Rep. Robert W. Pritchard
Filed: 2/27/2013
 
 


 




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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1743 




2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1743 by replacing 
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:


4 "Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by 
5changing Section 1-92 as follows:

6 (20 ILCS 3855/1-92)
7 Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of electrical load by 
8municipalities, townships, and counties.
9 (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality, township 
10board, or county board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under 
11which it may aggregate in accordance with this
Section 
12residential and small commercial retail electrical loads 
13located, respectively, within the
municipality, the township, 
14or the unincorporated areas of the county and, for that 
15purpose, may solicit bids and enter into service
agreements to 
16facilitate
for those
loads the sale and purchase of electricity 
 
 
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1and related services and equipment.
2 The corporate authorities, township board, or county
board 
3may also exercise such authority jointly with any other 
4municipality, township, or county.
Two or
more
municipalities, 
5townships, or counties, or a combination of both, may initiate 
6a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation by a majority vote 
7of each particular
municipality, township, or
county as 
8required by this Section. 
9 If the corporate authorities, township board, or the county 
10board seek to operate the aggregation program as an opt-out 
11program for residential and small commercial retail customers, 
12then prior to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to 
13aggregation of residential and small commercial retail 
14electric loads, the corporate authorities of a municipality, 
15the township board, or the county board of a county shall 
16submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or 
17not the aggregation program shall operate as an opt-out program 
18for residential and small commercial retail customers. Any 
19county board that seeks to submit such a referendum to its 
20residents shall do so only in unincorporated areas of the 
21county where no electric aggregation ordinance has been 
22adopted. 
23 In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the 
24general election law, notice of the referendum shall state 
25briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether 
26the corporate authorities, the township board, or the county 
 
 
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1board shall adopt an opt-out aggregation program for 
2residential and small commercial retail customers shall be 
3submitted to the electors of the municipality, township board, 
4or county board at a regular election and approved by a 
5majority of the electors voting on the question. The corporate 
6authorities, township board, or county board must certify to 
7the proper election authority, which must submit the question 
8at an election in accordance with the Election Code.
9 The election authority must submit the question in 
10substantially the following form:
11  Shall the (municipality, township, or county in which 
12 the question is being voted upon) have the authority to 
13 arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential 
14 and small commercial retail customers who have not opted 
15 out of such program?
16The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".
17 If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote 
18in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities, township 
19board, or county board may implement an opt-out aggregation 
20program for residential and small commercial retail customers.
21 A referendum must pass in each particular municipality, 
22township, or county that is engaged in the aggregation program. 
23If the referendum fails, then the corporate authorities, 
24township board, or county board shall operate the aggregation 
25program as an opt-in program for residential and small 
26commercial retail customers.
 
 
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1 An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the 
2aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each 
3person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric 
4load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,

5however,
authorizes the aggregation of electric loads that are 
6served or authorized to be served by an electric cooperative as 
7defined by and pursuant to the Electric Supplier Act or loads 
8served by a municipality that owns and operates its own 
9electric distribution system. No
aggregation shall take
effect 
10unless
approved by a majority of the members of the corporate 
11authority, township board, or county board voting upon the 
12ordinance.

13 A governmental aggregator under this Section is not a 
14public utility or an
alternative retail electric supplier.

15 For purposes of this Section, "township" means the portion 
16of a township that is an unincorporated portion of a county 
17that is not otherwise a part of a municipality. In addition to 
18such other limitations as are included in this Section, a 
19township board shall only have authority to aggregate 
20residential and small commercial customer loads in accordance 
21with this Section if the county board of the county in which 
22the township is located (i) is not also submitting a referendum 
23to its residents at the same general election that the township 
24board proposes to submit a referendum under this subsection 
25(a), (ii) has not received authorization through passage of a 
26referendum to operate an opt-out aggregation program for 
 
 
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1residential and small commercial retail customers under this 
2subsection (a), and (iii) has not otherwise enacted an 
3ordinance under this subsection (a) authorizing the operation 
4of an opt-in aggregation program for residential and small 
5commercial retail customers as described in this Section. 
6 (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this 
7Section, the corporate
authorities, the township board, or the 
8county board, with assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, 
9shall develop a plan of operation and
governance for the

10aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under 
11this Section,
the
corporate authorities, township board, or 
12county board shall hold at least 2 public hearings on
the plan.

13Before the first hearing, the corporate authorities, township 
14board, or county board shall
publish notice of
the hearings 
15once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general

16circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the 
17plan and state the date,
time, and
location of each hearing.

18Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to this Section 
19shall:
20  (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable 
21 residential customers and equitable treatment of 
22 applicable
residential customers;
23  (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency 
24 services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and
25  (3) meet any requirements established by law

26 concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this 
 
 
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1 Section.
2 (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and 
3other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the 
4purchase of electricity and other related services shall be 
5conducted in the following order:
6  (1) The corporate authorities, township board, or 
7 county board may solicit bids for electricity and other 
8 related services.
9  (1.5) A township board shall request from the electric 
10 utility those residential and small commercial customers 
11 within their aggregate area either by zip code or zip codes 
12 or other means as determined by the electric utility. The 
13 electric utility shall then provide to the township board 
14 the residential and small commercial customers, including 
15 the names and addresses of residential and small commercial 
16 customers, electronically. The township board shall be 
17 responsible for authenticating the residential and small 
18 commercial customers contained in this listing and 
19 providing edits of the data to affirm, add, or delete the 
20 residential and small commercial customers located within 
21 its jurisdiction. The township board shall provide the 
22 edited list to the electric utility in an electronic format 
23 or other means selected by the electric utility and certify 
24 that the information is accurate. 
25  (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public 
26 Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and 
 
 
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1 Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that 
2 provides residential and small commercial retail electric 
3 service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the 
4 corporate authorities, township board, or the county board 
5 in the aggregate area, submit to the requesting party, in 
6 an electronic format, those account numbers, names, and 
7 addresses of residential and small commercial retail 
8 customers in the aggregate area that are reflected in the 
9 electric utility's records at the time of the request; 
10 provided, however, that any township board has first 
11 provided an accurate customer list to the electric utility 
12 as provided for herein. 
13 Any corporate authority, township board, or county board 
14receiving customer information from an electric utility shall 
15be subject to the limitations on the disclosure of the 
16information described in Section 16-122 of the Public Utilities 
17Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive 
18Business Practices Act, and an electric utility shall not be 
19held liable for any claims arising out of the provision of 
20information pursuant to this item (2).
21 (d) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county 
22board operate under an opt-in program for residential and small 
23commercial retail customers, then the corporate authorities, 
24township board, or county board shall comply with all of the 
25following: 
26  (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the 
 
 
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1 corporate authorities, township board, or county board 
2 shall allow residential and small commercial retail 
3 customers to commit to the terms and conditions of a bid 
4 that has been selected by the corporate authorities, 
5 township board, or county board.
6  (2) If (A) the corporate authorities, township board, 
7 or county board award proposed agreements for the purchase 
8 of electricity and other related services and (B) an 
9 agreement is reached between the corporate authorities, 
10 township board, or county board for those services, then 
11 customers committed to the terms and conditions according 
12 to item (1) of this subsection (d) shall be committed to 
13 the agreement.
14 (e) If the corporate authorities, township board, or county 
15board operate as an opt-out program for residential and small 
16commercial retail customers, then it shall be the duty of the 
17aggregated entity to fully inform
residential and small 
18commercial retail customers in advance that they have the right 
19to opt out of the aggregation program.
The disclosure shall 
20prominently state all charges to be made and
shall include
full 
21disclosure of the cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 
2216-103 of the Public Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the 
23fact that it is available to them without penalty, if they are

24currently receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois 
25Power Agency shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a

26list of all supply options available to them in a format that

 
 
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1allows
comparison of prices and products.
2 (f) Any person or entity retained by a municipality or 
3county, or jointly by more than one such unit of local 
4government, to provide input, guidance, or advice in the 
5selection of an electricity supplier for an aggregation program 
6shall disclose in writing to the involved units of local 
7government the nature of any relationship through which the 
8person or entity may receive, either directly or indirectly, 
9commissions or other remuneration as a result of the selection 
10of any particular electricity supplier. The written disclosure 
11must be made prior to formal approval by the involved units of 
12local government of any professional services agreement with 
13the person or entity, or no later than October 1, 2012 with 
14respect to any such professional services agreement entered 
15into prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 
1697th General Assembly. The disclosure shall cover all direct 
17and indirect relationships through which commissions or 
18remuneration may result, including the pooling of commissions 
19or remuneration among multiple persons or entities, and shall 
20identify all involved electricity suppliers. The disclosure 
21requirements in this subsection (f) are to be liberally 
22construed to ensure that the nature of financial interests are 
23fully revealed, and these disclosure requirements shall apply 
24regardless of whether the involved person or entity is licensed 
25under Section 16-115C of the Public Utilities Act. Any person 
26or entity that fails to make the disclosure required under this 
 
 
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1subsection (f) is liable to the involved units of local 
2government in an amount equal to all compensation paid to such 
3person or entity by the units of local government for the 
4input, guidance, or advice in the selection of an electricity 
5supplier, plus reasonable attorneys fees and court costs 
6incurred by the units of local government in connection with 
7obtaining such amount.
8 (g) The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to 
9municipalities, townships, counties, or associations working 
10with municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding 
11process.
12 (h) This Section does not prohibit municipalities or 
13counties from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to 
14aggregate residential and small commercial retail electric 
15loads.

16(Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10; 97-338, eff. 8-12-11; 
1797-823, eff. 7-18-12; 97-1067, eff. 8-24-12; revised 
189-20-12.)".