Bill Text: IL HB1629 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any clean coal facility developed, financed, constructed, or operated by the Illinois Power Agency may be constructed within 10 miles of the Rend Lake Conservancy District in a county with unemployment above the State average as of the effective date of the amendatory Act. Further provides that the first facility that the Agency develops, finances, or constructs shall be a facility that uses coal that has high volatile bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million btu content (was, coal produced in Illinois). Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB1629 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB1629-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB1629 Introduced 2/15/2011, by Rep. Jim Sacia SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
20 ILCS 3855/1-80
Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any clean coal facility developed, financed, constructed, or operated by the Illinois Power Agency may be constructed within 10 miles of the Rend Lake Conservancy District in a county with unemployment above the State average as of the effective date of the amendatory Act. Further provides that the first facility that the Agency develops, finances, or constructs shall be a facility that uses coal that has high volatile bituminous rank and greater than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million btu content (was, coal produced in Illinois). Makes other changes. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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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 1-80 as follows:
(20 ILCS 3855/1-80)
Sec. 1-80. Resource Development Bureau. The Resource
Development Bureau has the following duties and
responsibilities:
(a) At the Agency's discretion, conduct feasibility
studies on the construction of any facility. Funding for a
study shall come from either:
(i) fees assessed by the Agency on municipal
electric systems, governmental aggregators, unit or
units of local government, or rural electric
cooperatives requesting the feasibility study; or
(ii) an appropriation from the General Assembly.
(b) If the Agency undertakes the construction of a
facility, moneys generated from the sale of revenue bonds
by the Authority for the facility shall be used to
reimburse the source of the money used for the facility's
feasibility study.
(c) The Agency may develop, finance, construct, or

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operate electric generation and co-generation facilities
that use indigenous coal or renewable resources, or both,
financed with bonds issued by the Authority on behalf of
the Agency. Any such facility that uses coal must be a
clean coal facility and, except as otherwise provided, must
be constructed in a location where the geology is suitable
for carbon sequestration. Any clean coal facility that is
developed, financed, constructed, or operated by the
Agency may be constructed within 10 miles of the Rend Lake
Conservancy District in a county with unemployment above
the State average as of the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly. The Agency may
also develop, finance, construct, or operate a carbon
sequestration facility.
(1) The Agency may enter into contractual
arrangements with private and public entities,
including but not limited to municipal electric
systems, governmental aggregators, and rural electric
cooperatives, to plan, site, construct, improve,
rehabilitate, and operate those electric generation
and co-generation facilities. No contract shall be
entered into by the Agency that would jeopardize the
tax-exempt status of any bond issued in connection with
a project for which the Agency entered into the
contract.
(2) The Agency shall hold at least one public

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hearing before entering into any such contractual
arrangements. At least 30-days' notice of the hearing
shall be given by publication once in each week during
that period in 6 newspapers within the State, at least
one of which has a circulation area that includes the
location of the proposed facility.
(3) The first facility that the Agency develops,
finances, or constructs shall be a facility that uses
coal that has high volatile bituminous rank and greater
than 1.7 pounds of sulfur per million btu content
produced in Illinois. The Agency may, however, also
develop, finance, or construct renewable energy
facilities after work on the first facility has
commenced.
(4) The Agency may not develop, finance, or
construct a nuclear power plant.
(5) The Agency shall assess fees to applicants
seeking to partner with the Agency on projects.
(d) Use of electricity generated by the Agency's
facilities. The Agency may supply electricity produced by
the Agency's facilities to municipal electric systems,
governmental aggregators, or rural electric cooperatives
in Illinois. The electricity shall be supplied at cost.
(1) Contracts to supply power and energy from the
Agency's facilities shall provide for the effectuation
of the policies set forth in this Act.

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(2) The contracts shall also provide that,
notwithstanding any provision in the Public Utilities
Act, entities supplied with power and energy from an
Agency facility shall supply the power and energy to
retail customers at the same price paid to purchase
power and energy from the Agency.
(e) Electric utilities shall not be required to purchase
electricity directly or indirectly from facilities developed
or sponsored by the Agency.
(f) The Agency may sell excess capacity and excess energy
into the wholesale electric market at prevailing market rates;
provided, however, the Agency may not sell excess capacity or
excess energy through the procurement process described in
Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act.
(g) The Agency shall not directly sell electric power and
energy to retail customers. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to prohibit sales to municipal electric systems,
governmental aggregators, or rural electric cooperatives.
(Source: P.A. 95-481, eff. 8-28-07; 95-1027, eff. 6-1-09.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.