Bill Text: IL HB3404 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Engrossed

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

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Bill Title: Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill with the following changes: Replaces provisions concerning the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program with language providing that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall create the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program for a duration of 5 years. Provides that the Department shall distribute grants, subject to appropriation, from moneys in the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Fund for the conversion of appliances to be compatible with natural gas. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules for the administration of the Program. Provides that, at a minimum, the rules shall require that the applicant for the grants demonstrate that the grants will result in the conversion of necessary equipment to have the ability to utilize natural gas. Provides that the rules shall allow for conversion grants awarded to residents of Pembroke Township and to Pembroke Township to provide assistance for the use of natural gas and shall ensure that the applicant complies with all other requirements of the rules. In provisions amending the Public Utilities Act, makes changes concerning what a gas public utility applying for a certificate of public convenience and necessity shall include in the application and the criteria the Illinois Commerce Commission shall consider in granting the certificate. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-27 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0609 [HB3404 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB3404-Engrossed.html

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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 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program Act.
Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity.
"Qualifying gas pipeline project" means the construction
or installation of gas equipment used in connection with the
distribution and delivery of natural gas in Pembroke Township.
Section 10. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
Program.
(a) The Department shall create the Pembroke Township
Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program for a duration of 5
years. The Program shall provide that the Department shall
distribute grants, subject to appropriation, from moneys in
the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Fund for the
construction of new natural gas pipelines and infrastructure
in Pembroke Township.
(b) The Department shall adopt rules for the
administration of the Program. At a minimum, the rules shall

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require that the applicant for the grants demonstrate that the
grants will result in the construction of a new natural gas
pipeline to provide natural gas to the residents of Pembroke
Township and that the applicant complies with all other
requirements of the rules.
(c) A grantee must maintain all records as required by
rule. The records shall be subject to audit by the Department,
by an auditor appointed by the Department, or by a State
officer authorized to conduct audits.
(d) Eligible applicants under this Program may include a
nonprofit or community action association that will help the
residents of Pembroke with the convergence of natural gas
services in the residents' homes. Notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, an entity regulated under
the Public Utilities Act may serve as a grantee under this Act.
Section 15. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
Program Fund. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
Pilot Program Fund is created as a special fund in the State
treasury. Subject to appropriation, all moneys in the Fund
shall be used by the Department to fund grants for qualified
utility infrastructure projects. The Department may accept
private and public funds, including federal funds, for deposit
into the Fund. Earnings attributable to moneys in the Fund
shall be deposited into the Fund.

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Section 20. Data collection and reporting. The Department
shall collect data regarding the successes and challenges of
the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program and
shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General
Assembly by March 1 of each year beginning in 2022 until the
Pilot Program terminates. The report shall: (i) make a
recommendation as to whether the Pilot Program should
continue; (ii) provide cost estimates, including the average
per person costs; and (iii) recommend ways in which the Pilot
Program can be improved to better address the needs for
natural gas distribution.
Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
Section 5.935 as follows:
(30 ILCS 105/5.935 new)
Sec. 5.935. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
Pilot Program Fund.
Section 95. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
changing Sections 8-406 and by adding Section 8-406.2 as
follows:
(220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
necessity.

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(a) No public utility not owning any city or village
franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission or the
Public Utilities Commission, at the time this amendatory Act
of 1985 goes into effect, shall transact any business in this
State until it shall have obtained a certificate from the
Commission that public convenience and necessity require the
transaction of such business. A certificate of public
convenience and necessity requiring the transaction of public
utility business in any area of this State shall include
authorization to the public utility receiving the certificate
of public convenience and necessity to construct such plant,
equipment, property, or facility as is provided for under the
terms and conditions of its tariff and as is necessary to
provide utility service and carry out the transaction of
public utility business by the public utility in the
designated area.
(b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
new plant, equipment, property or facility which is not in
substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property or
facility or any extension or alteration thereof or in addition
thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from the
Commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity

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require such construction. Whenever after a hearing the
Commission determines that any new construction or the
transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
proposed construction will promote the development of an
effectively competitive electricity market that operates
efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the
utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
construction without significant adverse financial
consequences for the utility or its customers.
(c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
1987, no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power
plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of
public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall
be issued therefor by the Commission, until the Director of

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the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency finds that the
United States Government, through its authorized agency, has
identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for
the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such
construction has been specifically approved by a statute
enacted by the General Assembly.
As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or
equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
reprocessing.
(d) In making its determination under subsection (b) of
this Section, the Commission shall attach primary weight to
the cost or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
Commission may consider any or all factors which will or may
affect such cost or cost savings, including the public
utility's engineering judgment regarding the materials used
for construction.
(e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section

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temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
certificate will not be required in the public interest.
A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may
apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
authorization or order granted a public utility by the
Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the
same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
Section for authorization of power plant construction and as
to matters as to which a remedy is available under The Electric
Supplier Act.
(f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the
person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
period of 2 years from the grant thereof authority conferred
by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
Commission shall be null and void.
No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall
be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,

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immunity or franchise.
(g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or
that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of
this Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an
electric line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For
purposes of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of
the following:
(1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
electric service line and related facilities,
notwithstanding its length;
(2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or
(3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a
single customer's premises or to provide a generator
interconnection to the public utility's transmission
system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
premises for which the customer or generator has secured
the necessary right of way.

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(h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
6 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
general circulation within the affected county once a week for
3 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior
to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements
regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
meeting.
(i) For applications filed after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the

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Commission shall by registered mail notify each owner of
record of land, as identified in the records of the relevant
county tax assessor, included in the right-of-way over which
the utility seeks in its application to construct a
high-voltage electric line of the time and place scheduled for
the initial hearing on the public utility's application. The
utility shall reimburse the Commission for the cost of the
postage and supplies incurred for mailing the notice.
(Source: P.A. 99-399, eff. 8-18-15.)
(220 ILCS 5/8-406.2 new)
Sec. 8-406.2. Certificate of public convenience and
necessity; extension of utility service area and facilities to
serve designated hardship areas.
(a) This Section is intended to provide a mechanism by
which a gas public utility may extend its service territory
and gas distribution system to provide service to designated
low-income areas whose residents do not have access to natural
gas service and must purchase more costly alternatives to
satisfy their energy needs.
(b) In this Section:
"Designated hardship area" means a defined geographic area
described by the applicant gas utility that meets the
following requirements:
(1) the area is designated as a qualified census tract
by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as

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published in the most current Federal Register; if the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ceases to
make this designation, then at least 25% of the households
in the area are at or below the poverty level; and
(2) the area is not currently served by a gas utility.
"Hardship area facilities" means all gas distribution
system facilities that are proposed to be constructed or
extended and used to serve the designated hardship area,
through and including retail gas meters. "Hardship area
facilities" includes the capacity to address reasonably
foreseeable growth in areas adjacent to or in the vicinity of
the designated hardship area.
(c) A gas public utility may apply for a certificate of
public convenience and necessity pursuant to this Section to
increase its gas service territory and extend its gas
distribution system to serve a designated hardship area. An
application under this Section shall include all of the
following:
(1) a description of the designated hardship area and
its relationship to the existing gas distribution system
of the applicant;
(2) a showing that the designated hardship area meets
the criteria for being a designated hardship area under
subsection (b) of this Section;
(3) a description of the hardship area facilities
proposed to serve the designated hardship area;

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(4) a projection of the costs to construct and deploy
the hardship area facilities;
(5) a statement indicating that the gas distribution
utility has received written indications of interest from
at least 50% of the customers within the boundaries of the
designated hardship area demonstrating an interest shown
in obtaining gas service; and
(6) a showing that the estimated cost to construct and
deploy the hardship area facilities is equal to or less
than 250% of the amount allowed under the gas utilities'
then current tariffs to provide standard service to extend
main and services.
(d) The Commission shall, after notice and hearing, grant
a certificate of public convenience and necessity under this
Section if, based upon the application filed with the
Commission and the evidentiary record, the Commission finds
that all of the following criteria are satisfied:
(1) the area to be served is a designated hardship
area;
(2) the proposed hardship area facilities will provide
adequate, reliable, and efficient gas delivery service to
the customers within the designated hardship area and are
the least-cost means of providing such gas delivery
service to these customers;
(3) the public utility is capable of efficiently
managing and supervising the construction of the hardship

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area facilities and has taken sufficient action to ensure
adequate and efficient construction and supervision of the
construction;
(4) the public utility is capable of financing the
construction of the hardship area facilities without
significant adverse financial consequences for the utility
or its customers; and
(5) the estimated cost to construct and deploy the
hardship area facilities is equal to or less than 250% of
the amount allowed under the gas utilities then current
tariffs to provide standard service to extend main and
services.
(e) The Commission shall issue its decision with findings
of fact and conclusions of law granting or denying the
application no later than 120 days after the application is
filed.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.