Bill Text: IL HB4595 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall monitor the impact of each public utility in the State on overall consumer savings and on the electrical grid of the State. Requires the Commission to submit an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, and the General Assembly that summarizes the results of the Commission's efforts no later than one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act and annually thereafter. Provides that a utility shall cap residential rates for qualifying households at a set monthly maximum during a city, county, or State declaration of a winter weather emergency or an extreme heat warning that covers the area of the utility in which the qualifying household is located. Provides that each utility in the State shall file with the Commission prior to December 1 of each year a plan detailing the implementation of a residential rate cap. Provides that all plans are subject to review and approval by the Commission and that the Commission may direct a utility to modify its plan to comply with the requirements of the amendatory provisions. In provisions concerning Disconnection Protection Programs, provides that a customer who submits documentation that shows that the customer is enrolled in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP), or Medicaid shall be granted protection under a utility's Disconnection Protection Program upon the receipt of the customer's documentation. Provides that, if the utility, upon reviewing the customer's documentation, determines that the documentation does not provide sufficient proof that the customer is enrolled in LIHEAP, PIPP, or Medicaid, the utility may remove the customer from the utility's Disconnection Protection Program. Provides that an electric utility that offers at least one market-based rate option, including, but not limited to, net electricity metering, for retail customers who choose to take power and energy supply service from the utility shall limit peak hour rates under the market-based rate option to no more than 150% of the rate that the customer would otherwise pay if the customer was not using the market-based rate option. Makes other changes.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced) 2026-02-03 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4595 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB4595-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026HB4595 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
See Index
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall monitor the impact of each public utility in the State on overall consumer savings and on the electrical grid of the State. Requires the Commission to submit an annual report to the Governor, the Attorney General, and the General Assembly that summarizes the results of the Commission's efforts no later than one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act and annually thereafter. Provides that a utility shall cap residential rates for qualifying households at a set monthly maximum during a city, county, or State declaration of a winter weather emergency or an extreme heat warning that covers the area of the utility in which the qualifying household is located. Provides that each utility in the State shall file with the Commission prior to December 1 of each year a plan detailing the implementation of a residential rate cap. Provides that all plans are subject to review and approval by the Commission and that the Commission may direct a utility to modify its plan to comply with the requirements of the amendatory provisions. In provisions concerning Disconnection Protection Programs, provides that a customer who submits documentation that shows that the customer is enrolled in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP), or Medicaid shall be granted protection under a utility's Disconnection Protection Program upon the receipt of the customer's documentation. Provides that, if the utility, upon reviewing the customer's documentation, determines that the documentation does not provide sufficient proof that the customer is enrolled in LIHEAP, PIPP, or Medicaid, the utility may remove the customer from the utility's Disconnection Protection Program. Provides that an electric utility that offers at least one market-based rate option, including, but not limited to, net electricity metering, for retail customers who choose to take power and energy supply service from the utility shall limit peak hour rates under the market-based rate option to no more than 150% of the rate that the customer would otherwise pay if the customer was not using the market-based rate option. Makes other changes.
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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
Sections 8-206.5 and by adding Sections 4-616, 8-205.5, and
16-107.10 as follows:
(220 ILCS 5/4-616 new)
Sec. 4-616. Commission reporting.
(a) The Commission shall monitor the impact of each public
utility in this State on overall consumer savings and on the
electrical grid of this State.
(b) The Commission shall submit an annual report to the
Governor, the Attorney General, and the General Assembly that
summarizes the results of the Commission's efforts under
subsection (a) no later than one year after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly and
annually thereafter.
(220 ILCS 5/8-205.5 new)
Sec. 8-205.5. Bill cap for extreme weather conditions.
(a) A utility shall cap residential rates for qualifying
households at a set monthly maximum during a city, county, or
State declaration of a winter weather emergency or an extreme

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heat warning that covers the area of the utility in which the
qualifying household is located.
For the purpose of this subsection (a), "qualifying
household" means a household where:
(i) a person using the household as that person's
principal place of residence is 65 years of age or older;
(ii) a person using the household as that person's
principal place of residence qualifies as a person with a
disability, as defined under the federal Supplemental
Security Income program, and is medically fragile and
technology dependent; or
(iii) the household meets the definition of
"low-income household" under the Illinois Affordable
Housing Act.
(b) Each utility in this State shall file with the
Commission prior to December 1 of each year a plan detailing
the implementation of this Section. All plans are subject to
review and approval by the Commission. The Commission may
direct a utility to modify its plan to comply with the
requirements of this Section.
(c) A utility that has a plan on file with the Commission
shall not be required to resubmit a new plan each year.
However, any alteration of the plan on file must be submitted
to and approved by the Commission prior to December 1 of that
year.

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(220 ILCS 5/8-206.5)
Sec. 8-206.5. Disconnection Protection Program.
(a) No later than June 1, 2025, each electric and gas
utility serving more than 500,000 customers in this State
shall implement a Disconnection Protection Program, whereby
customers who have applied for assistance through the Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or Percentage
of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) shall be temporarily protected
from disconnection for 30 days after the utility receives
notice from a local administrative agency that the customer
has submitted an application to LIHEAP or PIPP and, in cases
where LIHEAP or PIPP assistance is received, for another 45
days after receiving the notice. Any customer who applies for,
but does not receive, LIHEAP or PIPP assistance shall, by
operation of this Section, only be temporarily protected from
disconnection once in any program year.
(b) Each electric and gas utility may recover costs for
implementation, administration, and ongoing operation of its
Disconnection Protection Program through the utility's revenue
requirement, subject to a review for prudence and
reasonableness by the Commission.
(c) A customer who submits to an electric or gas utility
documentation that shows that the customer is enrolled in the
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the
Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP), or a medical
assistance program established under Article V of the Illinois

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Public Aid Code shall be granted protection under the
utility's Disconnection Protection Program upon the receipt of
the customer's documentation by the utility. If the utility,
upon reviewing the customer's documentation, determines that
the documentation does not provide sufficient proof that the
customer is enrolled in LIHEAP, PIPP, or a medical assistance
program established under Article V of the Illinois Public Aid
Code, the utility may remove the customer from the utility's
Disconnection Protection Program. A utility shall provide
notice to a customer when the customer is granted protection
under a Disconnection Protection Program pursuant to this
subsection (c) and when the customer has been removed from the
utility's Disconnection Protection Program.
(Source: P.A. 103-661, eff. 1-1-25.)
(220 ILCS 5/16-107.10 new)
Sec. 16-107.10. Market-based rate option cap. An electric
utility that offers at least one market-based rate option,
including, but not limited to, net electricity metering under
the terms of Section 16-107.5, for retail customers who choose
to take power and energy supply service from the utility shall
limit peak hour rates under the market-based rate option to no
more than 150% of the rate that the customer would otherwise
pay if the customer was not using the market-based rate
option.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance
220 ILCS 5/4-616 new
220 ILCS 5/8-205.5 new
220 ILCS 5/8-206.5
220 ILCS 5/16-107.10 new