Bill Text: IL SB2238 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Creates the Undergrounding Utility Facilities Division. Defines "underground" and "undergrounding". Provides that public utilities shall underground 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission lines under certain conditions. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to recover from all retail customers in its service territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission line. Provides that a public utility shall record and defer costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of transmission lines as a regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the expected life of such transmission lines. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-10 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [SB2238 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SB2238-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 SB2238 Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Laura M. Murphy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new
65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-10 new
Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Creates the Undergrounding Utility Facilities Division. Defines "underground" and "undergrounding". Provides that public utilities shall underground 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission lines under certain conditions. Provides that the Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to recover from all retail customers in its service territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission line. Provides that a public utility shall record and defer costs that it incurs related to the undergrounding of transmission lines as a regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal to the expected life of such transmission line. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
adding Division 15.5 of Article 11 as follows:
(65 ILCS 5/Art. 11 Div. 15.5 heading new)
DIVISION 15.5. UNDERGROUNDING UTILITY FACILITIES
(65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-5 new)
Sec. 11-15.5-5. Definitions. As used in this Division and
unless the context requires otherwise, "underground" or
"undergrounding" means routing and constructing electric
transmission lines and their associated components below
ground, consistent with sound engineering and utility
practices.
(65 ILCS 5/11-15.5-10 new)
Sec. 11-15.5-10. Undergrounding utility facilities.
(a) In the interest of public health and safety,
reliability, and electric grid security, a public utility, as
defined by Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act, shall
underground any 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
line constructed after the effective date of this amendatory

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Act of the 102nd General Assembly where:
(1) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
line or any portion of a 138 kilowatt or greater electric
transmission line is to be located within 26,000 feet of
an airport that is located in and owned by a municipality
with a population greater than 70,000 and less than 80,000
located in or contiguous to a county with a population in
excess of 1,000,000 inhabitants;
(2) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
line is to be located in 4 or more contiguous
municipalities with a population density of 1,000 per
square mile or more as of the most recent federal
decennial census; or
(3) a 138 kilowatt or greater electric transmission
line is to be located in close proximity to a public
recreational area such that it may pose a danger to the
activities conducted there.
(b) The costs for undergrounding a new transmission line
shall not be allocated solely to the municipality or
municipalities in which it is underground; instead, the
Illinois Commerce Commission shall allow a public utility to
fully recover from all retail customers in its service
territory all reasonable and prudent costs that it incurs
related to the undergrounding of transmission lines. The
public utility shall record and defer these costs as a
regulatory asset to be included in the public utility's total

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rate base and amortized over a reasonable period that is equal
to the expected life of the transmission line. These
regulatory assets shall be collected from all ratepayers
system-wide, and not only from ratepayers in the corporate
limits of the municipality or municipalities within which the
transmission line is constructed.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.