HB3404 Engrossed LRB102 13143 SPS 18486 b
1		AN ACT concerning regulation.
2		Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3		represented in the General Assembly:
4		Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5		Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program Act.
6		Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7		"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic
8		Opportunity.
9		"Qualifying gas pipeline project" means the construction
10		or installation of gas equipment used in connection with the
11		distribution and delivery of natural gas in Pembroke Township.
12		Section 10. Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot
13		Program.
14		(a) The Department shall create the Pembroke Township
15		Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program for a duration of 5
16		years. The Program shall provide that the Department shall
17		distribute grants, subject to appropriation, from moneys in
18		the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Fund for the
19		construction of new natural gas pipelines and infrastructure
20		in Pembroke Township.
21		(b) The Department shall adopt rules for the
22		administration of the Program. At a minimum, the rules shall

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

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1		Section 20. Data collection and reporting. The Department
2		shall collect data regarding the successes and challenges of
3		the Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment Pilot Program and
4		shall submit an annual report to the Governor and the General
5		Assembly by March 1 of each year beginning in 2022 until the
6		Pilot Program terminates. The report shall: (i) make a
7		recommendation as to whether the Pilot Program should
8		continue; (ii) provide cost estimates, including the average
9		per person costs; and (iii) recommend ways in which the Pilot
10		Program can be improved to better address the needs for
11		natural gas distribution.
12		Section 90. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
13		Section 5.935 as follows:
14		(30 ILCS 105/5.935 new)
15		Sec. 5.935. The Pembroke Township Natural Gas Investment
16		Pilot Program Fund.
17		Section 95. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
18		changing Sections 8-406 and by adding Section 8-406.2 as
19		follows:
20		(220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
21		Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
22		necessity.

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

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1		require such construction. Whenever after a hearing the
2		Commission determines that any new construction or the
3		transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
4		the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
5		the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
6		necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
7		construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
8		only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
9		construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
10		efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
11		of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
12		proposed construction will promote the development of an
13		effectively competitive electricity market that operates
14		efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
15		cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the
16		utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
17		construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
18		adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
19		and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
20		construction without significant adverse financial
21		consequences for the utility or its customers.
22		(c) After the effective date of this amendatory Act of
23		1987, no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power
24		plant to be located within this State, and no certificate of
25		public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall
26		be issued therefor by the Commission, until the Director of

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

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

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

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1		(h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
2		electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
3		show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
4		meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
5		each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
6		6 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
7		public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
8		of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
9		general circulation within the affected county once a week for
10		3 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior
11		to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
12		contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
13		line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
14		proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
15		transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
16		other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
17		meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
18		mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements
19		regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
20		Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
21		Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
22		county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
23		the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
24		meeting.
25		(i) For applications filed after the effective date of
26		this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the

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1		Commission shall by registered mail notify each owner of
2		record of land, as identified in the records of the relevant
3		county tax assessor, included in the right-of-way over which
4		the utility seeks in its application to construct a
5		high-voltage electric line of the time and place scheduled for
6		the initial hearing on the public utility's application. The
7		utility shall reimburse the Commission for the cost of the
8		postage and supplies incurred for mailing the notice.
9		(Source: P.A. 99-399, eff. 8-18-15.)
10		(220 ILCS 5/8-406.2 new)
11		Sec. 8-406.2. Certificate of public convenience and
12		necessity; extension of utility service area and facilities to
13		serve designated hardship areas.
14		(a) This Section is intended to provide a mechanism by
15		which a gas public utility may extend its service territory
16		and gas distribution system to provide service to designated
17		low-income areas whose residents do not have access to natural
18		gas service and must purchase more costly alternatives to
19		satisfy their energy needs.
20		(b) In this Section:
21		"Designated hardship area" means a defined geographic area
22		described by the applicant gas utility that meets the
23		following requirements:
24		(1) the area is designated as a qualified census tract
25		by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as

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

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

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