Bill Text: IL HB4751 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that "confidential information" means, for purposes of a provision requiring the results of each public school's Carbon-Free Assessment to be memorialized in a non-confidential report that redacts confidential information, information or facts exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "confidential information" does not include program offerings, solar opportunities, health and safety certifications, energy efficiency recommendations, information about transportation and other funding offerings. Provides that a copy of the Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment report shall be provided to the applicable public school by the utility or the third party acting on behalf of the utility.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-05-15 - Passed Both Houses [HB4751 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4751-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4751 Introduced , by Rep. Lawrence "Larry" Walsh, Jr. SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
220 ILCS 5/8-402.2
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Provides that "confidential information" means, for purposes of a provision requiring the results of each public school's Carbon-Free Assessment to be memorialized in a non-confidential report that redacts confidential information, information or facts exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that "confidential information" does not include program offerings, solar opportunities, health and safety certifications, energy efficiency recommendations, information about transportation and other funding offerings. Provides that a copy of the Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment report shall be provided to the applicable public school by the utility or the third party acting on behalf of the utility.
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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 8-402.2 as follows:
(220 ILCS 5/8-402.2)
Sec. 8-402.2. Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
programs.
(a) Within one year after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, each electric
utility serving over 500,000 retail customers in this State
shall implement a Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
program.
(b) Each utility's Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
program shall include the following requirements:
(1) Each plan shall be designed to offer within the
utility's service territory to assist public schools, as
defined by Section 1-3 of the School Code, to increase the
efficiency of their energy usage, to reduce the carbon
emissions associated with their energy usage, and to move
toward a goal of public schools being carbon-free in their
energy usage by 2030. The program shall include a target
of completing Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment for

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all public schools in the utility's service territory by
December 31, 2029.
(2) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
a generally standardized assessment, but may incorporate
flexibility to reflect the circumstances of individual
public schools and public school districts.
(3) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall
include, but not be limited to, comprehensive analyses of
the following subjects:
(A) The top energy efficiency savings
opportunities for the public school, by energy saved;
(B) The total achievable solar energy potential on
or nearby a public school's premises and able to
provide power to a school;
(C) The infrastructure required to support
electrification of the facility's space heating and
water heating needs;
(D) The infrastructure requirements to support
electrification of a school's transportation needs;
and
(E) The investments required to achieve a WELL
Certification or similar certification as determined
through methods developed and updated by the
International WELL Building Institute or similar or
successor organizations.
(4) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment also

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shall include, but not be limited to, mechanical
insulation evaluation inspection and inspection of the
building envelope(s).
(5) With respect to those public school construction
projects for public schools within the service territory
of a utility serving over 500,000 retail customers in this
State and for which a public school district applies for a
grant under Section 5-40 of the School Construction Law on
or after June 1, 2023, the district must submit a copy of
the applicable Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
report, or, if no such Public Schools Carbon-Free
Assessment has been performed, request the applicable
utility to perform such a Public Schools Carbon-Free
Assessment and submit a copy of the Public Schools
Carbon-Free Assessment report promptly when it becomes
available. The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment
report shall include, but not limited to, an energy audit
of both the building envelope and the building's
mechanical insulation system. It shall also include an
inspection of both the building envelope and the
mechanical insulation system. The district must
demonstrate how the construction project is designed and
managed to achieve the goals that all public elementary
and secondary school facilities in the State are able to
be powered by clean energy by 2030, and for such
facilities to achieve carbon-free energy sources for space

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heat, water heat, and transportation by 2050.
(6) The results of each Public Schools Carbon-Free
Assessment shall be memorialized by the utility or by a
third party acting on behalf of the utility in a
non-confidential report form that includes recommendations
and redacts all confidential information. For purposes of
this Section, "confidential information" means information
or facts expected and intended to be exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
"Confidential information" does not include program
offerings, solar opportunities, health and safety
certifications, energy efficiency recommendations,
information about transportation and other funding
offerings. The non-confidential form and shall be provided
to the applicable public school by the utility or the
third party acting on behalf of the utility. Each utility
shall be required to retain a copy of each Public Schools
Carbon-Free Assessment report and to provide copies of
each non-confidential report to the Illinois Power Agency
and the Illinois Capital Development Board within 3 months
after of its completion. The Illinois Power Agency shall
promptly make the results of each non-confidential report
available for public inspection on its website.
(7) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
conducted in coordination with each utility's energy
efficiency and demand-response plans under Sections 8-103,

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8-103A, and 8-103B of this Act, to the extent applicable.
Nothing in this Section is intended to modify or require
modification of those plans. However, the utility may
request a modification of a plan approved by the
Commission, and the Commission may approve the requested
modification, if the modification is consistent with the
provisions of this Section and Section 8-103B of this Act.
(8) If there are no other providers of assessments
that are substantively the same as those being performed
by utilities pursuant to this Section by 2024, a utility
that has a Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment program
may offer assessments to public schools that are not
served by a utility subject to this Section at the
utility's cost.
(9) The Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessment shall be
offered to and performed for public schools in the
utility's service territory on a complimentary basis by
each utility, with no Assessment fee charged to the public
schools for the Assessments. Nothing in this Section is
intended to prohibit the utility from recovering through
rates approved by the Commission the utility's prudent and
reasonable costs of complying with this Section.
(10) Utilities shall make efforts to prioritize the
completion of Public Schools Carbon-Free Assessments for
the following school districts by December 31, 2022: East
St. Louis School District 189, Harvey School District 152,

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