Public Act 097-0338
 
HB3182 EnrolledLRB097 09326 ASK 49461 b


  
    AN ACT concerning State government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended  by 
changing Section 1-92 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 3855/1-92)
    Sec. 1-92. Aggregation of electrical load by 
municipalities and counties.
    (a) The corporate authorities of a municipality or county 
board of a county
may
adopt an ordinance under which it may 
aggregate in accordance with this
Section residential and small 
commercial retail electrical loads located, respectively, 
within the
municipality or the unincorporated areas of the 
county and, for that purpose, may solicit bids and enter into 
service
agreements to facilitate
for those
loads the sale and 
purchase of electricity and related services and equipment.
    The corporate authorities or county
board may also exercise 
such authority jointly with any other municipality or county.

Two or
more
municipalities or counties, or a combination of 
both, may initiate a
process
jointly to authorize aggregation 
by a majority vote of each particular
municipality or
county as 
required by this Section. 
    If the corporate authorities or the county board seek to 
operate the aggregation program as an opt-out program for 
residential and small commercial retail customers, then prior 
to the adoption of an ordinance with respect to aggregation of 
residential and small commercial retail electric loads, the 
corporate authorities of a municipality or the county board of 
a county shall submit a referendum to its residents to 
determine whether or not the aggregation program shall operate 
as an opt-out program for residential and small commercial 
retail customers.
    In addition to the notice and conduct requirements of the 
general election law, notice of the referendum shall state 
briefly the purpose of the referendum. The question of whether 
the corporate authorities or the county board shall adopt an 
opt-out aggregation program for residential and small 
commercial retail customers shall be submitted to the electors 
of the municipality  or county board at a regular election and 
approved by a majority of the electors voting on the question. 
The corporate authorities or county board must certify to the 
proper election authority, which must submit the question at an 
election in accordance with the Election Code.
    The election authority must submit the question in 
substantially the following form:
        Shall the (municipality or county in which the question 
    is being voted upon) have the authority to arrange for the 
    supply of electricity for its residential and small 
    commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such 
    program?
The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".
    If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote 
in the affirmative, then the corporate authorities or county 
board may implement an opt-out aggregation program for 
residential and small commercial retail customers.
    A referendum must pass in each particular municipality or 
county that is engaged in the aggregation program. If the 
referendum fails, then the corporate authorities or county 
board shall operate the aggregation program as an opt-in 
program for residential and small commercial retail customers.
    An
ordinance under this Section shall specify whether the 
aggregation will occur
only with
the prior consent of each 
person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an
electric 
load
center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this Section,

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

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


    (b) Upon the applicable requisite authority under this 
Section, the corporate
authorities or the county board, with 
assistance from the Illinois Power Agency, shall develop a plan 
of operation and
governance for the
aggregation program so 
authorized. Before adopting a plan under this Section,
the

corporate authorities or county board shall hold at least 2 
public hearings on
the plan.
Before the first hearing, the 
corporate authorities or county board shall
publish notice of

the hearings once a week for 2 consecutive weeks in a newspaper 
of general
circulation
in the jurisdiction. The notice shall 
summarize the plan and state the date,
time, and
location of 
each hearing.
Any load aggregation plan established pursuant to 
this Section shall:
        (1) provide for universal
access to all applicable 
    residential customers and equitable treatment of 
    applicable
residential customers;
        (2) describe demand management and energy efficiency 
    services to be
provided to each class of customers;
and
        (3) meet any requirements established by law

    concerning aggregated service offered pursuant to this 
    Section.
    (c) The process for soliciting bids for electricity and 
other related services and awarding proposed agreements for the 
purchase of electricity and other related services shall be 
conducted in the following order:
        (1) The corporate authorities or county board may 
    solicit bids for electricity and other related services.
        (2) Notwithstanding Section 16-122 of the Public 
    Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer Fraud and 
    Deceptive Business Practices Act, an electric utility that 
    provides residential and small commercial retail electric 
    service in the aggregate area must, upon request of the 
    corporate authorities or the county board in the aggregate 
    area, submit to the requesting party, in an electronic 
    format, those account numbers, names, and addresses of 
    residential and small commercial retail customers in the 
    aggregate area that are reflected in the electric utility's 
    records at the time of the request. Any corporate authority 
    or county board receiving customer information from an 
    electric utility shall be subject to the limitations on the 
    disclosure of the information described in Section 16-122 
    of the Public Utilities Act and Section 2HH of the Consumer 
    Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and an electric 
    utility shall not be held liable for any claims arising out 
    of the provision of information pursuant to this item (2).
    (d) If the corporate authorities or county board operate 
under an opt-in program for residential and small commercial 
retail customers, then the corporate authorities or county 
board shall comply with all of the following: 
        (1) Within 60 days after receiving the bids, the 
    corporate authorities or county board shall allow 
    residential and small commercial retail customers to 
    commit to the terms and conditions of a bid that has been 
    selected by the corporate authorities or county board.
        (2) If (A) the corporate authorities or county board 
    award proposed agreements for the purchase of electricity 
    and other related services and (B) an agreement is reached 
    between the corporate authorities or county board for those 
    services, then customers committed to the terms and 
    conditions according to item (1) of this subsection (d) 
    shall  be  committed to the agreement.
    (e) If the corporate authorities or county board operate as 
an opt-out program for residential and small commercial retail 
customers, then it shall be the duty of the aggregated entity 
to fully inform
residential and small commercial retail 
customers in advance that they have the right to opt out of the 
aggregation program.
The disclosure shall prominently state 
all charges to be made and
shall include
full disclosure of the 
cost to obtain service pursuant to Section 16-103 of the Public 
Utilities Act, how
to access it,
and the fact that it is 
available to them without penalty, if they are
currently 
receiving
service under that Section. The Illinois Power Agency 
shall furnish, without charge, to
any citizen a
list of all 
supply options available to them in a format that
allows

comparison of prices and products.
    The Illinois Power Agency shall provide assistance to 
municipalities, counties, or associations working with 
municipalities to help complete the plan and bidding process.
    This Section does not prohibit municipalities or counties 
from entering into an intergovernmental agreement to aggregate 
residential and small commercial retail electric loads.

(Source: P.A. 96-176, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.