Bill Text: IL SB1527 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Public Utilities Act. Removes provisions prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power reactors with a nameplate capacity of more than 300 megawatts of electricity to be located within the State until the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security finds that the United States Government has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-04 - Referred to Assignments [SB1527 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SB1527-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1527 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Sue Rezin SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Removes provisions prohibiting the construction of new nuclear power reactors with a nameplate capacity of more than 300 megawatts of electricity to be located within the State until the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security finds that the United States Government has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste.
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A BILL FOR
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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 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
Section 8-406 as follows:
(220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
necessity.
(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 Public Act 84-617
goes into effect (January 1, 1986), 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

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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 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

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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.
(b-5) As used in this subsection (b-5):
"Qualifying direct current applicant" means an entity that
seeks to provide direct current bulk transmission service for
the purpose of transporting electric energy in interstate
commerce.
"Qualifying direct current project" means a high voltage
direct current electric service line that crosses at least one
Illinois border, the Illinois portion of which is physically
located within the region of the Midcontinent Independent
System Operator, Inc., or its successor organization, and runs
through the counties of Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin,
Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland, and Clark, is
capable of transmitting electricity at voltages of 345
kilovolts or above, and may also include associated
interconnected alternating current interconnection facilities
in this State that are part of the proposed project and
reasonably necessary to connect the project with other
portions of the grid.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a
qualifying direct current applicant that does not own,

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control, operate, or manage, within this State, any plant,
equipment, or property used or to be used for the transmission
of electricity at the time of its application or of the
Commission's order may file an application on or before
December 31, 2023 with the Commission pursuant to this Section
or Section 8-406.1 for, and the Commission may grant, a
certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct,
operate, and maintain a qualifying direct current project. The
qualifying direct current applicant may also include in the
application requests for authority under Section 8-503. The
Commission shall grant the application for a certificate of
public convenience and necessity and requests for authority
under Section 8-503 if it finds that the qualifying direct
current applicant and the proposed qualifying direct current
project satisfy the requirements of this subsection and
otherwise satisfy the criteria of this Section or Section
8-406.1 and the criteria of Section 8-503, as applicable to
the application and to the extent such criteria are not
superseded by the provisions of this subsection. The
Commission's order on the application for the certificate of
public convenience and necessity shall also include the
Commission's findings and determinations on the request or
requests for authority pursuant to Section 8-503. Prior to
filing its application under either this Section or Section
8-406.1, the qualifying direct current applicant shall conduct
3 public meetings in accordance with subsection (h) of this

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Section. If the qualifying direct current applicant
demonstrates in its application that the proposed qualifying
direct current project is designed to deliver electricity to a
point or points on the electric transmission grid in either or
both the PJM Interconnection, LLC or the Midcontinent
Independent System Operator, Inc., or their respective
successor organizations, the proposed qualifying direct
current project shall be deemed to be, and the Commission
shall find it to be, for public use. If the qualifying direct
current applicant further demonstrates in its application that
the proposed transmission project has a capacity of 1,000
megawatts or larger and a voltage level of 345 kilovolts or
greater, the proposed transmission project shall be deemed to
satisfy, and the Commission shall find that it satisfies, the
criteria stated in item (1) of subsection (b) of this Section
or in paragraph (1) of subsection (f) of Section 8-406.1, as
applicable to the application, without the taking of
additional evidence on these criteria. Prior to the transfer
of functional control of any transmission assets to a regional
transmission organization, a qualifying direct current
applicant shall request Commission approval to join a regional
transmission organization in an application filed pursuant to
this subsection (b-5) or separately pursuant to Section 7-102
of this Act. The Commission may grant permission to a
qualifying direct current applicant to join a regional
transmission organization if it finds that the membership, and

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associated transfer of functional control of transmission
assets, benefits Illinois customers in light of the attendant
costs and is otherwise in the public interest. Nothing in this
subsection (b-5) requires a qualifying direct current
applicant to join a regional transmission organization.
Nothing in this subsection (b-5) requires the owner or
operator of a high voltage direct current transmission line
that is not a qualifying direct current project to obtain a
certificate of public convenience and necessity to the extent
it is not otherwise required by this Section 8-406 or any other
provision of this Act.
(c) (Blank). As used in this subsection (c):
"Decommissioning" has the meaning given to that term in
subsection (a) of Section 8-508.1.
"Nuclear power reactor" has the meaning given to that term
in Section 8 of the Nuclear Safety Law of 2004.
After the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
103rd General Assembly, no construction shall commence on any
new nuclear power reactor with a nameplate capacity of more
than 300 megawatts of electricity 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 Illinois Emergency Management Agency and
Office of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources, finds that the United States Government,

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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. Beginning January 1, 2026, construction may commence
on a new nuclear power reactor with a nameplate capacity of 300
megawatts of electricity or less within this State if the
entity constructing the new nuclear power reactor has obtained
all permits, licenses, permissions, or approvals governing the
construction, operation, and funding of decommissioning of
such nuclear power reactors required by: (1) this Act; (2) any
rules adopted by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and
Office of Homeland Security under the authority of this Act;
(3) any applicable federal statutes, including, but not
limited to, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Policy Amendments Act of 1985, and the Energy Policy Act of
1992; (4) any regulations promulgated or enforced by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including, but not limited to,
those codified at Title X, Parts 20, 30, 40, 50, 70, and 72 of
the Code of Federal Regulations, as from time to time amended;
and (5) any other federal or State statute, rule, or
regulation governing the permitting, licensing, operation, or
decommissioning of such nuclear power reactors. None of the
rules developed by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
and Office of Homeland Security or any other State agency,

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board, or commission pursuant to this Act shall be construed
to supersede the authority of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. The changes made by this amendatory Act of the
103rd General Assembly shall not apply to the uprate, renewal,
or subsequent renewal of any license for an existing nuclear
power reactor that began operation prior to the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly.
None of the changes made in this amendatory Act of the
103rd General Assembly are intended to authorize the
construction of nuclear power plants powered by nuclear power
reactors that are not either: (1) small modular nuclear
reactors; or (2) nuclear power reactors licensed by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate in this State prior
to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd
General Assembly.
(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

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the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
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.

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No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall
be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
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

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premises for which the customer or generator has secured
the necessary right of way.
(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.

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