
unless otherwise determined by the natural gas
utility;
(ix) investments that reduce or offset methane
and other greenhouse gas emissions from utility
operations that the Commission finds are prudent
and reasonable;

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(x) investment in natural gas, compressed
natural gas, and hydrogen infrastructure and
vehicles to convert utility fleet vehicles and
support customers looking to convert vehicles from
gasoline and diesel fuel, including installation
of vehicle refueling stations accessible to the
public at each regional distribution center with
both rapid fill and overnight fill stations;
(xi) investment in infrastructure and vehicles
to convert certain fleet vehicles to electric
vehicles; and
(xii) other prudently incurred investments
made by the participating natural gas utility that
contribute to the participating natural gas
utility meeting a goal to be net-zero methane
emissions by 2030.
(D) A participating gas public utility commits to
implement and deploy customer programs and make
qualified investments designed to reduce or offset
greenhouse gas emissions in the State of Illinois in
the residential, commercial, and other sectors.
Examples of these programs and qualified investments
may include, but are not limited to:
(i) investment in natural gas energy
efficiency programs in addition to programs set
forth in Section 8-104 of this Act with increased

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focus on greenhouse gas reductions and support for
low-income customers;
(ii) programs to offer customers opportunities
to reduce their carbon footprint, including, but
not limited to, voluntary customer programs that
provide carbon offsets or purchase of renewable
natural gas; and
(iii) Investments into research and
development and emerging technologies aimed at
operational safety, greenhouse gas emission
reductions, and energy savings, including energy
and appliance efficiency, carbon capture, and use
of future fuels like hydrogen as a substitute for
or blending with geologic natural gas, or as a
source for substitute natural gas.
(3) As part of the filing for the first triennial base
rate case under the participating utility's multi-year
rate tariff filed under subsection (b) of this Section, a
participating utility shall submit to the Commission its
Greenhouse Gas Plan, including a scope, schedule, and
investment plan designed to satisfy commitments made
pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection for the
9-year period following the filing of the plan. The plan
need not allocate the work equally over the respective
periods, but should allocate material increments
throughout such periods commensurate with the work to be

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undertaken. Consistent with subsection (b) of this
Section, the Greenhouse Gas Plan shall be updated with
each successive triennial base rate case filing through
the conclusion of the Greenhouse Gas Plan.
(4) For purposes of meeting the goals set forth in
this Section, sustainable gas that is purchased by the
natural gas utility or if the natural gas utility makes
investments in a sustainable gas facility, the gas must,
if applicable, include environmental commodities
associated with the gas. In addition, if the natural gas
utility makes investments in a sustainable gas facility,
the natural gas utility may retain all or a majority of the
environmental commodities, unless otherwise determined by
the natural gas utility. For purposes of this subsection,
"environmental commodities" means non-tangible energy
credits, and any and all current and future rights,
credits, benefits, air quality credits, methane capture
credits, renewable energy credits, emission reductions,
offsets, and allowances, howsoever referred to, associated
with the capture, production, generation, transportation,
use, and environmental characteristics of biogas and
sustainable gas, the displacement of fossil-based natural
gas for any use (including, without limitation, thermal
use, electricity generation, and use as a transportation
fuel), the reduction of air pollutants or the avoidance of
the emission of any gas, chemical, or other substance,

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including, without limitation, any similar commodities,
whether arising out of international, federal, state, or
local laws or regulations.
(5) If the Commission finds that a participating
utility is no longer eligible to update the multi-year
rate pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section, or the
multi-year rate tariff is otherwise terminated, then the
participating utility's commitments and obligations under
this subsection shall immediately terminate.
(6) In meeting the obligations of this subsection, to
the extent feasible and consistent with State and federal
law, the investments under the Greenhouse Gas Plan should
provide employment opportunities for all segments of the
population and workforce, including minority-owned and
women-owned business enterprises, and shall not,
consistent with State and federal law, discriminate based
on race or socioeconomic status.
(7) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the
Commission from investigating the prudence and
reasonableness of the expenditures made under the
Greenhouse Gas Plan submitted in accordance with this
Section during the triennial base rate cases or the annual
reconciliations required by subsection (c) of this Section
and shall, as part of the investigation, determine whether
the utility's actual costs under the program are prudent
and reasonable.

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(b) Multi-year rate structure, tariff, and protocols.
(1) Notwithstanding any of the ratemaking provisions
of this Article that are deemed to require rate of return
regulation, a participating gas utility that meets the
requirements of subsection (a) of this Section may
implement a multi-year rate tariff, structure, and
protocols approved by the Commission in order to establish
just and reasonable rates for natural gas delivery
services on a multi-year cycle. The multi-year rate tariff
shall specify the cost components that form the basis of
the rates to be charged to customers with sufficient
specificity to operate in a standardized manner and be
reconciled annually with transparent information that
reflects the utility's actual costs to be recovered during
each applicable rate year, which is the period beginning
with the first billing day of January and extending
through the last billing day of the following December.
(2) The multi-year rate tariff, structure, and
protocols approved by the Commission shall:
(A) Provide for the recovery of the gas utility's
actual costs of gas delivery services that are
prudently incurred and reasonable in amount consistent
with Commission practice and law. The sole fact that a
cost differs from that incurred in a prior calendar
year or that an investment is different from that made
in a prior calendar year shall not imply the

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imprudence or unreasonableness of that cost or
investment.
(B) Require a participating gas utility to file a
base rate case every 3 years, which shall be known as
the triennial base rate case, that contains a detailed
investment plan for the 3 calendar years beginning the
January 1 after the filing. The investment plan shall
include the requisite information and detail,
consistent with the Commission's future test year
rules to establish 3 forward test years for the gas
utility.
(C) Calculate revenue requirements for the
calendar year following each base rate case, and, in
addition, the second and third years following the
base rate case.
(D) Provide that if the participating gas
utility's earned rate of return on common equity
related to the provision of natural gas delivery
services for the prior rate year (calculated using
costs of debt and actual year-end capital structure
approved by the Commission in its most recent
triennial base rate case subject to the Commission
reviewing for reasonableness and prudence and
difference between the actual capital structure and
the capital structure approved in the previous
triennial base rate case) consistent with this

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Section, in accordance with Commission rules and
orders, including, but not limited to, adjustments for
goodwill, and after any Commission-ordered
disallowances and taxes, is higher than the rate of
return on common equity calculated pursuant to
subparagraph (G) of paragraph (2) of this subsection
(b) for that same rate year, then the participating
utility shall apply a credit through the annual
reconciliation process described in subsection (c) of
this Section that reflects an amount equal to the
value of that portion of the earned rate of return on
common equity that is higher than the rate of return on
common equity calculated pursuant to subparagraph (G)
of paragraph (2) of this subsection (b) for the prior
rate year, adjusted for taxes. If the participating
utility's earned rate of return on common equity
related to the provision of natural gas delivery
services for the prior rate year (calculated using
costs and capital structure approved by the Commission
as provided in subparagraphs (F) and (G) of paragraph
(2) of this subsection, consistent with this Section
in accordance with Commission rules and orders,
including, but not limited to, adjustments for
goodwill, and after any Commission-ordered
disallowances and taxes) is less than the return on
common equity calculated pursuant to subparagraph (G)

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of paragraph (2) of this subsection (b), then the
participating utility shall apply a charge through the
annual reconciliation process described in subsection
(c) of this Section that reflects an amount equal to
the value of that portion of the earned rate of return
on common equity that is less than the rate of return
on common equity calculated pursuant to subparagraph
(G) of paragraph (2) of this subsection (b) for the
prior rate year, adjusted for taxes.
(E) Provide for an annual reconciliation, as
described in subsection (c) of this Section, with
interest, of the revenue requirement reflected in
rates for each calendar year, beginning with the first
calendar year after the utility files its multi-year
rate tariff pursuant to subsection (b) of this
Section, with what the revenue requirement would have
been had the actual cost information for the
applicable calendar year been available at the filing
date.
(F) Reflect the utility's actual capital structure
for the applicable calendar years, excluding goodwill,
subject to a determination of prudence and
reasonableness consistent with Commission practice and
law.
(G) Reflect the gas utility's cost of equity,
which shall be determined in each triennial base rate

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case and shall be applied to calculate the
participating gas utility's revenue requirement for
each of the 3 test years filed with the base rate case.
(H) Follow the general protocols and procedures of
the ratemaking provisions of this Article, including
tariff filing, timing, and suspension requirements.
Filing requirements, discovery, and proceeding
protocols shall be similar to traditional rate
proceedings under this Article, subject to Commission
rulemakings to set forth the details of the
proceedings.
The inputs to the rate for each applicable rate year
shall reflect the year-end rate base based on projected
data for that rate year consistent, insofar as applicable,
with the Commission's existing future test year rules or
the rules adopted for this Section, and shall include
projected plant additions and correspondingly updated
depreciation reserve and expense for the calendar year in
which the inputs are filed.
The multi-year rate shall be applicable to all natural
gas delivery services customers.
(3) A participating gas utility shall initiate the
multi-year rate process by filing with the Commission its
proposed multi-year rate tariff, structure, and protocols,
and initial rates for the first 3 years. The Commission
shall initiate a docket to review the filing and enter an

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order approving, or approving as modified, the multi-year
rate tariff, structure, and protocols, the initial rates,
and any conforming revisions to other tariffs as just and
reasonable within 330 days after the date on which the
tariff was filed. The Commission's review shall be based
on the same evidentiary standards, including, but not
limited to, those concerning the prudence and
reasonableness of the costs incurred by the utility, the
Commission applies in a hearing to review a filing for a
general increase in rates under this Article. The
multi-year rate tariff, structure, and protocols, initial
rates, and any conforming revisions to other tariffs shall
take effect no later than 30 days after the Commission's
order approving them.
(4) The Commission may adopt rules specifying filing
and information requirements for multi-year rate filings
that generally contain the level of detail currently set
forth in the Commission's rules for future test year rate
case filings. If the Commission has not adopted such
rules, the utility shall file information that generally
contains the same level of detail as required by the
information requirements applicable to forward test years
under the Commission's current rules.
(5) If the participating gas utility recovers a
portion of its costs through automatic adjustment clause
tariffs other than those authorized by Section 9-220.3 of

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this Act on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 102nd General Assembly, the participating gas utility
may elect to continue to recover these costs through such
tariffs, but such costs shall not be recovered through the
multi-year rate. The applicability of an automatic
adjustment clause tariff providing for the recovery of
costs that the participating gas utility elects to be
included in the multi-year rate is suspended by operation
of law on the date on which costs that would have been
otherwise recovered through the automatic adjustment
clause begin being recovered through rates established
under the multi-year rate tariff and structure, provided
that neither the suspension nor the multi-year rate alters
or affects reconciling charges or credits under such
automatic adjustment clause tariff that arise from periods
prior to the beginning of the first calendar year to be
reconciled under subsection (c). Such suspended automatic
adjustment clause tariff again becomes effective, by
operation of law and without any further order of the
Commission, on the date when a multi-year rate recovering
such costs is no longer effective. If the participating
gas utility, before the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 102nd General Assembly, filed natural gas
delivery services tariffs with the Commission pursuant to
Section 9-201 of this Act that are still pending on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General

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Assembly, the participating gas utility shall, at the time
it files its multi-year rate tariff with the Commission,
also file a notice of withdrawal with the Commission to
withdraw the natural gas delivery services tariffs
previously filed pursuant to Section 9-201 of this Act.
Upon receipt of the notice of withdrawal, the Commission
shall dismiss with prejudice any docket that had been
initiated to investigate the natural gas delivery services
tariffs filed pursuant to Section 9-201 of this Act, and
the tariffs and the record related to the tariffs shall
not be the subject of any further hearing, investigation,
or proceeding of any kind related to rates for natural gas
delivery services. The participating gas utility may also
file revisions to other tariffs then in effect that refer
to a base rate or base rate case to conform those
references to the applicable multi-year rate tariff,
structure, protocols, or process.
(6) Subsequent changes to the multi-year rate
structure or protocols shall be made as set forth in
Section 9-201 of this Act, but nothing in this subsection
(b) is intended to limit the Commission's authority under
this Article and other provisions of this Act to initiate
an investigation of a participating utility's multi-year
rate tariff, provided that any such changes shall be
consistent with this subsection (b) and subsection (c).
Any change ordered by the Commission shall be made at the

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same time new rates take effect following the Commission's
next triennial base rate case order pursuant to
subsections (b) and (c) of this Section, provided that the
new rates take effect no less than 30 days after the date
on which the Commission issues an order adopting the
change.
(7) The multi-year rate tariff, structure, and
protocols shall remain in effect at the discretion of the
utility. The participating gas utility is not precluded
from filing a rate case under the provisions of this
Article at any time. If the participating utility chooses
to terminate the multi-year rate structure, or in the
event the multi-year rate structure is terminated by the
Commission, the then current rates shall remain in effect
until new rates are set pursuant to this Article, subject
to retroactive rate adjustment, with interest, to
reconcile rates charged with actual costs. At the time the
multi-year rate structure is terminated, the participating
utility's voluntary commitments and obligations under
subsection (a) of this Section shall immediately terminate
and any investments made pursuant to the most recent
Greenhouse Gas Plan shall be included as rate base in the
following rate proceeding filed pursuant to this Article.
(c) Annual reconciliations.
(1) On or before June 1 of the year immediately
following year one, the participating gas utility shall

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file with the Chief Clerk of the Commission updated actual
cost inputs to the rates established under the multi-year
rate plan for year one, the resulting updated charges
applicable to year one, and a request for reconciliation
of year one rates in accordance with the provisions of
this subsection. This reconciliation, which shall be known
as the initial annual reconciliation, shall reconcile the
revenue requirement initially established for year one by
Commission's initial triennial base rate case order (if
not in effect for the entirety of year one, weighted, as
applicable, with any prior rates in effect that year) and
the amount collected by the participating gas utility via
a surcharge tariff pursuant to Section 9-220.3 of this Act
during year one on account of qualifying infrastructure
investment, as that term is defined in subsection (b) of
9-220.3, that occurred during year one, with the revenue
requirement determined in the same manner, including the
utility's capital structure and cost of equity as
determined in the most recent triennial base rate case, as
the revenue requirement initially established for year one
by Commission's initial triennial base rate case order,
except using the actual costs for year one, and a year-end
rate base for year one. The first such reconciliation is
not intended to provide for the recovery of costs
previously excluded from rates based on a prior Commission
order finding of imprudence or unreasonableness. Any

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over-collection or under-collection indicated by such
reconciliation shall be reflected as a credit against, or
recovered as an additional charge to, respectively, with
interest calculated at a rate equal to the utility's
weighted average cost of capital approved by the
Commission in the initial triennial base rate case, the
rates applicable in the following applicable rate year. As
used in this subsection, "year one" means the calendar
year in which rates established the participating gas
utility's initial triennial base rate case and multi-year
rate structure and protocols first go into effect.
(2) On or before June 1 of each subsequent year in
which rates established under any triennial base rate case
and the multi-year rate tariff, structure, and protocols
are in effect, the participating gas utility shall file
with the Chief Clerk of the Commission its updated actual
cost inputs to the rates established under the multi-year
rate tariff for the previous calendar year and a request
for reconciliation of rates in accordance with the
provisions of this subsection. Each such reconciliation
shall address the prior calendar year in which rates
established under the multi-year tariff and structure were
in effect and shall reconcile the revenue requirements
established by Commission's previous triennial base rate
case order in effect for that year with the revenue
requirement determined in the same manner, including the

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utility's capital structure and cost of equity, as in the
most recent triennial base rate case, using actual costs
for that year, and the year-end rate base for that year
subject to metric performance adjustments set forth in
subsection (e) of this Section. Any over-collection or
under-collection indicated by such reconciliation of the
rate period shall be reflected as a credit against, or
recovered as an additional charge to, respectively, with
interest calculated at a rate equal to the utility's
weighted average cost of capital approved by the
Commission in the most recent triennial base rate case,
the charges for the following applicable rate year.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the
intent of the reconciliation is to ultimately reconcile
the revenue requirement reflected in rates for each
calendar year, beginning with the calendar year following
year one pursuant to this subsection (c), with what the
revenue requirement determined using a year-end rate base
for the applicable calendar year would have been had the
actual cost information for the applicable calendar year
been available at the filing date, considering any charge
or credit required by subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of
subsection (d) of this Section.
(4) The new charge or credit resulting from the
initial and subsequent annual reconciliation, if any,
resulting from the calculation required by this subsection

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(c) shall take effect beginning on the first billing day
of the following January billing period and remain in
effect through the last billing day of the December
billing period.
(5) The initial and each annual reconciliation filing
shall include relevant and necessary data and
documentation for the applicable rate year that is
consistent with the Commission's rules applicable to a
filing for a general increase in rates or any rules
adopted by the Commission to implement this Section.
Normalization adjustments shall not be required.
(6) Within 45 days after the utility makes its initial
or subsequent annual reconciliation filing, the Commission
shall have the authority, either upon complaint or its own
initiative, but with reasonable notice, to enter upon a
hearing concerning the prudence and reasonableness of the
costs incurred by the utility to be recovered during the
applicable rate year that are reflected in the inputs to
the multi-year rate. During the course of the hearing,
each objection shall be stated with particularity and
evidence provided in support thereof, after which the
utility shall have the opportunity to rebut the evidence.
Discovery shall be allowed consistent with the
Commission's Rules of Practice, which Rules shall be
enforced by the Commission or the assigned administrative
law judge. The Commission shall apply the same evidentiary

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standards, including, but not limited to, those concerning
the prudence and reasonableness of the costs incurred by
the utility, in the hearing as it would apply in a hearing
to review a filing for a general increase in rates under
this Article. The Commission shall not, however, have the
authority in a proceeding under this subsection (c) to
consider or order any changes to the structure or
protocols of the multi-year rate approved pursuant to
subsection (b) of this Section. Nor shall the Commission
have the authority to reconsider any determinations of the
prudence and reasonableness of plans made as part of its
approval of a multi-year rate plan, provided that the
Commission may consider the prudence of utility actions
and reasonableness of utilities costs incurred in
executing those plans. In a proceeding under this
subsection (c), the Commission shall enter its order no
later than the earlier of 240 days after the utility's
filing of its annual reconciliation and update of cost
inputs to the multi-year rate or December 31. The
Commission's determinations of the prudence and
reasonableness of the costs incurred for the applicable
calendar year shall be final upon entry of the
Commission's order and shall not be subject to reopening,
reexamination, or collateral attack in any other
Commission proceeding, case, docket, order, or rule;
however, nothing in this subsection (c) shall prohibit a

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party from petitioning the Commission to rehear or appeal
to the courts the order pursuant to the provisions of this
Act.
(7) If the Commission does not, either upon complaint
or its own initiative, enter upon a hearing within 45 days
after the utility files the annual reconciliation and
update of cost inputs, then the costs incurred for the
applicable calendar year shall be deemed prudent and
reasonable, and the filed charges shall not be subject to
reopening, reexamination, or collateral attack in any
other proceeding, case, docket, order, or rule.
(d) Rate design. Nothing in subsection (b) or (c) of this
Section shall prohibit the Commission from investigating, or a
participating utility from filing, revenue-neutral tariff
changes related to rate design of a multi-year rate that has
been placed into effect for the utility. Following approval of
a participating utility's multi-year rate tariff pursuant to
subsection (b) of this Section, the utility shall make a
filing with the Commission within one year after the effective
date of a multi-year rate tariff that proposes changes to the
tariff to incorporate the findings of any final rate design
orders of the Commission applicable to the participating
utility and entered subsequent to the Commission's approval of
the tariff. The Commission shall, after notice and hearing,
enter its order approving, or approving with modification, the
proposed changes to the multi-year rate tariff within 240 days

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after the utility's filing. Following such approval, the
utility shall make a filing with the Commission during each
subsequent 3-year period that either proposes revenue-neutral
tariff changes or re-files the existing tariffs without
change, which shall present the Commission with an opportunity
to suspend the tariffs and consider revenue-neutral tariff
changes related to rate design.
(e) Performance-based metrics.
(1) Within 30 days after the filing of a tariff
pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section, each
participating gas utility shall develop and file with the
Commission a plan designed to achieve, over a 9-year
period, the following:
(A) incorporation of sustainable gas into its gas
supply portfolio by not less than 2% of the natural gas
utility's total gas supply portfolio (by volume) by
the year 2030 as set forth in subsection (a) of this
Section;
(B) implementation of the proposed qualified
investments, as set forth in subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this Section, in
support of the measurement, reduction, displacement,
or offset of greenhouse gas emissions from utility
operations by the participating gas utility;
(C) implementation of the proposed customer
programs and qualified investments, as set forth in

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subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of
this Section, in support of a pathway to reduce,
offset, or avoid other greenhouse gas in metric tons
of carbon dioxide equivalent in the State of Illinois
attributable to residential, commercial, and
industrial customer use of energy and opportunities to
reduce emissions in other sectors of the State's
economy; and
(D) opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned,
and veteran-owned business enterprises: design a
performance metric regarding the creation of
opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, and
veteran-owned business enterprises consistent with
State and federal law using a base performance value
of the percentage of the participating gas utility's
capital expenditures that were paid to minority-owned,
women-owned, and veteran-owned business enterprises in
the years 2018, 2019, and 2020.
(2) The metrics plan shall include information about
the potential greenhouse gas emission benefits of the
investments and programs that are proposed as part of the
plan. The natural gas utility shall utilize Environmental
Protection Agency and other industry recognized greenhouse
gas reporting protocols, subject to adjustments over time
by the gas utility as governed by documented changes in
industry recognized protocols, governmental and regulatory

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requirements and changes.
(3) The metrics shall include incremental performance
goals for every 3-year period in alignment with the
Greenhouse Gas Plan filed with each triennial base rate
case filed in accordance with subsection (b) of this
Section that shall be designed to demonstrate that the gas
utility is on track to achieve the performance goal in
each category at the end of the 9-year period.
(4) With respect to each of the performance goals
established pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this
subsection (e), as applicable, which together measure the
participating gas utilities progress relating to the
implementation of its commitments set forth in subsection
(a) of this Section, the performance under each such
3-year goal shall be calculated in terms of the percentage
of the goal achieved or missed. The percentage of goal
achieved or missed for each of the goals shall be
aggregated and an average percentage value calculated, for
each year of the 10-year period. If the utility exceeds an
average percentage value in a given year of at least 5%,
the participating utility's return on equity approved in
the triennial base rate case shall be increased by 25
basis points when the revenue requirement is recalculated
for purposes of the following 3 annual reconciliations
filed pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section. If the
utility does not achieve an average percentage value in a

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given year of at least 95%, the participating utility's
return on equity approved in the triennial base rate case
shall be decreased by 25 basis points when the revenue
requirement is recalculated for purposes of the following
3 annual reconciliations filed pursuant to subsection (c)
of this Section.
(5) The Commission shall, after notice and hearing,
enter an order within 120 days after the metrics are filed
approving, or approving with modification, a participating
utility's proposed metrics set forth in this subsection.
(6) Along with each triennial base rate case filing
(after the initial triennial base rate case) made pursuant
to subsection (b), each participating utility shall file a
report with the Commission that includes, among other
things, a description of how the participating gas utility
performed under each metric and an identification of any
extraordinary events that adversely or positively impacted
the utility's performance. The first report filed with the
triennial base rate case filing (after the initial
triennial base rate case) shall provide data with respect
to the utility's performance under the metrics during the
2 rate years preceding the filing and subsequent reports
shall address the utility's performance under the metrics
for the previous 3-year period. Whenever a participating
utility satisfies or does not satisfy the metrics required
pursuant to this subsection (e), the Commission shall

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approve financial incentives or penalties, as appropriate,
in accordance with this subsection (e). The
Commission-approved incentives or financial penalties
shall be applied to the return on equity that is
determined in the triennial base rate case. Nothing in
this Section shall authorize the Commission to increase or
reduce or otherwise obviate the imposition of financial
incentives or penalties for achieving or failing to
achieve one or more of the metrics established pursuant to
subparagraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection (e).
(7) If the multi-year rate tariff established pursuant
to subsection (b) of this Section terminates, the
utility's obligations under this subsection (e) shall also
terminate; however, any penalties due and owing at the
time of such termination shall be applied in the
participating utilities following rate proceedings under
this Article.
(f) Relationship to pre-existing automatic adjustment
clause tariffs authorized by Section 9-220.3. Any surcharge
tariff of a participating gas utility authorized by paragraph
(3) of subsection (a) of Section 9-220.3 of this Act that is in
effect on the effective date of the multi-year rate tariff
approved by the Commission for that utility pursuant to the
provisions of this Section shall be suspended by operation of
law on the effective date of that multi-year rate tariff.
Notwithstanding anything in paragraph (4) of subsection (a)

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and paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of Section 9-220.3 of this
Act, a participating gas utility shall not file a petition to
initiate a final reconciliation of amounts collected under
such a surcharge tariff on account of qualifying
infrastructure investment, as that term is defined in
subsection (b) of Section 9-220.3, that occurred during any
calendar year for which a reconciliation will be made under
subsection (c), and no adjustment to the initial rates set in
the participating gas utility's initial triennial base rate
case shall be made based on the fact that the utility had such
a tariff in effect or recovered any portion of its revenue
requirement through such a tariff.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.".