Released: 8/30/2007
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GOVERNOR Rod Blagojevich signed the electric rate relief bill (Senate Bill 1592) on August 28 at the DuQuoin State Fair in Southern Illinois. The bill was a product of months of intense negotiations between key legislators, the Attorney General’s Office and both distribution utilities and electricity generators.
Blagojevich received the bill on July 31, but had indicated that he might take as much as a full 60 days to review the bill before deciding whether to sign it, veto it, draft an amendatory veto, or let it become law without his signature. The bill passed both the House of Representatives and the State Senate by overwhelming majorities on July 26.
When signing the bill, the Governor referred to the agreement as “a good step” but indicated that he might propose further legislation to the General Assembly aimed at “improving it so that we can make it better.” He hinted that he wanted more concessions from the utilities.
In addition to criticizing the Governor for waiting almost 30 days before signing the bill, thereby delaying rate relief monies to customers, some legislators termed the Governor’s desire for more concessions as “wishful thinking.” As part of the agreement, lawmakers agreed not to pursue additional rebates or rate freezes for at least three years.
The electric rate relief law signed by the Governor includes:
Over $1 billion in rate relief to Illinois consumers:
*Exelon Generation will provide $747 million, ComEd will provide $53 million, Ameren will provide $150 million, Midwest Generation and Dynegy will each provide $25 million and MidAmerican will provide $1 million of the more than $1 billion rate relief package.
*All residential customers will receive rate relief in the form of credits or checks. ComEd residential customers will receive credits on their bills while Ameren customers less than 60 days past due on their bills will initially receive checks.
*ComEd and Ameren customers will both receive a total of $488 million over the next 3 years after $25 million is set aside to help fund the Illinois Power Agency.
The Illinois Power Agency:
*A new Illinois Power Agency is created to develop procurement plans and manage the procurement process.
*The Illinois Power Agency’s procurement plans and processes are subject to Illinois Commerce Commission oversight.
*The Illinois Power Agency is intended to be fully functional by 2009.
*For 2008 power will be procured through competitive requests for proposals with the Illinois Commerce Commission overseeing the process.
Renewable energy and energy efficiency programs:
*Ameren and ComEd will be required to initiate demand response and energy efficiency programs.
*Ameren and ComEd will also be required to purchase up to 25% of their energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2025.
Disconnections:
*The bill prohibits ComEd and Ameren from disconnecting all-electric customers through September 1, 2007.
*ComEd and Ameren will also be prohibited from disconnecting all-electric customers from December 1st through March 1st of each year regardless of temperature.
Electric generation facilities:
*Ameren and ComEd will be allowed to purchase, lease or build electric generation facilities if approved by the Illinois Power Agency and the Illinois Commerce Commission.
*The Illinois Power Agency is also authorized to build new electric generation facilities to meet the needs of municipalities and cooperatives.
*The Illinois Power Agency is granted the ability to issue up to $4 billion in revenue bonds through the Illinois Finance Authority for the purpose of constructing new electric generation facilities.
The bill was signed into law as Public Law No. 95-0481.
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