Bill Text: IL HB2733 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall determine that proposed construction will promote the public convenience and necessity only if the utility demonstrates, among other requirements, that for construction serving a discrete area, existing customers will not be required to subsidize the cost of new facilities in excess of any refundable or nonrefundable payments by customers to be served by the new facilities. Provides that if any gas public utility connects an applicant or applicants to its gas distribution system, any costs associated with investments in plant addition in excess of any refundable payment or nonrefundable payment shall be excluded from any cost-recovery mechanism that allocates the excess cost among existing customers. Provides that no later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Commission shall initiate a docketed investigation reviewing each gas public utility tariff that provides for gas main extensions without additional charge to new customers in excess of the default extensions without charge, and provides for other requirements pertaining to the investigation process. Provides that no later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding providing for rules establishing a uniform method by which natural gas public utilities determine the value of any gas main extensions provided to new customers without additional charge.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-03 - Tabled [HB2733 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB2733-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB2733 Introduced , by Rep. Thomas Morrison SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
220 ILCS 5/9-228 new
220 ILCS 5/9-235 new
220 ILCS 5/9-237 new
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall determine that proposed construction will promote the public convenience and necessity only if the utility demonstrates, among other requirements, that for construction serving a discrete area, existing customers will not be required to subsidize the cost of new facilities in excess of any refundable or nonrefundable payments by customers to be served by the new facilities. Provides that if any gas public utility connects an applicant or applicants to its gas distribution system, any costs associated with investments in plant addition in excess of any refundable payment or nonrefundable payment shall be excluded from any cost-recovery mechanism that allocates the excess cost among existing customers. Provides that no later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Commission shall initiate a docketed investigation reviewing each gas public utility tariff that provides for gas main extensions without additional charge to new customers in excess of the default extensions without charge, and provides for other requirements pertaining to the investigation process. Provides that no later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act, the Commission shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding providing for rules establishing a uniform method by which natural gas public utilities determine the value of any gas main extensions provided to new customers without additional charge.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
Section 8-406 and by adding Sections 9-228, 9-235, and 9-237 as
follows:
(220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
necessity.
(a) No public utility not owning any city or village
franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission or the Public
Utilities Commission, at the time this amendatory Act of 1985
goes into effect, shall transact any business in this State
until it shall have obtained a certificate from the Commission
that public convenience and necessity require the transaction
of such business.
(b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
new plant, equipment, property or facility which is not in
substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property or

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facility or any extension or alteration thereof or in addition
thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from the
Commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity
require such construction. Whenever after a hearing the
Commission determines that any new construction or the
transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
proposed construction will promote the development of an
effectively competitive electricity market that operates
efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the utility
is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
construction without significant adverse financial
consequences for the utility or its customers; and (4) that,
for construction serving a discrete area, existing customers
will not be required to subsidize the cost of new facilities in

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excess of any refundable or nonrefundable payments by customers
to be served by the new facilities.
(c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1987, no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power
plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of
public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall
be issued therefor by the Commission, until the Director of the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United
States Government, through its authorized agency, has
identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for
the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such
construction has been specifically approved by a statute
enacted by the General Assembly.
As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or
equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
reprocessing.
(d) In making its determination, the Commission shall
attach primary weight to the cost or cost savings to the
customers of the utility. The Commission may consider any or
all factors which will or may affect such cost or cost savings,
including the public utility's engineering judgment regarding
the materials used for construction.

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(e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
certificate will not be required in the public interest.
A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may
apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
authorization or order granted a public utility by the
Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the
same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
Section for authorization of power plant construction and as to
matters as to which a remedy is available under The Electric
Supplier Act.
(f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the

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person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
period of 2 years from the grant thereof authority conferred by
a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
Commission shall be null and void.
No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall be
construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
immunity or franchise.
(g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or
that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of this
Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an electric
line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For purposes
of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of the
following:
(1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
electric service line and related facilities,
notwithstanding its length;
(2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or
(3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a

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single customer's premises or to provide a generator
interconnection to the public utility's transmission
system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
premises for which the customer or generator has secured
the necessary right of way.
(h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
6 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice of
the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of general
circulation within the affected county once a week for 3
consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior to
the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2 contiguous
counties and where in one county the transmission line mileage
and number of landowners over whose property the proposed route
traverses is one-fifth or less of the transmission line mileage
and number of such landowners of the other county, then the
utility may combine the 2 pre-filing meetings in the county
with the greater transmission line mileage and affected
landowners. All other requirements regarding pre-filing
meetings shall apply in both counties. Notice of the public
meeting, including a description of the Project, must be

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provided in writing to the clerk of each county where the
Project is to be located. A representative of the Commission
shall be invited to each pre-filing public meeting.
(i) For applications filed after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the Commission
shall by registered mail notify each owner of record of land,
as identified in the records of the relevant county tax
assessor, included in the right-of-way over which the utility
seeks in its application to construct a high-voltage electric
line of the time and place scheduled for the initial hearing on
the public utility's application. The utility shall reimburse
the Commission for the cost of the postage and supplies
incurred for mailing the notice.
(Source: P.A. 99-399, eff. 8-18-15.)
(220 ILCS 5/9-228 new)
Sec. 9-228. Consideration of gas main extension costs. If
any gas public utility connects an applicant or applicants to
its gas distribution system, any costs associated with
investments in plant addition in excess of any refundable
payment or nonrefundable payment, by the applicant or
applicants at the time of connection, shall be excluded from
any cost-recovery mechanism that allocates the excess cost
among existing customers.
(220 ILCS 5/9-235 new)

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Sec. 9-235. Tariffed gas main extension provisions. No
later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 101st General Assembly, the Commission shall
initiate a docketed investigation reviewing each gas public
utility tariff that provides for gas main extensions without
additional charge to new customers in excess of the default
extensions without charge as specified in Part 501 of Title 83
of the Administrative Code. While the primary focus of the
investigations shall be to determine whether existing
customers are subsidizing the connection of new customers to
the gas distribution system, the Commission is not restricted
in consideration of other issues related to gas main
extensions. To the extent that subsidization by existing
customers is occurring, the Commission shall appropriately
modify or cancel the tariff to eliminate any future
subsidization. If the Commission modifies a gas utility's gas
main extension tariff, the utility shall either accept or
reject the modifications through an appropriate filing with the
Commission within 10 days after the Commission's order. If the
utility rejects the modifications, the Commission shall cancel
the tariffs, and the Commission's gas main extension rules
shall govern gas main extensions for that utility. During the
investigations under this Section, the relevant provisions of
the gas utility's gas main extension tariff are suspended and
the Commission's gas main extension rules govern until the
conclusion of the investigation.

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(220 ILCS 5/9-237 new)
Sec. 9-237. Gas main extension rulemaking. No later than 60
days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
101st General Assembly, the Commission shall initiate a
rulemaking proceeding providing for rules establishing a
uniform method by which natural gas public utilities determine
the value of any gas main extensions provided to new customers
without additional charge.