103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB2563 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any contractor involved in programs and procurements for the construction of State-funded solar and utility-scale wind projects must have 50% or more of the contractor's employees be residents of the State. Provides that the contractor must also participate in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the federal Department of Labor. LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b A BILL FOR 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB2563 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any contractor involved in programs and procurements for the construction of State-funded solar and utility-scale wind projects must have 50% or more of the contractor's employees be residents of the State. Provides that the contractor must also participate in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the federal Department of Labor. LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b A BILL FOR 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB2563 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any contractor involved in programs and procurements for the construction of State-funded solar and utility-scale wind projects must have 50% or more of the contractor's employees be residents of the State. Provides that the contractor must also participate in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the federal Department of Labor. LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b A BILL FOR HB2563LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 AN ACT concerning State government. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Illinois Power Agency Act is amended by 5 changing Section 1-75 as follows: 6 (20 ILCS 3855/1-75) 7 Sec. 1-75. Planning and Procurement Bureau. The Planning 8 and Procurement Bureau has the following duties and 9 responsibilities: 10 (a) The Planning and Procurement Bureau shall each year, 11 beginning in 2008, develop procurement plans and conduct 12 competitive procurement processes in accordance with the 13 requirements of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act 14 for the eligible retail customers of electric utilities that 15 on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 16 100,000 customers in Illinois. Beginning with the delivery 17 year commencing on June 1, 2017, the Planning and Procurement 18 Bureau shall develop plans and processes for the procurement 19 of zero emission credits from zero emission facilities in 20 accordance with the requirements of subsection (d-5) of this 21 Section. Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory 22 Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Planning and 23 Procurement Bureau shall develop plans and processes for the 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB2563 Introduced , by Rep. Dave Vella SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 Amends the Illinois Power Agency Act. Provides that any contractor involved in programs and procurements for the construction of State-funded solar and utility-scale wind projects must have 50% or more of the contractor's employees be residents of the State. Provides that the contractor must also participate in a registered apprenticeship program approved by the federal Department of Labor. LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b A BILL FOR 20 ILCS 3855/1-75 LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 2 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 2 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 2 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procurement of carbon mitigation credits from carbon-free 2 energy resources in accordance with the requirements of 3 subsection (d-10) of this Section. The Planning and 4 Procurement Bureau shall also develop procurement plans and 5 conduct competitive procurement processes in accordance with 6 the requirements of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 7 Act for the eligible retail customers of small 8 multi-jurisdictional electric utilities that (i) on December 9 31, 2005 served less than 100,000 customers in Illinois and 10 (ii) request a procurement plan for their Illinois 11 jurisdictional load. This Section shall not apply to a small 12 multi-jurisdictional utility until such time as a small 13 multi-jurisdictional utility requests the Agency to prepare a 14 procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. For 15 the purposes of this Section, the term "eligible retail 16 customers" has the same definition as found in Section 17 16-111.5(a) of the Public Utilities Act. 18 Beginning with the plan or plans to be implemented in the 19 2017 delivery year, the Agency shall no longer include the 20 procurement of renewable energy resources in the annual 21 procurement plans required by this subsection (a), except as 22 provided in subsection (q) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public 23 Utilities Act, and shall instead develop a long-term renewable 24 resources procurement plan in accordance with subsection (c) 25 of this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 26 Act. HB2563 - 2 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 3 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 3 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 3 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 In accordance with subsection (c-5) of this Section, the 2 Planning and Procurement Bureau shall oversee the procurement 3 by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail 4 customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of renewable 5 energy credits from new utility-scale solar projects to be 6 installed, along with energy storage facilities, at or 7 adjacent to the sites of electric generating facilities that, 8 as of January 1, 2016, burned coal as their primary fuel 9 source. 10 (1) The Agency shall each year, beginning in 2008, as 11 needed, issue a request for qualifications for experts or 12 expert consulting firms to develop the procurement plans 13 in accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Public 14 Utilities Act. In order to qualify an expert or expert 15 consulting firm must have: 16 (A) direct previous experience assembling 17 large-scale power supply plans or portfolios for 18 end-use customers; 19 (B) an advanced degree in economics, mathematics, 20 engineering, risk management, or a related area of 21 study; 22 (C) 10 years of experience in the electricity 23 sector, including managing supply risk; 24 (D) expertise in wholesale electricity market 25 rules, including those established by the Federal 26 Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission HB2563 - 3 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 4 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 4 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 4 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 organizations; 2 (E) expertise in credit protocols and familiarity 3 with contract protocols; 4 (F) adequate resources to perform and fulfill the 5 required functions and responsibilities; and 6 (G) the absence of a conflict of interest and 7 inappropriate bias for or against potential bidders or 8 the affected electric utilities. 9 (2) The Agency shall each year, as needed, issue a 10 request for qualifications for a procurement administrator 11 to conduct the competitive procurement processes in 12 accordance with Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 13 Act. In order to qualify an expert or expert consulting 14 firm must have: 15 (A) direct previous experience administering a 16 large-scale competitive procurement process; 17 (B) an advanced degree in economics, mathematics, 18 engineering, or a related area of study; 19 (C) 10 years of experience in the electricity 20 sector, including risk management experience; 21 (D) expertise in wholesale electricity market 22 rules, including those established by the Federal 23 Energy Regulatory Commission and regional transmission 24 organizations; 25 (E) expertise in credit and contract protocols; 26 (F) adequate resources to perform and fulfill the HB2563 - 4 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 5 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 5 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 5 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 required functions and responsibilities; and 2 (G) the absence of a conflict of interest and 3 inappropriate bias for or against potential bidders or 4 the affected electric utilities. 5 (3) The Agency shall provide affected utilities and 6 other interested parties with the lists of qualified 7 experts or expert consulting firms identified through the 8 request for qualifications processes that are under 9 consideration to develop the procurement plans and to 10 serve as the procurement administrator. The Agency shall 11 also provide each qualified expert's or expert consulting 12 firm's response to the request for qualifications. All 13 information provided under this subparagraph shall also be 14 provided to the Commission. The Agency may provide by rule 15 for fees associated with supplying the information to 16 utilities and other interested parties. These parties 17 shall, within 5 business days, notify the Agency in 18 writing if they object to any experts or expert consulting 19 firms on the lists. Objections shall be based on: 20 (A) failure to satisfy qualification criteria; 21 (B) identification of a conflict of interest; or 22 (C) evidence of inappropriate bias for or against 23 potential bidders or the affected utilities. 24 The Agency shall remove experts or expert consulting 25 firms from the lists within 10 days if there is a 26 reasonable basis for an objection and provide the updated HB2563 - 5 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 6 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 6 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 6 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 lists to the affected utilities and other interested 2 parties. If the Agency fails to remove an expert or expert 3 consulting firm from a list, an objecting party may seek 4 review by the Commission within 5 days thereafter by 5 filing a petition, and the Commission shall render a 6 ruling on the petition within 10 days. There is no right of 7 appeal of the Commission's ruling. 8 (4) The Agency shall issue requests for proposals to 9 the qualified experts or expert consulting firms to 10 develop a procurement plan for the affected utilities and 11 to serve as procurement administrator. 12 (5) The Agency shall select an expert or expert 13 consulting firm to develop procurement plans based on the 14 proposals submitted and shall award contracts of up to 5 15 years to those selected. 16 (6) The Agency shall select an expert or expert 17 consulting firm, with approval of the Commission, to serve 18 as procurement administrator based on the proposals 19 submitted. If the Commission rejects, within 5 days, the 20 Agency's selection, the Agency shall submit another 21 recommendation within 3 days based on the proposals 22 submitted. The Agency shall award a 5-year contract to the 23 expert or expert consulting firm so selected with 24 Commission approval. 25 (b) The experts or expert consulting firms retained by the 26 Agency shall, as appropriate, prepare procurement plans, and HB2563 - 6 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 7 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 7 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 7 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 conduct a competitive procurement process as prescribed in 2 Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, to ensure 3 adequate, reliable, affordable, efficient, and environmentally 4 sustainable electric service at the lowest total cost over 5 time, taking into account any benefits of price stability, for 6 eligible retail customers of electric utilities that on 7 December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 8 100,000 customers in the State of Illinois, and for eligible 9 Illinois retail customers of small multi-jurisdictional 10 electric utilities that (i) on December 31, 2005 served less 11 than 100,000 customers in Illinois and (ii) request a 12 procurement plan for their Illinois jurisdictional load. 13 (c) Renewable portfolio standard. 14 (1)(A) The Agency shall develop a long-term renewable 15 resources procurement plan that shall include procurement 16 programs and competitive procurement events necessary to 17 meet the goals set forth in this subsection (c). The 18 initial long-term renewable resources procurement plan 19 shall be released for comment no later than 160 days after 20 June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906). 21 The Agency shall review, and may revise on an expedited 22 basis, the long-term renewable resources procurement plan 23 at least every 2 years, which shall be conducted in 24 conjunction with the procurement plan under Section 25 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act to the extent 26 practicable to minimize administrative expense. No later HB2563 - 7 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 8 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 8 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 8 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 than 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory 2 Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Agency shall 3 release for comment a revision to the long-term renewable 4 resources procurement plan, updating elements of the most 5 recently approved plan as needed to comply with this 6 amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, and any 7 long-term renewable resources procurement plan update 8 published by the Agency but not yet approved by the 9 Illinois Commerce Commission shall be withdrawn. The 10 long-term renewable resources procurement plans shall be 11 subject to review and approval by the Commission under 12 Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. 13 (B) Subject to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph (1), 14 the long-term renewable resources procurement plan shall 15 attempt to meet the goals for procurement of renewable 16 energy credits at levels of at least the following overall 17 percentages: 13% by the 2017 delivery year; increasing by 18 at least 1.5% each delivery year thereafter to at least 19 25% by the 2025 delivery year; increasing by at least 3% 20 each delivery year thereafter to at least 40% by the 2030 21 delivery year, and continuing at no less than 40% for each 22 delivery year thereafter. The Agency shall attempt to 23 procure 50% by delivery year 2040. The Agency shall 24 determine the annual increase between delivery year 2030 25 and delivery year 2040, if any, taking into account energy 26 demand, other energy resources, and other public policy HB2563 - 8 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 9 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 9 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 9 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 goals. In the event of a conflict between these goals and 2 the new wind and new photovoltaic procurement requirements 3 described in items (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (C) 4 of this paragraph (1), the long-term plan shall prioritize 5 compliance with the new wind and new photovoltaic 6 procurement requirements described in items (i) through 7 (iii) of subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1) over the 8 annual percentage targets described in this subparagraph 9 (B). The Agency shall not comply with the annual 10 percentage targets described in this subparagraph (B) by 11 procuring renewable energy credits that are unlikely to 12 lead to the development of new renewable resources. 13 For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2017, the 14 procurement plan shall attempt to include, subject to the 15 prioritization outlined in this subparagraph (B), 16 cost-effective renewable energy resources equal to at 17 least 13% of each utility's load for eligible retail 18 customers and 13% of the applicable portion of each 19 utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible 20 retail customers, which applicable portion shall equal 50% 21 of the utility's load for retail customers who are not 22 eligible retail customers on February 28, 2017. 23 For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, the 24 procurement plan shall attempt to include, subject to the 25 prioritization outlined in this subparagraph (B), 26 cost-effective renewable energy resources equal to at HB2563 - 9 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 10 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 10 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 10 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 least 14.5% of each utility's load for eligible retail 2 customers and 14.5% of the applicable portion of each 3 utility's load for retail customers who are not eligible 4 retail customers, which applicable portion shall equal 75% 5 of the utility's load for retail customers who are not 6 eligible retail customers on February 28, 2017. 7 For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2019, and for 8 each year thereafter, the procurement plans shall attempt 9 to include, subject to the prioritization outlined in this 10 subparagraph (B), cost-effective renewable energy 11 resources equal to a minimum percentage of each utility's 12 load for all retail customers as follows: 16% by June 1, 13 2019; increasing by 1.5% each year thereafter to 25% by 14 June 1, 2025; and 25% by June 1, 2026; increasing by at 15 least 3% each delivery year thereafter to at least 40% by 16 the 2030 delivery year, and continuing at no less than 40% 17 for each delivery year thereafter. The Agency shall 18 attempt to procure 50% by delivery year 2040. The Agency 19 shall determine the annual increase between delivery year 20 2030 and delivery year 2040, if any, taking into account 21 energy demand, other energy resources, and other public 22 policy goals. 23 For each delivery year, the Agency shall first 24 recognize each utility's obligations for that delivery 25 year under existing contracts. Any renewable energy 26 credits under existing contracts, including renewable HB2563 - 10 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 11 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 11 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 11 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 energy credits as part of renewable energy resources, 2 shall be used to meet the goals set forth in this 3 subsection (c) for the delivery year. 4 (C) The long-term renewable resources procurement plan 5 described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (1) shall 6 include the procurement of renewable energy credits from 7 new projects in amounts equal to at least the following: 8 (i) 10,000,000 renewable energy credits delivered 9 annually by the end of the 2021 delivery year, and 10 increasing ratably to reach 45,000,000 renewable 11 energy credits delivered annually from new wind and 12 solar projects by the end of delivery year 2030 such 13 that the goals in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph 14 (1) are met entirely by procurements of renewable 15 energy credits from new wind and photovoltaic 16 projects. Of that amount, to the extent possible, the 17 Agency shall procure 45% from wind projects and 55% 18 from photovoltaic projects. Of the amount to be 19 procured from photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall 20 procure: at least 50% from solar photovoltaic projects 21 using the program outlined in subparagraph (K) of this 22 paragraph (1) from distributed renewable energy 23 generation devices or community renewable generation 24 projects; at least 47% from utility-scale solar 25 projects; at least 3% from brownfield site 26 photovoltaic projects that are not community renewable HB2563 - 11 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 12 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 12 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 12 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 generation projects. 2 In developing the long-term renewable resources 3 procurement plan, the Agency shall consider other 4 approaches, in addition to competitive procurements, 5 that can be used to procure renewable energy credits 6 from brownfield site photovoltaic projects and thereby 7 help return blighted or contaminated land to 8 productive use while enhancing public health and the 9 well-being of Illinois residents, including those in 10 environmental justice communities, as defined using 11 existing methodologies and findings used by the Agency 12 and its Administrator in its Illinois Solar for All 13 Program. 14 (ii) In any given delivery year, if forecasted 15 expenses are less than the maximum budget available 16 under subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1), the 17 Agency shall continue to procure new renewable energy 18 credits until that budget is exhausted in the manner 19 outlined in item (i) of this subparagraph (C). 20 (iii) For purposes of this Section: 21 "New wind projects" means wind renewable energy 22 facilities that are energized after June 1, 2017 for 23 the delivery year commencing June 1, 2017. 24 "New photovoltaic projects" means photovoltaic 25 renewable energy facilities that are energized after 26 June 1, 2017. Photovoltaic projects developed under HB2563 - 12 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 13 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 13 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 13 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Section 1-56 of this Act shall not apply towards the 2 new photovoltaic project requirements in this 3 subparagraph (C). 4 For purposes of calculating whether the Agency has 5 procured enough new wind and solar renewable energy 6 credits required by this subparagraph (C), renewable 7 energy facilities that have a multi-year renewable 8 energy credit delivery contract with the utility 9 through at least delivery year 2030 shall be 10 considered new, however no renewable energy credits 11 from contracts entered into before June 1, 2021 shall 12 be used to calculate whether the Agency has procured 13 the correct proportion of new wind and new solar 14 contracts described in this subparagraph (C) for 15 delivery year 2021 and thereafter. 16 (D) Renewable energy credits shall be cost effective. 17 For purposes of this subsection (c), "cost effective" 18 means that the costs of procuring renewable energy 19 resources do not cause the limit stated in subparagraph 20 (E) of this paragraph (1) to be exceeded and, for 21 renewable energy credits procured through a competitive 22 procurement event, do not exceed benchmarks based on 23 market prices for like products in the region. For 24 purposes of this subsection (c), "like products" means 25 contracts for renewable energy credits from the same or 26 substantially similar technology, same or substantially HB2563 - 13 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 14 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 14 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 14 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 similar vintage (new or existing), the same or 2 substantially similar quantity, and the same or 3 substantially similar contract length and structure. 4 Benchmarks shall reflect development, financing, or 5 related costs resulting from requirements imposed through 6 other provisions of State law, including, but not limited 7 to, requirements in subparagraphs (P) and (Q) of this 8 paragraph (1) and the Renewable Energy Facilities 9 Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act. Confidential 10 benchmarks shall be developed by the procurement 11 administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, 12 Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be 13 subject to Commission review and approval. If price 14 benchmarks for like products in the region are not 15 available, the procurement administrator shall establish 16 price benchmarks based on publicly available data on 17 regional technology costs and expected current and future 18 regional energy prices. The benchmarks in this Section 19 shall not be used to curtail or otherwise reduce 20 contractual obligations entered into by or through the 21 Agency prior to June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public 22 Act 99-906). 23 (E) For purposes of this subsection (c), the required 24 procurement of cost-effective renewable energy resources 25 for a particular year commencing prior to June 1, 2017 26 shall be measured as a percentage of the actual amount of HB2563 - 14 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 15 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 15 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 15 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 electricity (megawatt-hours) supplied by the electric 2 utility to eligible retail customers in the delivery year 3 ending immediately prior to the procurement, and, for 4 delivery years commencing on and after June 1, 2017, the 5 required procurement of cost-effective renewable energy 6 resources for a particular year shall be measured as a 7 percentage of the actual amount of electricity 8 (megawatt-hours) delivered by the electric utility in the 9 delivery year ending immediately prior to the procurement, 10 to all retail customers in its service territory. For 11 purposes of this subsection (c), the amount paid per 12 kilowatthour means the total amount paid for electric 13 service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. For 14 purposes of this subsection (c), the total amount paid for 15 electric service includes without limitation amounts paid 16 for supply, transmission, capacity, distribution, 17 surcharges, and add-on taxes. 18 Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection 19 (c), the total of renewable energy resources procured 20 under the procurement plan for any single year shall be 21 subject to the limitations of this subparagraph (E). Such 22 procurement shall be reduced for all retail customers 23 based on the amount necessary to limit the annual 24 estimated average net increase due to the costs of these 25 resources included in the amounts paid by eligible retail 26 customers in connection with electric service to no more HB2563 - 15 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 16 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 16 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 16 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 than 4.25% of the amount paid per kilowatthour by those 2 customers during the year ending May 31, 2009. To arrive 3 at a maximum dollar amount of renewable energy resources 4 to be procured for the particular delivery year, the 5 resulting per kilowatthour amount shall be applied to the 6 actual amount of kilowatthours of electricity delivered, 7 or applicable portion of such amount as specified in 8 paragraph (1) of this subsection (c), as applicable, by 9 the electric utility in the delivery year immediately 10 prior to the procurement to all retail customers in its 11 service territory. The calculations required by this 12 subparagraph (E) shall be made only once for each delivery 13 year at the time that the renewable energy resources are 14 procured. Once the determination as to the amount of 15 renewable energy resources to procure is made based on the 16 calculations set forth in this subparagraph (E) and the 17 contracts procuring those amounts are executed, no 18 subsequent rate impact determinations shall be made and no 19 adjustments to those contract amounts shall be allowed. 20 All costs incurred under such contracts shall be fully 21 recoverable by the electric utility as provided in this 22 Section. 23 (F) If the limitation on the amount of renewable 24 energy resources procured in subparagraph (E) of this 25 paragraph (1) prevents the Agency from meeting all of the 26 goals in this subsection (c), the Agency's long-term plan HB2563 - 16 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 17 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 17 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 17 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 shall prioritize compliance with the requirements of this 2 subsection (c) regarding renewable energy credits in the 3 following order: 4 (i) renewable energy credits under existing 5 contractual obligations as of June 1, 2021; 6 (i-5) funding for the Illinois Solar for All 7 Program, as described in subparagraph (O) of this 8 paragraph (1); 9 (ii) renewable energy credits necessary to comply 10 with the new wind and new photovoltaic procurement 11 requirements described in items (i) through (iii) of 12 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (1); and 13 (iii) renewable energy credits necessary to meet 14 the remaining requirements of this subsection (c). 15 (G) The following provisions shall apply to the 16 Agency's procurement of renewable energy credits under 17 this subsection (c): 18 (i) Notwithstanding whether a long-term renewable 19 resources procurement plan has been approved, the 20 Agency shall conduct an initial forward procurement 21 for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale 22 wind projects within 160 days after June 1, 2017 (the 23 effective date of Public Act 99-906). For the purposes 24 of this initial forward procurement, the Agency shall 25 solicit 15-year contracts for delivery of 1,000,000 26 renewable energy credits delivered annually from new HB2563 - 17 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 18 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 18 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 18 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 utility-scale wind projects to begin delivery on June 2 1, 2019, if available, but not later than June 1, 2021, 3 unless the project has delays in the establishment of 4 an operating interconnection with the applicable 5 transmission or distribution system as a result of the 6 actions or inactions of the transmission or 7 distribution provider, or other causes for force 8 majeure as outlined in the procurement contract, in 9 which case, not later than June 1, 2022. Payments to 10 suppliers of renewable energy credits shall commence 11 upon delivery. Renewable energy credits procured under 12 this initial procurement shall be included in the 13 Agency's long-term plan and shall apply to all 14 renewable energy goals in this subsection (c). 15 (ii) Notwithstanding whether a long-term renewable 16 resources procurement plan has been approved, the 17 Agency shall conduct an initial forward procurement 18 for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale 19 solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic 20 projects within one year after June 1, 2017 (the 21 effective date of Public Act 99-906). For the purposes 22 of this initial forward procurement, the Agency shall 23 solicit 15-year contracts for delivery of 1,000,000 24 renewable energy credits delivered annually from new 25 utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site 26 photovoltaic projects to begin delivery on June 1, HB2563 - 18 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 19 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 19 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 19 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 2019, if available, but not later than June 1, 2021, 2 unless the project has delays in the establishment of 3 an operating interconnection with the applicable 4 transmission or distribution system as a result of the 5 actions or inactions of the transmission or 6 distribution provider, or other causes for force 7 majeure as outlined in the procurement contract, in 8 which case, not later than June 1, 2022. The Agency may 9 structure this initial procurement in one or more 10 discrete procurement events. Payments to suppliers of 11 renewable energy credits shall commence upon delivery. 12 Renewable energy credits procured under this initial 13 procurement shall be included in the Agency's 14 long-term plan and shall apply to all renewable energy 15 goals in this subsection (c). 16 (iii) Notwithstanding whether the Commission has 17 approved the periodic long-term renewable resources 18 procurement plan revision described in Section 19 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall 20 conduct at least one subsequent forward procurement 21 for renewable energy credits from new utility-scale 22 wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, and 23 new brownfield site photovoltaic projects within 240 24 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act 25 of the 102nd General Assembly in quantities necessary 26 to meet the requirements of subparagraph (C) of this HB2563 - 19 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 20 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 20 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 20 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 paragraph (1) through the delivery year beginning June 2 1, 2021. 3 (iv) Notwithstanding whether the Commission has 4 approved the periodic long-term renewable resources 5 procurement plan revision described in Section 6 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act, the Agency shall 7 open capacity for each category in the Adjustable 8 Block program within 90 days after the effective date 9 of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly 10 manner: 11 (1) The Agency shall open the first block of 12 annual capacity for the category described in item 13 (i) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). The 14 first block of annual capacity for item (i) shall 15 be for at least 75 megawatts of total nameplate 16 capacity. The price of the renewable energy credit 17 for this block of capacity shall be 4% less than 18 the price of the last open block in this category. 19 Projects on a waitlist shall be awarded contracts 20 first in the order in which they appear on the 21 waitlist. Notwithstanding anything to the 22 contrary, for those renewable energy credits that 23 qualify and are procured under this subitem (1) of 24 this item (iv), the renewable energy credit 25 delivery contract value shall be paid in full, 26 based on the estimated generation during the first HB2563 - 20 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 21 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 21 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 21 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 15 years of operation, by the contracting 2 utilities at the time that the facility producing 3 the renewable energy credits is interconnected at 4 the distribution system level of the utility and 5 verified as energized and in compliance by the 6 Program Administrator. The electric utility shall 7 receive and retire all renewable energy credits 8 generated by the project for the first 15 years of 9 operation. Renewable energy credits generated by 10 the project thereafter shall not be transferred 11 under the renewable energy credit delivery 12 contract with the counterparty electric utility. 13 (2) The Agency shall open the first block of 14 annual capacity for the category described in item 15 (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). 16 The first block of annual capacity for item (ii) 17 shall be for at least 75 megawatts of total 18 nameplate capacity. 19 (A) The price of the renewable energy 20 credit for any project on a waitlist for this 21 category before the opening of this block 22 shall be 4% less than the price of the last 23 open block in this category. Projects on the 24 waitlist shall be awarded contracts first in 25 the order in which they appear on the 26 waitlist. Any projects that are less than or HB2563 - 21 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 22 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 22 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 22 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 equal to 25 kilowatts in size on the waitlist 2 for this capacity shall be moved to the 3 waitlist for paragraph (1) of this item (iv). 4 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, 5 projects that were on the waitlist prior to 6 opening of this block shall not be required to 7 be in compliance with the requirements of 8 subparagraph (Q) of this paragraph (1) of this 9 subsection (c). Notwithstanding anything to 10 the contrary, for those renewable energy 11 credits procured from projects that were on 12 the waitlist for this category before the 13 opening of this block 20% of the renewable 14 energy credit delivery contract value, based 15 on the estimated generation during the first 16 15 years of operation, shall be paid by the 17 contracting utilities at the time that the 18 facility producing the renewable energy 19 credits is interconnected at the distribution 20 system level of the utility and verified as 21 energized by the Program Administrator. The 22 remaining portion shall be paid ratably over 23 the subsequent 4-year period. The electric 24 utility shall receive and retire all renewable 25 energy credits generated by the project during 26 the first 15 years of operation. Renewable HB2563 - 22 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 23 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 23 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 23 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 energy credits generated by the project 2 thereafter shall not be transferred under the 3 renewable energy credit delivery contract with 4 the counterparty electric utility. 5 (B) The price of renewable energy credits 6 for any project not on the waitlist for this 7 category before the opening of the block shall 8 be determined and published by the Agency. 9 Projects not on a waitlist as of the opening 10 of this block shall be subject to the 11 requirements of subparagraph (Q) of this 12 paragraph (1), as applicable. Projects not on 13 a waitlist as of the opening of this block 14 shall be subject to the contract provisions 15 outlined in item (iii) of subparagraph (L) of 16 this paragraph (1). The Agency shall strive to 17 publish updated prices and an updated 18 renewable energy credit delivery contract as 19 quickly as possible. 20 (3) For opening the first 2 blocks of annual 21 capacity for projects participating in item (iii) 22 of subparagraph (K) of paragraph (1) of subsection 23 (c), projects shall be selected exclusively from 24 those projects on the ordinal waitlists of 25 community renewable generation projects 26 established by the Agency based on the status of HB2563 - 23 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 24 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 24 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 24 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 those ordinal waitlists as of December 31, 2020, 2 and only those projects previously determined to 3 be eligible for the Agency's April 2019 community 4 solar project selection process. 5 The first 2 blocks of annual capacity for item 6 (iii) shall be for 250 megawatts of total 7 nameplate capacity, with both blocks opening 8 simultaneously under the schedule outlined in the 9 paragraphs below. Projects shall be selected as 10 follows: 11 (A) The geographic balance of selected 12 projects shall follow the Group classification 13 found in the Agency's Revised Long-Term 14 Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, with 70% 15 of capacity allocated to projects on the Group 16 B waitlist and 30% of capacity allocated to 17 projects on the Group A waitlist. 18 (B) Contract awards for waitlisted 19 projects shall be allocated proportionate to 20 the total nameplate capacity amount across 21 both ordinal waitlists associated with that 22 applicant firm or its affiliates, subject to 23 the following conditions. 24 (i) Each applicant firm having a 25 waitlisted project eligible for selection 26 shall receive no less than 500 kilowatts HB2563 - 24 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 25 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 25 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 25 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 in awarded capacity across all groups, and 2 no approved vendor may receive more than 3 20% of each Group's waitlist allocation. 4 (ii) Each applicant firm, upon 5 receiving an award of program capacity 6 proportionate to its waitlisted capacity, 7 may then determine which waitlisted 8 projects it chooses to be selected for a 9 contract award up to that capacity amount. 10 (iii) Assuming all other program 11 requirements are met, applicant firms may 12 adjust the nameplate capacity of applicant 13 projects without losing waitlist 14 eligibility, so long as no project is 15 greater than 2,000 kilowatts in size. 16 (iv) Assuming all other program 17 requirements are met, applicant firms may 18 adjust the expected production associated 19 with applicant projects, subject to 20 verification by the Program Administrator. 21 (C) After a review of affiliate 22 information and the current ordinal waitlists, 23 the Agency shall announce the nameplate 24 capacity award amounts associated with 25 applicant firms no later than 90 days after 26 the effective date of this amendatory Act of HB2563 - 25 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 26 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 26 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 26 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 the 102nd General Assembly. 2 (D) Applicant firms shall submit their 3 portfolio of projects used to satisfy those 4 contract awards no less than 90 days after the 5 Agency's announcement. The total nameplate 6 capacity of all projects used to satisfy that 7 portfolio shall be no greater than the 8 Agency's nameplate capacity award amount 9 associated with that applicant firm. An 10 applicant firm may decline, in whole or in 11 part, its nameplate capacity award without 12 penalty, with such unmet capacity rolled over 13 to the next block opening for project 14 selection under item (iii) of subparagraph (K) 15 of this subsection (c). Any projects not 16 included in an applicant firm's portfolio may 17 reapply without prejudice upon the next block 18 reopening for project selection under item 19 (iii) of subparagraph (K) of this subsection 20 (c). 21 (E) The renewable energy credit delivery 22 contract shall be subject to the contract and 23 payment terms outlined in item (iv) of 24 subparagraph (L) of this subsection (c). 25 Contract instruments used for this 26 subparagraph shall contain the following HB2563 - 26 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 27 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 27 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 27 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 terms: 2 (i) Renewable energy credit prices 3 shall be fixed, without further adjustment 4 under any other provision of this Act or 5 for any other reason, at 10% lower than 6 prices applicable to the last open block 7 for this category, inclusive of any adders 8 available for achieving a minimum of 50% 9 of subscribers to the project's nameplate 10 capacity being residential or small 11 commercial customers with subscriptions of 12 below 25 kilowatts in size; 13 (ii) A requirement that a minimum of 14 50% of subscribers to the project's 15 nameplate capacity be residential or small 16 commercial customers with subscriptions of 17 below 25 kilowatts in size; 18 (iii) Permission for the ability of a 19 contract holder to substitute projects 20 with other waitlisted projects without 21 penalty should a project receive a 22 non-binding estimate of costs to construct 23 the interconnection facilities and any 24 required distribution upgrades associated 25 with that project of greater than 30 cents 26 per watt AC of that project's nameplate HB2563 - 27 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 28 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 28 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 28 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 capacity. In developing the applicable 2 contract instrument, the Agency may 3 consider whether other circumstances 4 outside of the control of the applicant 5 firm should also warrant project 6 substitution rights. 7 The Agency shall publish a finalized 8 updated renewable energy credit delivery 9 contract developed consistent with these terms 10 and conditions no less than 30 days before 11 applicant firms must submit their portfolio of 12 projects pursuant to item (D). 13 (F) To be eligible for an award, the 14 applicant firm shall certify that not less 15 than prevailing wage, as determined pursuant 16 to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, was or 17 will be paid to employees who are engaged in 18 construction activities associated with a 19 selected project. 20 (4) The Agency shall open the first block of 21 annual capacity for the category described in item 22 (iv) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1). 23 The first block of annual capacity for item (iv) 24 shall be for at least 50 megawatts of total 25 nameplate capacity. Renewable energy credit prices 26 shall be fixed, without further adjustment under HB2563 - 28 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 29 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 29 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 29 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 any other provision of this Act or for any other 2 reason, at the price in the last open block in the 3 category described in item (ii) of subparagraph 4 (K) of this paragraph (1). Pricing for future 5 blocks of annual capacity for this category may be 6 adjusted in the Agency's second revision to its 7 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. 8 Projects in this category shall be subject to the 9 contract terms outlined in item (iv) of 10 subparagraph (L) of this paragraph (1). 11 (5) The Agency shall open the equivalent of 2 12 years of annual capacity for the category 13 described in item (v) of subparagraph (K) of this 14 paragraph (1). The first block of annual capacity 15 for item (v) shall be for at least 10 megawatts of 16 total nameplate capacity. Notwithstanding the 17 provisions of item (v) of subparagraph (K) of this 18 paragraph (1), for the purpose of this initial 19 block, the agency shall accept new project 20 applications intended to increase the diversity of 21 areas hosting community solar projects, the 22 business models of projects, and the size of 23 projects, as described by the Agency in its 24 long-term renewable resources procurement plan 25 that is approved as of the effective date of this 26 amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly. HB2563 - 29 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 30 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 30 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 30 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Projects in this category shall be subject to the 2 contract terms outlined in item (iii) of 3 subsection (L) of this paragraph (1). 4 (6) The Agency shall open the first blocks of 5 annual capacity for the category described in item 6 (vi) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), 7 with allocations of capacity within the block 8 generally matching the historical share of block 9 capacity allocated between the category described 10 in items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this 11 paragraph (1). The first two blocks of annual 12 capacity for item (vi) shall be for at least 75 13 megawatts of total nameplate capacity. The price 14 of renewable energy credits for the blocks of 15 capacity shall be 4% less than the price of the 16 last open blocks in the categories described in 17 items (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this 18 paragraph (1). Pricing for future blocks of annual 19 capacity for this category may be adjusted in the 20 Agency's second revision to its Long-Term 21 Renewable Resources Procurement Plan. Projects in 22 this category shall be subject to the applicable 23 contract terms outlined in items (ii) and (iii) of 24 subparagraph (L) of this paragraph (1). 25 (v) Upon the effective date of this amendatory Act 26 of the 102nd General Assembly, for all competitive HB2563 - 30 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 31 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 31 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 31 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procurements and any procurements of renewable energy 2 credit from new utility-scale wind and new 3 utility-scale photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall 4 procure indexed renewable energy credits and direct 5 respondents to offer a strike price. 6 (1) The purchase price of the indexed 7 renewable energy credit payment shall be 8 calculated for each settlement period. That 9 payment, for any settlement period, shall be equal 10 to the difference resulting from subtracting the 11 strike price from the index price for that 12 settlement period. If this difference results in a 13 negative number, the indexed REC counterparty 14 shall owe the seller the absolute value multiplied 15 by the quantity of energy produced in the relevant 16 settlement period. If this difference results in a 17 positive number, the seller shall owe the indexed 18 REC counterparty this amount multiplied by the 19 quantity of energy produced in the relevant 20 settlement period. 21 (2) Parties shall cash settle every month, 22 summing up all settlements (both positive and 23 negative, if applicable) for the prior month. 24 (3) To ensure funding in the annual budget 25 established under subparagraph (E) for indexed 26 renewable energy credit procurements for each year HB2563 - 31 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 32 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 32 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 32 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 of the term of such contracts, which must have a 2 minimum tenure of 20 calendar years, the 3 procurement administrator, Agency, Commission 4 staff, and procurement monitor shall quantify the 5 annual cost of the contract by utilizing an 6 industry-standard, third-party forward price curve 7 for energy at the appropriate hub or load zone, 8 including the estimated magnitude and timing of 9 the price effects related to federal carbon 10 controls. Each forward price curve shall contain a 11 specific value of the forecasted market price of 12 electricity for each annual delivery year of the 13 contract. For procurement planning purposes, the 14 impact on the annual budget for the cost of 15 indexed renewable energy credits for each delivery 16 year shall be determined as the expected annual 17 contract expenditure for that year, equaling the 18 difference between (i) the sum across all relevant 19 contracts of the applicable strike price 20 multiplied by contract quantity and (ii) the sum 21 across all relevant contracts of the forward price 22 curve for the applicable load zone for that year 23 multiplied by contract quantity. The contracting 24 utility shall not assume an obligation in excess 25 of the estimated annual cost of the contracts for 26 indexed renewable energy credits. Forward curves HB2563 - 32 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 33 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 33 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 33 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 shall be revised on an annual basis as updated 2 forward price curves are released and filed with 3 the Commission in the proceeding approving the 4 Agency's most recent long-term renewable resources 5 procurement plan. If the expected contract spend 6 is higher or lower than the total quantity of 7 contracts multiplied by the forward price curve 8 value for that year, the forward price curve shall 9 be updated by the procurement administrator, in 10 consultation with the Agency, Commission staff, 11 and procurement monitors, using then-currently 12 available price forecast data and additional 13 budget dollars shall be obligated or reobligated 14 as appropriate. 15 (4) To ensure that indexed renewable energy 16 credit prices remain predictable and affordable, 17 the Agency may consider the institution of a price 18 collar on REC prices paid under indexed renewable 19 energy credit procurements establishing floor and 20 ceiling REC prices applicable to indexed REC 21 contract prices. Any price collars applicable to 22 indexed REC procurements shall be proposed by the 23 Agency through its long-term renewable resources 24 procurement plan. 25 (vi) All procurements under this subparagraph (G) 26 shall comply with the geographic requirements in HB2563 - 33 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 34 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 34 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 34 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (1) and shall 2 follow the procurement processes and procedures 3 described in this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the 4 Public Utilities Act to the extent practicable, and 5 these processes and procedures may be expedited to 6 accommodate the schedule established by this 7 subparagraph (G). 8 (H) The procurement of renewable energy resources for 9 a given delivery year shall be reduced as described in 10 this subparagraph (H) if an alternative retail electric 11 supplier meets the requirements described in this 12 subparagraph (H). 13 (i) Within 45 days after June 1, 2017 (the 14 effective date of Public Act 99-906), an alternative 15 retail electric supplier or its successor shall submit 16 an informational filing to the Illinois Commerce 17 Commission certifying that, as of December 31, 2015, 18 the alternative retail electric supplier owned one or 19 more electric generating facilities that generates 20 renewable energy resources as defined in Section 1-10 21 of this Act, provided that such facilities are not 22 powered by wind or photovoltaics, and the facilities 23 generate one renewable energy credit for each 24 megawatthour of energy produced from the facility. 25 The informational filing shall identify each 26 facility that was eligible to satisfy the alternative HB2563 - 34 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 35 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 35 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 35 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 retail electric supplier's obligations under Section 2 16-115D of the Public Utilities Act as described in 3 this item (i). 4 (ii) For a given delivery year, the alternative 5 retail electric supplier may elect to supply its 6 retail customers with renewable energy credits from 7 the facility or facilities described in item (i) of 8 this subparagraph (H) that continue to be owned by the 9 alternative retail electric supplier. 10 (iii) The alternative retail electric supplier 11 shall notify the Agency and the applicable utility, no 12 later than February 28 of the year preceding the 13 applicable delivery year or 15 days after June 1, 2017 14 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906), whichever 15 is later, of its election under item (ii) of this 16 subparagraph (H) to supply renewable energy credits to 17 retail customers of the utility. Such election shall 18 identify the amount of renewable energy credits to be 19 supplied by the alternative retail electric supplier 20 to the utility's retail customers and the source of 21 the renewable energy credits identified in the 22 informational filing as described in item (i) of this 23 subparagraph (H), subject to the following 24 limitations: 25 For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, 26 the maximum amount of renewable energy credits to HB2563 - 35 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 36 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 36 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 36 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 be supplied by an alternative retail electric 2 supplier under this subparagraph (H) shall be 68% 3 multiplied by 25% multiplied by 14.5% multiplied 4 by the amount of metered electricity 5 (megawatt-hours) delivered by the alternative 6 retail electric supplier to Illinois retail 7 customers during the delivery year ending May 31, 8 2016. 9 For delivery years beginning June 1, 2019 and 10 each year thereafter, the maximum amount of 11 renewable energy credits to be supplied by an 12 alternative retail electric supplier under this 13 subparagraph (H) shall be 68% multiplied by 50% 14 multiplied by 16% multiplied by the amount of 15 metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by 16 the alternative retail electric supplier to 17 Illinois retail customers during the delivery year 18 ending May 31, 2016, provided that the 16% value 19 shall increase by 1.5% each delivery year 20 thereafter to 25% by the delivery year beginning 21 June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% value shall 22 apply to each delivery year. 23 For each delivery year, the total amount of 24 renewable energy credits supplied by all alternative 25 retail electric suppliers under this subparagraph (H) 26 shall not exceed 9% of the Illinois target renewable HB2563 - 36 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 37 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 37 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 37 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 energy credit quantity. The Illinois target renewable 2 energy credit quantity for the delivery year beginning 3 June 1, 2018 is 14.5% multiplied by the total amount of 4 metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered in the 5 delivery year immediately preceding that delivery 6 year, provided that the 14.5% shall increase by 1.5% 7 each delivery year thereafter to 25% by the delivery 8 year beginning June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% 9 value shall apply to each delivery year. 10 If the requirements set forth in items (i) through 11 (iii) of this subparagraph (H) are met, the charges 12 that would otherwise be applicable to the retail 13 customers of the alternative retail electric supplier 14 under paragraph (6) of this subsection (c) for the 15 applicable delivery year shall be reduced by the ratio 16 of the quantity of renewable energy credits supplied 17 by the alternative retail electric supplier compared 18 to that supplier's target renewable energy credit 19 quantity. The supplier's target renewable energy 20 credit quantity for the delivery year beginning June 21 1, 2018 is 14.5% multiplied by the total amount of 22 metered electricity (megawatt-hours) delivered by the 23 alternative retail supplier in that delivery year, 24 provided that the 14.5% shall increase by 1.5% each 25 delivery year thereafter to 25% by the delivery year 26 beginning June 1, 2025, and thereafter the 25% value HB2563 - 37 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 38 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 38 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 38 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 shall apply to each delivery year. 2 On or before April 1 of each year, the Agency shall 3 annually publish a report on its website that 4 identifies the aggregate amount of renewable energy 5 credits supplied by alternative retail electric 6 suppliers under this subparagraph (H). 7 (I) The Agency shall design its long-term renewable 8 energy procurement plan to maximize the State's interest 9 in the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, 10 including but not limited to minimizing sulfur dioxide, 11 nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and other pollution 12 that adversely affects public health in this State, 13 increasing fuel and resource diversity in this State, 14 enhancing the reliability and resiliency of the 15 electricity distribution system in this State, meeting 16 goals to limit carbon dioxide emissions under federal or 17 State law, and contributing to a cleaner and healthier 18 environment for the citizens of this State. In order to 19 further these legislative purposes, renewable energy 20 credits shall be eligible to be counted toward the 21 renewable energy requirements of this subsection (c) if 22 they are generated from facilities located in this State. 23 The Agency may qualify renewable energy credits from 24 facilities located in states adjacent to Illinois or 25 renewable energy credits associated with the electricity 26 generated by a utility-scale wind energy facility or HB2563 - 38 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 39 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 39 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 39 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 utility-scale photovoltaic facility and transmitted by a 2 qualifying direct current project described in subsection 3 (b-5) of Section 8-406 of the Public Utilities Act to a 4 delivery point on the electric transmission grid located 5 in this State or a state adjacent to Illinois, if the 6 generator demonstrates and the Agency determines that the 7 operation of such facility or facilities will help promote 8 the State's interest in the health, safety, and welfare of 9 its residents based on the public interest criteria 10 described above. For the purposes of this Section, 11 renewable resources that are delivered via a high voltage 12 direct current converter station located in Illinois shall 13 be deemed generated in Illinois at the time and location 14 the energy is converted to alternating current by the high 15 voltage direct current converter station if the high 16 voltage direct current transmission line: (i) after the 17 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General 18 Assembly, was constructed with a project labor agreement; 19 (ii) is capable of transmitting electricity at 525kv; 20 (iii) has an Illinois converter station located and 21 interconnected in the region of the PJM Interconnection, 22 LLC; (iv) does not operate as a public utility; and (v) if 23 the high voltage direct current transmission line was 24 energized after June 1, 2023. To ensure that the public 25 interest criteria are applied to the procurement and given 26 full effect, the Agency's long-term procurement plan shall HB2563 - 39 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 40 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 40 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 40 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 describe in detail how each public interest factor shall 2 be considered and weighted for facilities located in 3 states adjacent to Illinois. 4 (J) In order to promote the competitive development of 5 renewable energy resources in furtherance of the State's 6 interest in the health, safety, and welfare of its 7 residents, renewable energy credits shall not be eligible 8 to be counted toward the renewable energy requirements of 9 this subsection (c) if they are sourced from a generating 10 unit whose costs were being recovered through rates 11 regulated by this State or any other state or states on or 12 after January 1, 2017. Each contract executed to purchase 13 renewable energy credits under this subsection (c) shall 14 provide for the contract's termination if the costs of the 15 generating unit supplying the renewable energy credits 16 subsequently begin to be recovered through rates regulated 17 by this State or any other state or states; and each 18 contract shall further provide that, in that event, the 19 supplier of the credits must return 110% of all payments 20 received under the contract. Amounts returned under the 21 requirements of this subparagraph (J) shall be retained by 22 the utility and all of these amounts shall be used for the 23 procurement of additional renewable energy credits from 24 new wind or new photovoltaic resources as defined in this 25 subsection (c). The long-term plan shall provide that 26 these renewable energy credits shall be procured in the HB2563 - 40 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 41 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 41 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 41 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 next procurement event. 2 Notwithstanding the limitations of this subparagraph 3 (J), renewable energy credits sourced from generating 4 units that are constructed, purchased, owned, or leased by 5 an electric utility as part of an approved project, 6 program, or pilot under Section 1-56 of this Act shall be 7 eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy 8 requirements of this subsection (c), regardless of how the 9 costs of these units are recovered. As long as a 10 generating unit or an identifiable portion of a generating 11 unit has not had and does not have its costs recovered 12 through rates regulated by this State or any other state, 13 HVDC renewable energy credits associated with that 14 generating unit or identifiable portion thereof shall be 15 eligible to be counted toward the renewable energy 16 requirements of this subsection (c). 17 (K) The long-term renewable resources procurement plan 18 developed by the Agency in accordance with subparagraph 19 (A) of this paragraph (1) shall include an Adjustable 20 Block program for the procurement of renewable energy 21 credits from new photovoltaic projects that are 22 distributed renewable energy generation devices or new 23 photovoltaic community renewable generation projects. The 24 Adjustable Block program shall be generally designed to 25 provide for the steady, predictable, and sustainable 26 growth of new solar photovoltaic development in Illinois. HB2563 - 41 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 42 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 42 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 42 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 To this end, the Adjustable Block program shall provide a 2 transparent annual schedule of prices and quantities to 3 enable the photovoltaic market to scale up and for 4 renewable energy credit prices to adjust at a predictable 5 rate over time. The prices set by the Adjustable Block 6 program can be reflected as a set value or as the product 7 of a formula. 8 The Adjustable Block program shall include for each 9 category of eligible projects for each delivery year: a 10 single block of nameplate capacity, a price for renewable 11 energy credits within that block, and the terms and 12 conditions for securing a spot on a waitlist once the 13 block is fully committed or reserved. Except as outlined 14 below, the waitlist of projects in a given year will carry 15 over to apply to the subsequent year when another block is 16 opened. Only projects energized on or after June 1, 2017 17 shall be eligible for the Adjustable Block program. For 18 each category for each delivery year the Agency shall 19 determine the amount of generation capacity in each block, 20 and the purchase price for each block, provided that the 21 purchase price provided and the total amount of generation 22 in all blocks for all categories shall be sufficient to 23 meet the goals in this subsection (c). The Agency shall 24 strive to issue a single block sized to provide for 25 stability and market growth. The Agency shall establish 26 program eligibility requirements that ensure that projects HB2563 - 42 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 43 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 43 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 43 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 that enter the program are sufficiently mature to indicate 2 a demonstrable path to completion. The Agency may 3 periodically review its prior decisions establishing the 4 amount of generation capacity in each block, and the 5 purchase price for each block, and may propose, on an 6 expedited basis, changes to these previously set values, 7 including but not limited to redistributing these amounts 8 and the available funds as necessary and appropriate, 9 subject to Commission approval as part of the periodic 10 plan revision process described in Section 16-111.5 of the 11 Public Utilities Act. The Agency may define different 12 block sizes, purchase prices, or other distinct terms and 13 conditions for projects located in different utility 14 service territories if the Agency deems it necessary to 15 meet the goals in this subsection (c). 16 The Adjustable Block program shall include the 17 following categories in at least the following amounts: 18 (i) At least 20% from distributed renewable energy 19 generation devices with a nameplate capacity of no 20 more than 25 kilowatts. 21 (ii) At least 20% from distributed renewable 22 energy generation devices with a nameplate capacity of 23 more than 25 kilowatts and no more than 5,000 24 kilowatts. The Agency may create sub-categories within 25 this category to account for the differences between 26 projects for small commercial customers, large HB2563 - 43 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 44 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 44 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 44 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 commercial customers, and public or non-profit 2 customers. 3 (iii) At least 30% from photovoltaic community 4 renewable generation projects. Capacity for this 5 category for the first 2 delivery years after the 6 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd 7 General Assembly shall be allocated to waitlist 8 projects as provided in paragraph (3) of item (iv) of 9 subparagraph (G). Starting in the third delivery year 10 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 11 102nd General Assembly or earlier if the Agency 12 determines there is additional capacity needed for to 13 meet previous delivery year requirements, the 14 following shall apply: 15 (1) the Agency shall select projects on a 16 first-come, first-serve basis, however the Agency 17 may suggest additional methods to prioritize 18 projects that are submitted at the same time; 19 (2) projects shall have subscriptions of 25 kW 20 or less for at least 50% of the facility's 21 nameplate capacity and the Agency shall price the 22 renewable energy credits with that as a factor; 23 (3) projects shall not be colocated with one 24 or more other community renewable generation 25 projects, as defined in the Agency's first revised 26 long-term renewable resources procurement plan HB2563 - 44 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 45 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 45 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 45 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 approved by the Commission on February 18, 2020, 2 such that the aggregate nameplate capacity exceeds 3 5,000 kilowatts; and 4 (4) projects greater than 2 MW may not apply 5 until after the approval of the Agency's revised 6 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan 7 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 8 the 102nd General Assembly. 9 (iv) At least 15% from distributed renewable 10 generation devices or photovoltaic community renewable 11 generation projects installed at public schools. The 12 Agency may create subcategories within this category 13 to account for the differences between project size or 14 location. Projects located within environmental 15 justice communities or within Organizational Units 16 that fall within Tier 1 or Tier 2 shall be given 17 priority. Each of the Agency's periodic updates to its 18 long-term renewable resources procurement plan to 19 incorporate the procurement described in this 20 subparagraph (iv) shall also include the proposed 21 quantities or blocks, pricing, and contract terms 22 applicable to the procurement as indicated herein. In 23 each such update and procurement, the Agency shall set 24 the renewable energy credit price and establish 25 payment terms for the renewable energy credits 26 procured pursuant to this subparagraph (iv) that make HB2563 - 45 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 46 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 46 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 46 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 it feasible and affordable for public schools to 2 install photovoltaic distributed renewable energy 3 devices on their premises, including, but not limited 4 to, those public schools subject to the prioritization 5 provisions of this subparagraph. For the purposes of 6 this item (iv): 7 "Environmental Justice Community" shall have the 8 same meaning set forth in the Agency's long-term 9 renewable resources procurement plan; 10 "Organization Unit", "Tier 1" and "Tier 2" shall 11 have the meanings set for in Section 18-8.15 of the 12 School Code; 13 "Public schools" shall have the meaning set forth 14 in Section 1-3 of the School Code. 15 (v) At least 5% from community-driven community 16 solar projects intended to provide more direct and 17 tangible connection and benefits to the communities 18 which they serve or in which they operate and, 19 additionally, to increase the variety of community 20 solar locations, models, and options in Illinois. As 21 part of its long-term renewable resources procurement 22 plan, the Agency shall develop selection criteria for 23 projects participating in this category. Nothing in 24 this Section shall preclude the Agency from creating a 25 selection process that maximizes community ownership 26 and community benefits in selecting projects to HB2563 - 46 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 47 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 47 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 47 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 receive renewable energy credits. Selection criteria 2 shall include: 3 (1) community ownership or community 4 wealth-building; 5 (2) additional direct and indirect community 6 benefit, beyond project participation as a 7 subscriber, including, but not limited to, 8 economic, environmental, social, cultural, and 9 physical benefits; 10 (3) meaningful involvement in project 11 organization and development by community members 12 or nonprofit organizations or public entities 13 located in or serving the community; 14 (4) engagement in project operations and 15 management by nonprofit organizations, public 16 entities, or community members; and 17 (5) whether a project is developed in response 18 to a site-specific RFP developed by community 19 members or a nonprofit organization or public 20 entity located in or serving the community. 21 Selection criteria may also prioritize projects 22 that: 23 (1) are developed in collaboration with or to 24 provide complementary opportunities for the Clean 25 Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Illinois 26 Climate Works Preapprenticeship Program, the HB2563 - 47 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 48 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 48 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 48 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, 2 the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, or 3 the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator 4 Program; 5 (2) increase the diversity of locations of 6 community solar projects in Illinois, including by 7 locating in urban areas and population centers; 8 (3) are located in Equity Investment Eligible 9 Communities; 10 (4) are not greenfield projects; 11 (5) serve only local subscribers; 12 (6) have a nameplate capacity that does not 13 exceed 500 kW; 14 (7) are developed by an equity eligible 15 contractor; or 16 (8) otherwise meaningfully advance the goals 17 of providing more direct and tangible connection 18 and benefits to the communities which they serve 19 or in which they operate and increasing the 20 variety of community solar locations, models, and 21 options in Illinois. 22 For the purposes of this item (v): 23 "Community" means a social unit in which people 24 come together regularly to effect change; a social 25 unit in which participants are marked by a cooperative 26 spirit, a common purpose, or shared interests or HB2563 - 48 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 49 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 49 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 49 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 characteristics; or a space understood by its 2 residents to be delineated through geographic 3 boundaries or landmarks. 4 "Community benefit" means a range of services and 5 activities that provide affirmative, economic, 6 environmental, social, cultural, or physical value to 7 a community; or a mechanism that enables economic 8 development, high-quality employment, and education 9 opportunities for local workers and residents, or 10 formal monitoring and oversight structures such that 11 community members may ensure that those services and 12 activities respond to local knowledge and needs. 13 "Community ownership" means an arrangement in 14 which an electric generating facility is, or over time 15 will be, in significant part, owned collectively by 16 members of the community to which an electric 17 generating facility provides benefits; members of that 18 community participate in decisions regarding the 19 governance, operation, maintenance, and upgrades of 20 and to that facility; and members of that community 21 benefit from regular use of that facility. 22 Terms and guidance within these criteria that are 23 not defined in this item (v) shall be defined by the 24 Agency, with stakeholder input, during the development 25 of the Agency's long-term renewable resources 26 procurement plan. The Agency shall develop regular HB2563 - 49 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 50 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 50 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 50 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 opportunities for projects to submit applications for 2 projects under this category, and develop selection 3 criteria that gives preference to projects that better 4 meet individual criteria as well as projects that 5 address a higher number of criteria. 6 (vi) At least 10% from distributed renewable 7 energy generation devices, which includes distributed 8 renewable energy devices with a nameplate capacity 9 under 5,000 kilowatts or photovoltaic community 10 renewable generation projects, from applicants that 11 are equity eligible contractors. The Agency may create 12 subcategories within this category to account for the 13 differences between project size and type. The Agency 14 shall propose to increase the percentage in this item 15 (vi) over time to 40% based on factors, including, but 16 not limited to, the number of equity eligible 17 contractors and capacity used in this item (vi) in 18 previous delivery years. 19 The Agency shall propose a payment structure for 20 contracts executed pursuant to this paragraph under 21 which, upon a demonstration of qualification or need, 22 applicant firms are advanced capital disbursed after 23 contract execution but before the contracted project's 24 energization. The amount or percentage of capital 25 advanced prior to project energization shall be 26 sufficient to both cover any increase in development HB2563 - 50 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 51 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 51 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 51 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 costs resulting from prevailing wage requirements or 2 project-labor agreements, and designed to overcome 3 barriers in access to capital faced by equity eligible 4 contractors. The amount or percentage of advanced 5 capital may vary by subcategory within this category 6 and by an applicant's demonstration of need, with such 7 levels to be established through the Long-Term 8 Renewable Resources Procurement Plan authorized under 9 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of 10 this Section. 11 Contracts developed featuring capital advanced 12 prior to a project's energization shall feature 13 provisions to ensure both the successful development 14 of applicant projects and the delivery of the 15 renewable energy credits for the full term of the 16 contract, including ongoing collateral requirements 17 and other provisions deemed necessary by the Agency, 18 and may include energization timelines longer than for 19 comparable project types. The percentage or amount of 20 capital advanced prior to project energization shall 21 not operate to increase the overall contract value, 22 however contracts executed under this subparagraph may 23 feature renewable energy credit prices higher than 24 those offered to similar projects participating in 25 other categories. Capital advanced prior to 26 energization shall serve to reduce the ratable HB2563 - 51 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 52 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 52 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 52 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 payments made after energization under items (ii) and 2 (iii) of subparagraph (L) or payments made for each 3 renewable energy credit delivery under item (iv) of 4 subparagraph (L). 5 (vii) The remaining capacity shall be allocated by 6 the Agency in order to respond to market demand. The 7 Agency shall allocate any discretionary capacity prior 8 to the beginning of each delivery year. 9 To the extent there is uncontracted capacity from any 10 block in any of categories (i) through (vi) at the end of a 11 delivery year, the Agency shall redistribute that capacity 12 to one or more other categories giving priority to 13 categories with projects on a waitlist. The redistributed 14 capacity shall be added to the annual capacity in the 15 subsequent delivery year, and the price for renewable 16 energy credits shall be the price for the new delivery 17 year. Redistributed capacity shall not be considered 18 redistributed when determining whether the goals in this 19 subsection (K) have been met. 20 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, as the 21 Agency increases the capacity in item (vi) to 40% over 22 time, the Agency may reduce the capacity of items (i) 23 through (v) proportionate to the capacity of the 24 categories of projects in item (vi), to achieve a balance 25 of project types. 26 The Adjustable Block program shall be designed to HB2563 - 52 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 53 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 53 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 53 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 ensure that renewable energy credits are procured from 2 projects in diverse locations and are not concentrated in 3 a few regional areas. 4 (L) Notwithstanding provisions for advancing capital 5 prior to project energization found in item (vi) of 6 subparagraph (K), the procurement of photovoltaic 7 renewable energy credits under items (i) through (vi) of 8 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) shall otherwise be 9 subject to the following contract and payment terms: 10 (i) (Blank). 11 (ii) For those renewable energy credits that 12 qualify and are procured under item (i) of 13 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), and any 14 similar category projects that are procured under item 15 (vi) of subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) that 16 qualify and are procured under item (vi), the contract 17 length shall be 15 years. The renewable energy credit 18 delivery contract value shall be paid in full, based 19 on the estimated generation during the first 15 years 20 of operation, by the contracting utilities at the time 21 that the facility producing the renewable energy 22 credits is interconnected at the distribution system 23 level of the utility and verified as energized and 24 compliant by the Program Administrator. The electric 25 utility shall receive and retire all renewable energy 26 credits generated by the project for the first 15 HB2563 - 53 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 54 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 54 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 54 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 years of operation. Renewable energy credits generated 2 by the project thereafter shall not be transferred 3 under the renewable energy credit delivery contract 4 with the counterparty electric utility. 5 (iii) For those renewable energy credits that 6 qualify and are procured under item (ii) and (v) of 7 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) and any like 8 projects similar category that qualify and are 9 procured under item (vi), the contract length shall be 10 15 years. 15% of the renewable energy credit delivery 11 contract value, based on the estimated generation 12 during the first 15 years of operation, shall be paid 13 by the contracting utilities at the time that the 14 facility producing the renewable energy credits is 15 interconnected at the distribution system level of the 16 utility and verified as energized and compliant by the 17 Program Administrator. The remaining portion shall be 18 paid ratably over the subsequent 6-year period. The 19 electric utility shall receive and retire all 20 renewable energy credits generated by the project for 21 the first 15 years of operation. Renewable energy 22 credits generated by the project thereafter shall not 23 be transferred under the renewable energy credit 24 delivery contract with the counterparty electric 25 utility. 26 (iv) For those renewable energy credits that HB2563 - 54 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 55 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 55 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 55 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 qualify and are procured under items (iii) and (iv) of 2 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1), and any like 3 projects that qualify and are procured under item 4 (vi), the renewable energy credit delivery contract 5 length shall be 20 years and shall be paid over the 6 delivery term, not to exceed during each delivery year 7 the contract price multiplied by the estimated annual 8 renewable energy credit generation amount. If 9 generation of renewable energy credits during a 10 delivery year exceeds the estimated annual generation 11 amount, the excess renewable energy credits shall be 12 carried forward to future delivery years and shall not 13 expire during the delivery term. If generation of 14 renewable energy credits during a delivery year, 15 including carried forward excess renewable energy 16 credits, if any, is less than the estimated annual 17 generation amount, payments during such delivery year 18 will not exceed the quantity generated plus the 19 quantity carried forward multiplied by the contract 20 price. The electric utility shall receive all 21 renewable energy credits generated by the project 22 during the first 20 years of operation and retire all 23 renewable energy credits paid for under this item (iv) 24 and return at the end of the delivery term all 25 renewable energy credits that were not paid for. 26 Renewable energy credits generated by the project HB2563 - 55 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 56 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 56 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 56 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 thereafter shall not be transferred under the 2 renewable energy credit delivery contract with the 3 counterparty electric utility. Notwithstanding the 4 preceding, for those projects participating under item 5 (iii) of subparagraph (K), the contract price for a 6 delivery year shall be based on subscription levels as 7 measured on the higher of the first business day of the 8 delivery year or the first business day 6 months after 9 the first business day of the delivery year. 10 Subscription of 90% of nameplate capacity or greater 11 shall be deemed to be fully subscribed for the 12 purposes of this item (iv). For projects receiving a 13 20-year delivery contract, REC prices shall be 14 adjusted downward for consistency with the incentive 15 levels previously determined to be necessary to 16 support projects under 15-year delivery contracts, 17 taking into consideration any additional new 18 requirements placed on the projects, including, but 19 not limited to, labor standards. 20 (v) Each contract shall include provisions to 21 ensure the delivery of the estimated quantity of 22 renewable energy credits and ongoing collateral 23 requirements and other provisions deemed appropriate 24 by the Agency. 25 (vi) The utility shall be the counterparty to the 26 contracts executed under this subparagraph (L) that HB2563 - 56 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 57 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 57 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 57 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 are approved by the Commission under the process 2 described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 3 Act. No contract shall be executed for an amount that 4 is less than one renewable energy credit per year. 5 (vii) If, at any time, approved applications for 6 the Adjustable Block program exceed funds collected by 7 the electric utility or would cause the Agency to 8 exceed the limitation described in subparagraph (E) of 9 this paragraph (1) on the amount of renewable energy 10 resources that may be procured, then the Agency may 11 consider future uncommitted funds to be reserved for 12 these contracts on a first-come, first-served basis. 13 (viii) Nothing in this Section shall require the 14 utility to advance any payment or pay any amounts that 15 exceed the actual amount of revenues anticipated to be 16 collected by the utility under paragraph (6) of this 17 subsection (c) and subsection (k) of Section 16-108 of 18 the Public Utilities Act inclusive of eligible funds 19 collected in prior years and alternative compliance 20 payments for use by the utility, and contracts 21 executed under this Section shall expressly 22 incorporate this limitation. 23 (ix) Notwithstanding other requirements of this 24 subparagraph (L), no modification shall be required to 25 Adjustable Block program contracts if they were 26 already executed prior to the establishment, approval, HB2563 - 57 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 58 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 58 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 58 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 and implementation of new contract forms as a result 2 of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly. 3 (x) Contracts may be assignable, but only to 4 entities first deemed by the Agency to have met 5 program terms and requirements applicable to direct 6 program participation. In developing contracts for the 7 delivery of renewable energy credits, the Agency shall 8 be permitted to establish fees applicable to each 9 contract assignment. 10 (M) The Agency shall be authorized to retain one or 11 more experts or expert consulting firms to develop, 12 administer, implement, operate, and evaluate the 13 Adjustable Block program described in subparagraph (K) of 14 this paragraph (1), and the Agency shall retain the 15 consultant or consultants in the same manner, to the 16 extent practicable, as the Agency retains others to 17 administer provisions of this Act, including, but not 18 limited to, the procurement administrator. The selection 19 of experts and expert consulting firms and the procurement 20 process described in this subparagraph (M) are exempt from 21 the requirements of Section 20-10 of the Illinois 22 Procurement Code, under Section 20-10 of that Code. The 23 Agency shall strive to minimize administrative expenses in 24 the implementation of the Adjustable Block program. 25 The Program Administrator may charge application fees 26 to participating firms to cover the cost of program HB2563 - 58 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 59 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 59 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 59 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 administration. Any application fee amounts shall 2 initially be determined through the long-term renewable 3 resources procurement plan, and modifications to any 4 application fee that deviate more than 25% from the 5 Commission's approved value must be approved by the 6 Commission as a long-term plan revision under Section 7 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The Agency shall 8 consider stakeholder feedback when making adjustments to 9 application fees and shall notify stakeholders in advance 10 of any planned changes. 11 In addition to covering the costs of program 12 administration, the Agency, in conjunction with its 13 Program Administrator, may also use the proceeds of such 14 fees charged to participating firms to support public 15 education and ongoing regional and national coordination 16 with nonprofit organizations, public bodies, and others 17 engaged in the implementation of renewable energy 18 incentive programs or similar initiatives. This work may 19 include developing papers and reports, hosting regional 20 and national conferences, and other work deemed necessary 21 by the Agency to position the State of Illinois as a 22 national leader in renewable energy incentive program 23 development and administration. 24 The Agency and its consultant or consultants shall 25 monitor block activity, share program activity with 26 stakeholders and conduct quarterly meetings to discuss HB2563 - 59 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 60 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 60 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 60 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 program activity and market conditions. If necessary, the 2 Agency may make prospective administrative adjustments to 3 the Adjustable Block program design, such as making 4 adjustments to purchase prices as necessary to achieve the 5 goals of this subsection (c). Program modifications to any 6 block price that do not deviate from the Commission's 7 approved value by more than 10% shall take effect 8 immediately and are not subject to Commission review and 9 approval. Program modifications to any block price that 10 deviate more than 10% from the Commission's approved value 11 must be approved by the Commission as a long-term plan 12 amendment under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 13 Act. The Agency shall consider stakeholder feedback when 14 making adjustments to the Adjustable Block design and 15 shall notify stakeholders in advance of any planned 16 changes. 17 The Agency and its program administrators for both the 18 Adjustable Block program and the Illinois Solar for All 19 Program, consistent with the requirements of this 20 subsection (c) and subsection (b) of Section 1-56 of this 21 Act, shall propose the Adjustable Block program terms, 22 conditions, and requirements, including the prices to be 23 paid for renewable energy credits, where applicable, and 24 requirements applicable to participating entities and 25 project applications, through the development, review, and 26 approval of the Agency's long-term renewable resources HB2563 - 60 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 61 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 61 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 61 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procurement plan described in this subsection (c) and 2 paragraph (5) of subsection (b) of Section 16-111.5 of the 3 Public Utilities Act. Terms, conditions, and requirements 4 for program participation shall include the following: 5 (i) The Agency shall establish a registration 6 process for entities seeking to qualify for 7 program-administered incentive funding and establish 8 baseline qualifications for vendor approval. The 9 Agency must maintain a list of approved entities on 10 each program's website, and may revoke a vendor's 11 ability to receive program-administered incentive 12 funding status upon a determination that the vendor 13 failed to comply with contract terms, the law, or 14 other program requirements. 15 (ii) The Agency shall establish program 16 requirements and minimum contract terms to ensure 17 projects are properly installed and produce their 18 expected amounts of energy. Program requirements may 19 include on-site inspections and photo documentation of 20 projects under construction. The Agency may require 21 repairs, alterations, or additions to remedy any 22 material deficiencies discovered. Vendors who have a 23 disproportionately high number of deficient systems 24 may lose their eligibility to continue to receive 25 State-administered incentive funding through Agency 26 programs and procurements. HB2563 - 61 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 62 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 62 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 62 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (iii) To discourage deceptive marketing or other 2 bad faith business practices, the Agency may require 3 direct program participants, including agents 4 operating on their behalf, to provide standardized 5 disclosures to a customer prior to that customer's 6 execution of a contract for the development of a 7 distributed generation system or a subscription to a 8 community solar project. 9 (iv) The Agency shall establish one or multiple 10 Consumer Complaints Centers to accept complaints 11 regarding businesses that participate in, or otherwise 12 benefit from, State-administered incentive funding 13 through Agency-administered programs. The Agency shall 14 maintain a public database of complaints with any 15 confidential or particularly sensitive information 16 redacted from public entries. 17 (v) Through a filing in the proceeding for the 18 approval of its long-term renewable energy resources 19 procurement plan, the Agency shall provide an annual 20 written report to the Illinois Commerce Commission 21 documenting the frequency and nature of complaints and 22 any enforcement actions taken in response to those 23 complaints. 24 (vi) The Agency shall schedule regular meetings 25 with representatives of the Office of the Attorney 26 General, the Illinois Commerce Commission, consumer HB2563 - 62 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 63 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 63 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 63 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 protection groups, and other interested stakeholders 2 to share relevant information about consumer 3 protection, project compliance, and complaints 4 received. 5 (vii) To the extent that complaints received 6 implicate the jurisdiction of the Office of the 7 Attorney General, the Illinois Commerce Commission, or 8 local, State, or federal law enforcement, the Agency 9 shall also refer complaints to those entities as 10 appropriate. 11 (N) The Agency shall establish the terms, conditions, 12 and program requirements for photovoltaic community 13 renewable generation projects with a goal to expand access 14 to a broader group of energy consumers, to ensure robust 15 participation opportunities for residential and small 16 commercial customers and those who cannot install 17 renewable energy on their own properties. Subject to 18 reasonable limitations, any plan approved by the 19 Commission shall allow subscriptions to community 20 renewable generation projects to be portable and 21 transferable. For purposes of this subparagraph (N), 22 "portable" means that subscriptions may be retained by the 23 subscriber even if the subscriber relocates or changes its 24 address within the same utility service territory; and 25 "transferable" means that a subscriber may assign or sell 26 subscriptions to another person within the same utility HB2563 - 63 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 64 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 64 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 64 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 service territory. 2 Through the development of its long-term renewable 3 resources procurement plan, the Agency may consider 4 whether community renewable generation projects utilizing 5 technologies other than photovoltaics should be supported 6 through State-administered incentive funding, and may 7 issue requests for information to gauge market demand. 8 Electric utilities shall provide a monetary credit to 9 a subscriber's subsequent bill for service for the 10 proportional output of a community renewable generation 11 project attributable to that subscriber as specified in 12 Section 16-107.5 of the Public Utilities Act. 13 The Agency shall purchase renewable energy credits 14 from subscribed shares of photovoltaic community renewable 15 generation projects through the Adjustable Block program 16 described in subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1) or 17 through the Illinois Solar for All Program described in 18 Section 1-56 of this Act. The electric utility shall 19 purchase any unsubscribed energy from community renewable 20 generation projects that are Qualifying Facilities ("QF") 21 under the electric utility's tariff for purchasing the 22 output from QFs under Public Utilities Regulatory Policies 23 Act of 1978. 24 The owners of and any subscribers to a community 25 renewable generation project shall not be considered 26 public utilities or alternative retail electricity HB2563 - 64 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 65 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 65 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 65 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 suppliers under the Public Utilities Act solely as a 2 result of their interest in or subscription to a community 3 renewable generation project and shall not be required to 4 become an alternative retail electric supplier by 5 participating in a community renewable generation project 6 with a public utility. 7 (O) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 2018, the 8 long-term renewable resources procurement plan required by 9 this subsection (c) shall provide for the Agency to 10 procure contracts to continue offering the Illinois Solar 11 for All Program described in subsection (b) of Section 12 1-56 of this Act, and the contracts approved by the 13 Commission shall be executed by the utilities that are 14 subject to this subsection (c). The long-term renewable 15 resources procurement plan shall allocate up to 16 $50,000,000 per delivery year to fund the programs, and 17 the plan shall determine the amount of funding to be 18 apportioned to the programs identified in subsection (b) 19 of Section 1-56 of this Act; provided that for the 20 delivery years beginning June 1, 2021, June 1, 2022, and 21 June 1, 2023, the long-term renewable resources 22 procurement plan may average the annual budgets over a 23 3-year period to account for program ramp-up. For the 24 delivery years beginning June 1, 2021, June 1, 2024, June 25 1, 2027, and June 1, 2030 and additional $10,000,000 shall 26 be provided to the Department of Commerce and Economic HB2563 - 65 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 66 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 66 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 66 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Opportunity to implement the workforce development 2 programs and reporting as outlined in Section 16-108.12 of 3 the Public Utilities Act. In making the determinations 4 required under this subparagraph (O), the Commission shall 5 consider the experience and performance under the programs 6 and any evaluation reports. The Commission shall also 7 provide for an independent evaluation of those programs on 8 a periodic basis that are funded under this subparagraph 9 (O). 10 (P) All programs and procurements under this 11 subsection (c) shall be designed to encourage 12 participating projects to use a diverse and equitable 13 workforce and a diverse set of contractors, including 14 minority-owned businesses, disadvantaged businesses, 15 trade unions, graduates of any workforce training programs 16 administered under this Act, and small businesses. 17 The Agency shall develop a method to optimize 18 procurement of renewable energy credits from proposed 19 utility-scale projects that are located in communities 20 eligible to receive Energy Transition Community Grants 21 pursuant to Section 10-20 of the Energy Community 22 Reinvestment Act. If this requirement conflicts with other 23 provisions of law or the Agency determines that full 24 compliance with the requirements of this subparagraph (P) 25 would be unreasonably costly or administratively 26 impractical, the Agency is to propose alternative HB2563 - 66 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 67 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 67 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 67 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 approaches to achieve development of renewable energy 2 resources in communities eligible to receive Energy 3 Transition Community Grants pursuant to Section 10-20 of 4 the Energy Community Reinvestment Act or seek an exemption 5 from this requirement from the Commission. 6 Any contractor involved in programs and procurements 7 under this subsection (c) for the construction of 8 State-funded solar and utility-scale wind projects must 9 have 50% or more of the contractor's employees be 10 residents of the State. The contractor must also 11 participate in a registered apprenticeship program, as 12 defined in Section 2-3.175 of the School Code, approved by 13 the federal Department of Labor. 14 (Q) Each facility listed in subitems (i) through 15 (viii) of item (1) of this subparagraph (Q) for which a 16 renewable energy credit delivery contract is signed after 17 the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd 18 General Assembly is subject to the following requirements 19 through the Agency's long-term renewable resources 20 procurement plan: 21 (1) Each facility shall be subject to the 22 prevailing wage requirements included in the 23 Prevailing Wage Act. The Agency shall require 24 verification that all construction performed on the 25 facility by the renewable energy credit delivery 26 contract holder, its contractors, or its HB2563 - 67 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 68 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 68 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 68 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 subcontractors relating to construction of the 2 facility is performed by construction employees 3 receiving an amount for that work equal to or greater 4 than the general prevailing rate, as that term is 5 defined in Section 3 of the Prevailing Wage Act. For 6 purposes of this item (1), "house of worship" means 7 property that is both (1) used exclusively by a 8 religious society or body of persons as a place for 9 religious exercise or religious worship and (2) 10 recognized as exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 11 15-40 of the Property Tax Code. This item (1) shall 12 apply to any the following: 13 (i) all new utility-scale wind projects; 14 (ii) all new utility-scale photovoltaic 15 projects; 16 (iii) all new brownfield photovoltaic 17 projects; 18 (iv) all new photovoltaic community renewable 19 energy facilities that qualify for item (iii) of 20 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1); 21 (v) all new community driven community 22 photovoltaic projects that qualify for item (v) of 23 subparagraph (K) of this paragraph (1); 24 (vi) all new photovoltaic distributed 25 renewable energy generation devices on schools 26 that qualify for item (iv) of subparagraph (K) of HB2563 - 68 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 69 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 69 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 69 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 this paragraph (1); 2 (vii) all new photovoltaic distributed 3 renewable energy generation devices that (1) 4 qualify for item (i) of subparagraph (K) of this 5 paragraph (1); (2) are not projects that serve 6 single-family or multi-family residential 7 buildings; and (3) are not houses of worship where 8 the aggregate capacity including collocated 9 projects would not exceed 100 kilowatts; 10 (viii) all new photovoltaic distributed 11 renewable energy generation devices that (1) 12 qualify for item (ii) of subparagraph (K) of this 13 paragraph (1); (2) are not projects that serve 14 single-family or multi-family residential 15 buildings; and (3) are not houses of worship where 16 the aggregate capacity including collocated 17 projects would not exceed 100 kilowatts. 18 (2) Renewable energy credits procured from new 19 utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar 20 projects, and new brownfield solar projects pursuant 21 to Agency procurement events occurring after the 22 effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd 23 General Assembly must be from facilities built by 24 general contractors that must enter into a project 25 labor agreement, as defined by this Act, prior to 26 construction. The project labor agreement shall be HB2563 - 69 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 70 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 70 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 70 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 filed with the Director in accordance with procedures 2 established by the Agency through its long-term 3 renewable resources procurement plan. Any information 4 submitted to the Agency in this item (2) shall be 5 considered commercially sensitive information. At a 6 minimum, the project labor agreement must provide the 7 names, addresses, and occupations of the owner of the 8 plant and the individuals representing the labor 9 organization employees participating in the project 10 labor agreement consistent with the Project Labor 11 Agreements Act. The agreement must also specify the 12 terms and conditions as defined by this Act. 13 (3) It is the intent of this Section to ensure that 14 economic development occurs across Illinois 15 communities, that emerging businesses may grow, and 16 that there is improved access to the clean energy 17 economy by persons who have greater economic burdens 18 to success. The Agency shall take into consideration 19 the unique cost of compliance of this subparagraph (Q) 20 that might be borne by equity eligible contractors, 21 shall include such costs when determining the price of 22 renewable energy credits in the Adjustable Block 23 program, and shall take such costs into consideration 24 in a nondiscriminatory manner when comparing bids for 25 competitive procurements. The Agency shall consider 26 costs associated with compliance whether in the HB2563 - 70 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 71 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 71 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 71 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 development, financing, or construction of projects. 2 The Agency shall periodically review the assumptions 3 in these costs and may adjust prices, in compliance 4 with subparagraph (M) of this paragraph (1). 5 (R) In its long-term renewable resources procurement 6 plan, the Agency shall establish a self-direct renewable 7 portfolio standard compliance program for eligible 8 self-direct customers that purchase renewable energy 9 credits from utility-scale wind and solar projects through 10 long-term agreements for purchase of renewable energy 11 credits as described in this Section. Such long-term 12 agreements may include the purchase of energy or other 13 products on a physical or financial basis and may involve 14 an alternative retail electric supplier as defined in 15 Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act. This program 16 shall take effect in the delivery year commencing June 1, 17 2023. 18 (1) For the purposes of this subparagraph: 19 "Eligible self-direct customer" means any retail 20 customers of an electric utility that serves 3,000,000 21 or more retail customers in the State and whose total 22 highest 30-minute demand was more than 10,000 23 kilowatts, or any retail customers of an electric 24 utility that serves less than 3,000,000 retail 25 customers but more than 500,000 retail customers in 26 the State and whose total highest 15-minute demand was HB2563 - 71 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 72 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 72 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 72 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 more than 10,000 kilowatts. 2 "Retail customer" has the meaning set forth in 3 Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities Act and 4 multiple retail customer accounts under the same 5 corporate parent may aggregate their account demands 6 to meet the 10,000 kilowatt threshold. The criteria 7 for determining whether this subparagraph is 8 applicable to a retail customer shall be based on the 9 12 consecutive billing periods prior to the start of 10 the year in which the application is filed. 11 (2) For renewable energy credits to count toward 12 the self-direct renewable portfolio standard 13 compliance program, they must: 14 (i) qualify as renewable energy credits as 15 defined in Section 1-10 of this Act; 16 (ii) be sourced from one or more renewable 17 energy generating facilities that comply with the 18 geographic requirements as set forth in 19 subparagraph (I) of paragraph (1) of subsection 20 (c) as interpreted through the Agency's long-term 21 renewable resources procurement plan, or, where 22 applicable, the geographic requirements that 23 governed utility-scale renewable energy credits at 24 the time the eligible self-direct customer entered 25 into the applicable renewable energy credit 26 purchase agreement; HB2563 - 72 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 73 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 73 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 73 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (iii) be procured through long-term contracts 2 with term lengths of at least 10 years either 3 directly with the renewable energy generating 4 facility or through a bundled power purchase 5 agreement, a virtual power purchase agreement, an 6 agreement between the renewable generating 7 facility, an alternative retail electric supplier, 8 and the customer, or such other structure as is 9 permissible under this subparagraph (R); 10 (iv) be equivalent in volume to at least 40% 11 of the eligible self-direct customer's usage, 12 determined annually by the eligible self-direct 13 customer's usage during the previous delivery 14 year, measured to the nearest megawatt-hour; 15 (v) be retired by or on behalf of the large 16 energy customer; 17 (vi) be sourced from new utility-scale wind 18 projects or new utility-scale solar projects; and 19 (vii) if the contracts for renewable energy 20 credits are entered into after the effective date 21 of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General 22 Assembly, the new utility-scale wind projects or 23 new utility-scale solar projects must comply with 24 the requirements established in subparagraphs (P) 25 and (Q) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) 26 and subsection (c-10). HB2563 - 73 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 74 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 74 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 74 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (3) The self-direct renewable portfolio standard 2 compliance program shall be designed to allow eligible 3 self-direct customers to procure new renewable energy 4 credits from new utility-scale wind projects or new 5 utility-scale photovoltaic projects. The Agency shall 6 annually determine the amount of utility-scale 7 renewable energy credits it will include each year 8 from the self-direct renewable portfolio standard 9 compliance program, subject to receiving qualifying 10 applications. In making this determination, the Agency 11 shall evaluate publicly available analyses and studies 12 of the potential market size for utility-scale 13 renewable energy long-term purchase agreements by 14 commercial and industrial energy customers and make 15 that report publicly available. If demand for 16 participation in the self-direct renewable portfolio 17 standard compliance program exceeds availability, the 18 Agency shall ensure participation is evenly split 19 between commercial and industrial users to the extent 20 there is sufficient demand from both customer classes. 21 Each renewable energy credit procured pursuant to this 22 subparagraph (R) by a self-direct customer shall 23 reduce the total volume of renewable energy credits 24 the Agency is otherwise required to procure from new 25 utility-scale projects pursuant to subparagraph (C) of 26 paragraph (1) of this subsection (c) on behalf of HB2563 - 74 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 75 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 75 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 75 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 contracting utilities where the eligible self-direct 2 customer is located. The self-direct customer shall 3 file an annual compliance report with the Agency 4 pursuant to terms established by the Agency through 5 its long-term renewable resources procurement plan to 6 be eligible for participation in this program. 7 Customers must provide the Agency with their most 8 recent electricity billing statements or other 9 information deemed necessary by the Agency to 10 demonstrate they are an eligible self-direct customer. 11 (4) The Commission shall approve a reduction in 12 the volumetric charges collected pursuant to Section 13 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act for approved 14 eligible self-direct customers equivalent to the 15 anticipated cost of renewable energy credit deliveries 16 under contracts for new utility-scale wind and new 17 utility-scale solar entered for each delivery year 18 after the large energy customer begins retiring 19 eligible new utility scale renewable energy credits 20 for self-compliance. The self-direct credit amount 21 shall be determined annually and is equal to the 22 estimated portion of the cost authorized by 23 subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of this subsection 24 (c) that supported the annual procurement of 25 utility-scale renewable energy credits in the prior 26 delivery year using a methodology described in the HB2563 - 75 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 76 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 76 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 76 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 long-term renewable resources procurement plan, 2 expressed on a per kilowatthour basis, and does not 3 include (i) costs associated with any contracts 4 entered into before the delivery year in which the 5 customer files the initial compliance report to be 6 eligible for participation in the self-direct program, 7 and (ii) costs associated with procuring renewable 8 energy credits through existing and future contracts 9 through the Adjustable Block Program, subsection (c-5) 10 of this Section 1-75, and the Solar for All Program. 11 The Agency shall assist the Commission in determining 12 the current and future costs. The Agency must 13 determine the self-direct credit amount for new and 14 existing eligible self-direct customers and submit 15 this to the Commission in an annual compliance filing. 16 The Commission must approve the self-direct credit 17 amount by June 1, 2023 and June 1 of each delivery year 18 thereafter. 19 (5) Customers described in this subparagraph (R) 20 shall apply, on a form developed by the Agency, to the 21 Agency to be designated as a self-direct eligible 22 customer. Once the Agency determines that a 23 self-direct customer is eligible for participation in 24 the program, the self-direct customer will remain 25 eligible until the end of the term of the contract. 26 Thereafter, application may be made not less than 12 HB2563 - 76 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 77 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 77 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 77 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 months before the filing date of the long-term 2 renewable resources procurement plan described in this 3 Act. At a minimum, such application shall contain the 4 following: 5 (i) the customer's certification that, at the 6 time of the customer's application, the customer 7 qualifies to be a self-direct eligible customer, 8 including documents demonstrating that 9 qualification; 10 (ii) the customer's certification that the 11 customer has entered into or will enter into by 12 the beginning of the applicable procurement year, 13 one or more bilateral contracts for new wind 14 projects or new photovoltaic projects, including 15 supporting documentation; 16 (iii) certification that the contract or 17 contracts for new renewable energy resources are 18 long-term contracts with term lengths of at least 19 10 years, including supporting documentation; 20 (iv) certification of the quantities of 21 renewable energy credits that the customer will 22 purchase each year under such contract or 23 contracts, including supporting documentation; 24 (v) proof that the contract is sufficient to 25 produce renewable energy credits to be equivalent 26 in volume to at least 40% of the large energy HB2563 - 77 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 78 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 78 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 78 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 customer's usage from the previous delivery year, 2 measured to the nearest megawatt-hour; and 3 (vi) certification that the customer intends 4 to maintain the contract for the duration of the 5 length of the contract. 6 (6) If a customer receives the self-direct credit 7 but fails to properly procure and retire renewable 8 energy credits as required under this subparagraph 9 (R), the Commission, on petition from the Agency and 10 after notice and hearing, may direct such customer's 11 utility to recover the cost of the wrongfully received 12 self-direct credits plus interest through an adder to 13 charges assessed pursuant to Section 16-108 of the 14 Public Utilities Act. Self-direct customers who 15 knowingly fail to properly procure and retire 16 renewable energy credits and do not notify the Agency 17 are ineligible for continued participation in the 18 self-direct renewable portfolio standard compliance 19 program. 20 (2) (Blank). 21 (3) (Blank). 22 (4) The electric utility shall retire all renewable 23 energy credits used to comply with the standard. 24 (5) Beginning with the 2010 delivery year and ending 25 June 1, 2017, an electric utility subject to this 26 subsection (c) shall apply the lesser of the maximum HB2563 - 78 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 79 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 79 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 79 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 alternative compliance payment rate or the most recent 2 estimated alternative compliance payment rate for its 3 service territory for the corresponding compliance period, 4 established pursuant to subsection (d) of Section 16-115D 5 of the Public Utilities Act to its retail customers that 6 take service pursuant to the electric utility's hourly 7 pricing tariff or tariffs. The electric utility shall 8 retain all amounts collected as a result of the 9 application of the alternative compliance payment rate or 10 rates to such customers, and, beginning in 2011, the 11 utility shall include in the information provided under 12 item (1) of subsection (d) of Section 16-111.5 of the 13 Public Utilities Act the amounts collected under the 14 alternative compliance payment rate or rates for the prior 15 year ending May 31. Notwithstanding any limitation on the 16 procurement of renewable energy resources imposed by item 17 (2) of this subsection (c), the Agency shall increase its 18 spending on the purchase of renewable energy resources to 19 be procured by the electric utility for the next plan year 20 by an amount equal to the amounts collected by the utility 21 under the alternative compliance payment rate or rates in 22 the prior year ending May 31. 23 (6) The electric utility shall be entitled to recover 24 all of its costs associated with the procurement of 25 renewable energy credits under plans approved under this 26 Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. HB2563 - 79 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 80 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 80 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 80 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 These costs shall include associated reasonable expenses 2 for implementing the procurement programs, including, but 3 not limited to, the costs of administering and evaluating 4 the Adjustable Block program, through an automatic 5 adjustment clause tariff in accordance with subsection (k) 6 of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act. 7 (7) Renewable energy credits procured from new 8 photovoltaic projects or new distributed renewable energy 9 generation devices under this Section after June 1, 2017 10 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906) must be procured 11 from devices installed by a qualified person in compliance 12 with the requirements of Section 16-128A of the Public 13 Utilities Act and any rules or regulations adopted 14 thereunder. 15 In meeting the renewable energy requirements of this 16 subsection (c), to the extent feasible and consistent with 17 State and federal law, the renewable energy credit 18 procurements, Adjustable Block solar program, and 19 community renewable generation program shall provide 20 employment opportunities for all segments of the 21 population and workforce, including minority-owned and 22 female-owned business enterprises, and shall not, 23 consistent with State and federal law, discriminate based 24 on race or socioeconomic status. 25 (c-5) Procurement of renewable energy credits from new 26 renewable energy facilities installed at or adjacent to the HB2563 - 80 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 81 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 81 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 81 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 sites of electric generating facilities that burn or burned 2 coal as their primary fuel source. 3 (1) In addition to the procurement of renewable energy 4 credits pursuant to long-term renewable resources 5 procurement plans in accordance with subsection (c) of 6 this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 7 Act, the Agency shall conduct procurement events in 8 accordance with this subsection (c-5) for the procurement 9 by electric utilities that served more than 300,000 retail 10 customers in this State as of January 1, 2019 of renewable 11 energy credits from new renewable energy facilities to be 12 installed at or adjacent to the sites of electric 13 generating facilities that, as of January 1, 2016, burned 14 coal as their primary fuel source and meet the other 15 criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). For purposes 16 of this subsection (c-5), "new renewable energy facility" 17 means a new utility-scale solar project as defined in this 18 Section 1-75. The renewable energy credits procured 19 pursuant to this subsection (c-5) may be included or 20 counted for purposes of compliance with the amounts of 21 renewable energy credits required to be procured pursuant 22 to subsection (c) of this Section to the extent that there 23 are otherwise shortfalls in compliance with such 24 requirements. The procurement of renewable energy credits 25 by electric utilities pursuant to this subsection (c-5) 26 shall be funded solely by revenues collected from the Coal HB2563 - 81 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 82 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 82 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 82 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge provided for 2 in this subsection (c-5) and subsection (i-5) of Section 3 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, shall not be funded by 4 revenues collected through any of the other funding 5 mechanisms provided for in subsection (c) of this Section, 6 and shall not be subject to the limitation imposed by 7 subsection (c) on charges to retail customers for costs to 8 procure renewable energy resources pursuant to subsection 9 (c), and shall not be subject to any other requirements or 10 limitations of subsection (c). 11 (2) The Agency shall conduct 2 procurement events to 12 select owners of electric generating facilities meeting 13 the eligibility criteria specified in this subsection 14 (c-5) to enter into long-term contracts to sell renewable 15 energy credits to electric utilities serving more than 16 300,000 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 17 2019. The first procurement event shall be conducted no 18 later than March 31, 2022, unless the Agency elects to 19 delay it, until no later than May 1, 2022, due to its 20 overall volume of work, and shall be to select owners of 21 electric generating facilities located in this State and 22 south of federal Interstate Highway 80 that meet the 23 eligibility criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). 24 The second procurement event shall be conducted no sooner 25 than September 30, 2022 and no later than October 31, 2022 26 and shall be to select owners of electric generating HB2563 - 82 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 83 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 83 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 83 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 facilities located anywhere in this State that meet the 2 eligibility criteria specified in this subsection (c-5). 3 The Agency shall establish and announce a time period, 4 which shall begin no later than 30 days prior to the 5 scheduled date for the procurement event, during which 6 applicants may submit applications to be selected as 7 suppliers of renewable energy credits pursuant to this 8 subsection (c-5). The eligibility criteria for selection 9 as a supplier of renewable energy credits pursuant to this 10 subsection (c-5) shall be as follows: 11 (A) The applicant owns an electric generating 12 facility located in this State that: (i) as of January 13 1, 2016, burned coal as its primary fuel to generate 14 electricity; and (ii) has, or had prior to retirement, 15 an electric generating capacity of at least 150 16 megawatts. The electric generating facility can be 17 either: (i) retired as of the date of the procurement 18 event; or (ii) still operating as of the date of the 19 procurement event. 20 (B) The applicant is not (i) an electric 21 cooperative as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public 22 Utilities Act, or (ii) an entity described in 23 subsection (b)(1) of Section 3-105 of the Public 24 Utilities Act, or an association or consortium of or 25 an entity owned by entities described in (i) or (ii); 26 and the coal-fueled electric generating facility was HB2563 - 83 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 84 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 84 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 84 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 at one time owned, in whole or in part, by a public 2 utility as defined in Section 3-105 of the Public 3 Utilities Act. 4 (C) If participating in the first procurement 5 event, the applicant proposes and commits to construct 6 and operate, at the site, and if necessary for 7 sufficient space on property adjacent to the existing 8 property, at which the electric generating facility 9 identified in paragraph (A) is located: (i) a new 10 renewable energy facility of at least 20 megawatts but 11 no more than 100 megawatts of electric generating 12 capacity, and (ii) an energy storage facility having a 13 storage capacity equal to at least 2 megawatts and at 14 most 10 megawatts. If participating in the second 15 procurement event, the applicant proposes and commits 16 to construct and operate, at the site, and if 17 necessary for sufficient space on property adjacent to 18 the existing property, at which the electric 19 generating facility identified in paragraph (A) is 20 located: (i) a new renewable energy facility of at 21 least 5 megawatts but no more than 20 megawatts of 22 electric generating capacity, and (ii) an energy 23 storage facility having a storage capacity equal to at 24 least 0.5 megawatts and at most one megawatt. 25 (D) The applicant agrees that the new renewable 26 energy facility and the energy storage facility will HB2563 - 84 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 85 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 85 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 85 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 be constructed or installed by a qualified entity or 2 entities in compliance with the requirements of 3 subsection (g) of Section 16-128A of the Public 4 Utilities Act and any rules adopted thereunder. 5 (E) The applicant agrees that personnel operating 6 the new renewable energy facility and the energy 7 storage facility will have the requisite skills, 8 knowledge, training, experience, and competence, which 9 may be demonstrated by completion or current 10 participation and ultimate completion by employees of 11 an accredited or otherwise recognized apprenticeship 12 program for the employee's particular craft, trade, or 13 skill, including through training and education 14 courses and opportunities offered by the owner to 15 employees of the coal-fueled electric generating 16 facility or by previous employment experience 17 performing the employee's particular work skill or 18 function. 19 (F) The applicant commits that not less than the 20 prevailing wage, as determined pursuant to the 21 Prevailing Wage Act, will be paid to the applicant's 22 employees engaged in construction activities 23 associated with the new renewable energy facility and 24 the new energy storage facility and to the employees 25 of applicant's contractors engaged in construction 26 activities associated with the new renewable energy HB2563 - 85 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 86 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 86 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 86 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 facility and the new energy storage facility, and 2 that, on or before the commercial operation date of 3 the new renewable energy facility, the applicant shall 4 file a report with the Agency certifying that the 5 requirements of this subparagraph (F) have been met. 6 (G) The applicant commits that if selected, it 7 will negotiate a project labor agreement for the 8 construction of the new renewable energy facility and 9 associated energy storage facility that includes 10 provisions requiring the parties to the agreement to 11 work together to establish diversity threshold 12 requirements and to ensure best efforts to meet 13 diversity targets, improve diversity at the applicable 14 job site, create diverse apprenticeship opportunities, 15 and create opportunities to employ former coal-fired 16 power plant workers. 17 (H) The applicant commits to enter into a contract 18 or contracts for the applicable duration to provide 19 specified numbers of renewable energy credits each 20 year from the new renewable energy facility to 21 electric utilities that served more than 300,000 22 retail customers in this State as of January 1, 2019, 23 at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit. The 24 price per renewable energy credit shall be fixed at 25 $30 for the applicable duration and the renewable 26 energy credits shall not be indexed renewable energy HB2563 - 86 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 87 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 87 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 87 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 credits as provided for in item (v) of subparagraph 2 (G) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Section 1-75 3 of this Act. The applicable duration of each contract 4 shall be 20 years, unless the applicant is physically 5 interconnected to the PJM Interconnection, LLC 6 transmission grid and had a generating capacity of at 7 least 1,200 megawatts as of January 1, 2021, in which 8 case the applicable duration of the contract shall be 9 15 years. 10 (I) The applicant's application is certified by an 11 officer of the applicant and by an officer of the 12 applicant's ultimate parent company, if any. 13 (3) An applicant may submit applications to contract 14 to supply renewable energy credits from more than one new 15 renewable energy facility to be constructed at or adjacent 16 to one or more qualifying electric generating facilities 17 owned by the applicant. The Agency may select new 18 renewable energy facilities to be located at or adjacent 19 to the sites of more than one qualifying electric 20 generation facility owned by an applicant to contract with 21 electric utilities to supply renewable energy credits from 22 such facilities. 23 (4) The Agency shall assess fees to each applicant to 24 recover the Agency's costs incurred in receiving and 25 evaluating applications, conducting the procurement event, 26 developing contracts for sale, delivery and purchase of HB2563 - 87 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 88 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 88 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 88 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 renewable energy credits, and monitoring the 2 administration of such contracts, as provided for in this 3 subsection (c-5), including fees paid to a procurement 4 administrator retained by the Agency for one or more of 5 these purposes. 6 (5) The Agency shall select the applicants and the new 7 renewable energy facilities to contract with electric 8 utilities to supply renewable energy credits in accordance 9 with this subsection (c-5). In the first procurement 10 event, the Agency shall select applicants and new 11 renewable energy facilities to supply renewable energy 12 credits, at a price of $30 per renewable energy credit, 13 aggregating to no less than 400,000 renewable energy 14 credits per year for the applicable duration, assuming 15 sufficient qualifying applications to supply, in the 16 aggregate, at least that amount of renewable energy 17 credits per year; and not more than 580,000 renewable 18 energy credits per year for the applicable duration. In 19 the second procurement event, the Agency shall select 20 applicants and new renewable energy facilities to supply 21 renewable energy credits, at a price of $30 per renewable 22 energy credit, aggregating to no more than 625,000 23 renewable energy credits per year less the amount of 24 renewable energy credits each year contracted for as a 25 result of the first procurement event, for the applicable 26 durations. The number of renewable energy credits to be HB2563 - 88 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 89 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 89 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 89 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procured as specified in this paragraph (5) shall not be 2 reduced based on renewable energy credits procured in the 3 self-direct renewable energy credit compliance program 4 established pursuant to subparagraph (R) of paragraph (1) 5 of subsection (c) of Section 1-75. 6 (6) The obligation to purchase renewable energy 7 credits from the applicants and their new renewable energy 8 facilities selected by the Agency shall be allocated to 9 the electric utilities based on their respective 10 percentages of kilowatthours delivered to delivery 11 services customers to the aggregate kilowatthour 12 deliveries by the electric utilities to delivery services 13 customers for the year ended December 31, 2021. In order 14 to achieve these allocation percentages between or among 15 the electric utilities, the Agency shall require each 16 applicant that is selected in the procurement event to 17 enter into a contract with each electric utility for the 18 sale and purchase of renewable energy credits from each 19 new renewable energy facility to be constructed and 20 operated by the applicant, with the sale and purchase 21 obligations under the contracts to aggregate to the total 22 number of renewable energy credits per year to be supplied 23 by the applicant from the new renewable energy facility. 24 (7) The Agency shall submit its proposed selection of 25 applicants, new renewable energy facilities to be 26 constructed, and renewable energy credit amounts for each HB2563 - 89 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 90 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 90 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 90 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procurement event to the Commission for approval. The 2 Commission shall, within 2 business days after receipt of 3 the Agency's proposed selections, approve the proposed 4 selections if it determines that the applicants and the 5 new renewable energy facilities to be constructed meet the 6 selection criteria set forth in this subsection (c-5) and 7 that the Agency seeks approval for contracts of applicable 8 durations aggregating to no more than the maximum amount 9 of renewable energy credits per year authorized by this 10 subsection (c-5) for the procurement event, at a price of 11 $30 per renewable energy credit. 12 (8) The Agency, in conjunction with its procurement 13 administrator if one is retained, the electric utilities, 14 and potential applicants for contracts to produce and 15 supply renewable energy credits pursuant to this 16 subsection (c-5), shall develop a standard form contract 17 for the sale, delivery and purchase of renewable energy 18 credits pursuant to this subsection (c-5). Each contract 19 resulting from the first procurement event shall allow for 20 a commercial operation date for the new renewable energy 21 facility of either June 1, 2023 or June 1, 2024, with such 22 dates subject to adjustment as provided in this paragraph. 23 Each contract resulting from the second procurement event 24 shall provide for a commercial operation date on June 1 25 next occurring up to 48 months after execution of the 26 contract. Each contract shall provide that the owner shall HB2563 - 90 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 91 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 91 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 91 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 receive payments for renewable energy credits for the 2 applicable durations beginning with the commercial 3 operation date of the new renewable energy facility. The 4 form contract shall provide for adjustments to the 5 commercial operation and payment start dates as needed due 6 to any delays in completing the procurement and 7 contracting processes, in finalizing interconnection 8 agreements and installing interconnection facilities, and 9 in obtaining other necessary governmental permits and 10 approvals. The form contract shall be, to the maximum 11 extent possible, consistent with standard electric 12 industry contracts for sale, delivery, and purchase of 13 renewable energy credits while taking into account the 14 specific requirements of this subsection (c-5). The form 15 contract shall provide for over-delivery and 16 under-delivery of renewable energy credits within 17 reasonable ranges during each 12-month period and penalty, 18 default, and enforcement provisions for failure of the 19 selling party to deliver renewable energy credits as 20 specified in the contract and to comply with the 21 requirements of this subsection (c-5). The standard form 22 contract shall specify that all renewable energy credits 23 delivered to the electric utility pursuant to the contract 24 shall be retired. The Agency shall make the proposed 25 contracts available for a reasonable period for comment by 26 potential applicants, and shall publish the final form HB2563 - 91 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 92 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 92 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 92 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 contract at least 30 days before the date of the first 2 procurement event. 3 (9) Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative 4 Charge. 5 (A) By no later than July 1, 2022, each electric 6 utility that served more than 300,000 retail customers 7 in this State as of January 1, 2019 shall file a tariff 8 with the Commission for the billing and collection of 9 a Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge 10 in accordance with subsection (i-5) of Section 16-108 11 of the Public Utilities Act, with such tariff to be 12 effective, following review and approval or 13 modification by the Commission, beginning January 1, 14 2023. The tariff shall provide for the calculation and 15 setting of the electric utility's Coal to Solar and 16 Energy Storage Initiative Charge to collect revenues 17 estimated to be sufficient, in the aggregate, (i) to 18 enable the electric utility to pay for the renewable 19 energy credits it has contracted to purchase in the 20 delivery year beginning June 1, 2023 and each delivery 21 year thereafter from new renewable energy facilities 22 located at the sites of qualifying electric generating 23 facilities, and (ii) to fund the grant payments to be 24 made in each delivery year by the Department of 25 Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or any successor 26 department or agency, which shall be referred to in HB2563 - 92 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 93 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 93 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 93 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 this subsection (c-5) as the Department, pursuant to 2 paragraph (10) of this subsection (c-5). The electric 3 utility's tariff shall provide for the billing and 4 collection of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage 5 Initiative Charge on each kilowatthour of electricity 6 delivered to its delivery services customers within 7 its service territory and shall provide for an annual 8 reconciliation of revenues collected with actual 9 costs, in accordance with subsection (i-5) of Section 10 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act. 11 (B) Each electric utility shall remit on a monthly 12 basis to the State Treasurer, for deposit in the Coal 13 to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund provided 14 for in this subsection (c-5), the electric utility's 15 collections of the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage 16 Initiative Charge in the amount estimated to be needed 17 by the Department for grant payments pursuant to grant 18 contracts entered into by the Department pursuant to 19 paragraph (10) of this subsection (c-5). 20 (10) Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Fund. 21 (A) The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage 22 Initiative Fund is established as a special fund in 23 the State treasury. The Coal to Solar and Energy 24 Storage Initiative Fund is authorized to receive, by 25 statutory deposit, that portion specified in item (B) 26 of paragraph (9) of this subsection (c-5) of moneys HB2563 - 93 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 94 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 94 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 94 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 collected by electric utilities through imposition of 2 the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Initiative Charge 3 required by this subsection (c-5). The Coal to Solar 4 and Energy Storage Initiative Fund shall be 5 administered by the Department to provide grants to 6 support the installation and operation of energy 7 storage facilities at the sites of qualifying electric 8 generating facilities meeting the criteria specified 9 in this paragraph (10). 10 (B) The Coal to Solar and Energy Storage 11 Initiative Fund shall not be subject to sweeps, 12 administrative charges, or chargebacks, including, but 13 not limited to, those authorized under Section 8h of 14 the State Finance Act, that would in any way result in 15 the transfer of those funds from the Coal to Solar and 16 Energy Storage Initiative Fund to any other fund of 17 this State or in having any such funds utilized for any 18 purpose other than the express purposes set forth in 19 this paragraph (10). 20 (C) The Department shall utilize up to 21 $280,500,000 in the Coal to Solar and Energy Storage 22 Initiative Fund for grants, assuming sufficient 23 qualifying applicants, to support installation of 24 energy storage facilities at the sites of up to 3 25 qualifying electric generating facilities located in 26 the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., HB2563 - 94 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 95 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 95 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 95 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 region in Illinois and the sites of up to 2 qualifying 2 electric generating facilities located in the PJM 3 Interconnection, LLC region in Illinois that meet the 4 criteria set forth in this subparagraph (C). The 5 criteria for receipt of a grant pursuant to this 6 subparagraph (C) are as follows: 7 (1) the electric generating facility at the 8 site has, or had prior to retirement, an electric 9 generating capacity of at least 150 megawatts; 10 (2) the electric generating facility burns (or 11 burned prior to retirement) coal as its primary 12 source of fuel; 13 (3) if the electric generating facility is 14 retired, it was retired subsequent to January 1, 15 2016; 16 (4) the owner of the electric generating 17 facility has not been selected by the Agency 18 pursuant to this subsection (c-5) of this Section 19 to enter into a contract to sell renewable energy 20 credits to one or more electric utilities from a 21 new renewable energy facility located or to be 22 located at or adjacent to the site at which the 23 electric generating facility is located; 24 (5) the electric generating facility located 25 at the site was at one time owned, in whole or in 26 part, by a public utility as defined in Section HB2563 - 95 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 96 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 96 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 96 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act; 2 (6) the electric generating facility at the 3 site is not owned by (i) an electric cooperative 4 as defined in Section 3-119 of the Public 5 Utilities Act, or (ii) an entity described in 6 subsection (b)(1) of Section 3-105 of the Public 7 Utilities Act, or an association or consortium of 8 or an entity owned by entities described in items 9 (i) or (ii); 10 (7) the proposed energy storage facility at 11 the site will have energy storage capacity of at 12 least 37 megawatts; 13 (8) the owner commits to place the energy 14 storage facility into commercial operation on 15 either June 1, 2023, June 1, 2024, or June 1, 2025, 16 with such date subject to adjustment as needed due 17 to any delays in completing the grant contracting 18 process, in finalizing interconnection agreements 19 and in installing interconnection facilities, and 20 in obtaining necessary governmental permits and 21 approvals; 22 (9) the owner agrees that the new energy 23 storage facility will be constructed or installed 24 by a qualified entity or entities consistent with 25 the requirements of subsection (g) of Section 26 16-128A of the Public Utilities Act and any rules HB2563 - 96 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 97 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 97 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 97 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 adopted under that Section; 2 (10) the owner agrees that personnel operating 3 the energy storage facility will have the 4 requisite skills, knowledge, training, experience, 5 and competence, which may be demonstrated by 6 completion or current participation and ultimate 7 completion by employees of an accredited or 8 otherwise recognized apprenticeship program for 9 the employee's particular craft, trade, or skill, 10 including through training and education courses 11 and opportunities offered by the owner to 12 employees of the coal-fueled electric generating 13 facility or by previous employment experience 14 performing the employee's particular work skill or 15 function; 16 (11) the owner commits that not less than the 17 prevailing wage, as determined pursuant to the 18 Prevailing Wage Act, will be paid to the owner's 19 employees engaged in construction activities 20 associated with the new energy storage facility 21 and to the employees of the owner's contractors 22 engaged in construction activities associated with 23 the new energy storage facility, and that, on or 24 before the commercial operation date of the new 25 energy storage facility, the owner shall file a 26 report with the Department certifying that the HB2563 - 97 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 98 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 98 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 98 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 requirements of this subparagraph (11) have been 2 met; and 3 (12) the owner commits that if selected to 4 receive a grant, it will negotiate a project labor 5 agreement for the construction of the new energy 6 storage facility that includes provisions 7 requiring the parties to the agreement to work 8 together to establish diversity threshold 9 requirements and to ensure best efforts to meet 10 diversity targets, improve diversity at the 11 applicable job site, create diverse apprenticeship 12 opportunities, and create opportunities to employ 13 former coal-fired power plant workers. 14 The Department shall accept applications for this 15 grant program until March 31, 2022 and shall announce 16 the award of grants no later than June 1, 2022. The 17 Department shall make the grant payments to a 18 recipient in equal annual amounts for 10 years 19 following the date the energy storage facility is 20 placed into commercial operation. The annual grant 21 payments to a qualifying energy storage facility shall 22 be $110,000 per megawatt of energy storage capacity, 23 with total annual grant payments pursuant to this 24 subparagraph (C) for qualifying energy storage 25 facilities not to exceed $28,050,000 in any year. 26 (D) Grants of funding for energy storage HB2563 - 98 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 99 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 99 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 99 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 facilities pursuant to subparagraph (C) of this 2 paragraph (10), from the Coal to Solar and Energy 3 Storage Initiative Fund, shall be memorialized in 4 grant contracts between the Department and the 5 recipient. The grant contracts shall specify the date 6 or dates in each year on which the annual grant 7 payments shall be paid. 8 (E) All disbursements from the Coal to Solar and 9 Energy Storage Initiative Fund shall be made only upon 10 warrants of the Comptroller drawn upon the Treasurer 11 as custodian of the Fund upon vouchers signed by the 12 Director of the Department or by the person or persons 13 designated by the Director of the Department for that 14 purpose. The Comptroller is authorized to draw the 15 warrants upon vouchers so signed. The Treasurer shall 16 accept all written warrants so signed and shall be 17 released from liability for all payments made on those 18 warrants. 19 (11) Diversity, equity, and inclusion plans. 20 (A) Each applicant selected in a procurement event 21 to contract to supply renewable energy credits in 22 accordance with this subsection (c-5) and each owner 23 selected by the Department to receive a grant or 24 grants to support the construction and operation of a 25 new energy storage facility or facilities in 26 accordance with this subsection (c-5) shall, within 60 HB2563 - 99 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 100 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 100 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 100 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 days following the Commission's approval of the 2 applicant to contract to supply renewable energy 3 credits or within 60 days following execution of a 4 grant contract with the Department, as applicable, 5 submit to the Commission a diversity, equity, and 6 inclusion plan setting forth the applicant's or 7 owner's numeric goals for the diversity composition of 8 its supplier entities for the new renewable energy 9 facility or new energy storage facility, as 10 applicable, which shall be referred to for purposes of 11 this paragraph (11) as the project, and the 12 applicant's or owner's action plan and schedule for 13 achieving those goals. 14 (B) For purposes of this paragraph (11), diversity 15 composition shall be based on the percentage, which 16 shall be a minimum of 25%, of eligible expenditures 17 for contract awards for materials and services (which 18 shall be defined in the plan) to business enterprises 19 owned by minority persons, women, or persons with 20 disabilities as defined in Section 2 of the Business 21 Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with 22 Disabilities Act, to LGBTQ business enterprises, to 23 veteran-owned business enterprises, and to business 24 enterprises located in environmental justice 25 communities. The diversity composition goals of the 26 plan may include eligible expenditures in areas for HB2563 - 100 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 101 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 101 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 101 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 vendor or supplier opportunities in addition to 2 development and construction of the project, and may 3 exclude from eligible expenditures materials and 4 services with limited market availability, limited 5 production and availability from suppliers in the 6 United States, such as solar panels and storage 7 batteries, and material and services that are subject 8 to critical energy infrastructure or cybersecurity 9 requirements or restrictions. The plan may provide 10 that the diversity composition goals may be met 11 through Tier 1 Direct or Tier 2 subcontracting 12 expenditures or a combination thereof for the project. 13 (C) The plan shall provide for, but not be limited 14 to: (i) internal initiatives, including multi-tier 15 initiatives, by the applicant or owner, or by its 16 engineering, procurement and construction contractor 17 if one is used for the project, which for purposes of 18 this paragraph (11) shall be referred to as the EPC 19 contractor, to enable diverse businesses to be 20 considered fairly for selection to provide materials 21 and services; (ii) requirements for the applicant or 22 owner or its EPC contractor to proactively solicit and 23 utilize diverse businesses to provide materials and 24 services; and (iii) requirements for the applicant or 25 owner or its EPC contractor to hire a diverse 26 workforce for the project. The plan shall include a HB2563 - 101 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 102 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 102 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 102 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 description of the applicant's or owner's diversity 2 recruiting efforts both for the project and for other 3 areas of the applicant's or owner's business 4 operations. The plan shall provide for the imposition 5 of financial penalties on the applicant's or owner's 6 EPC contractor for failure to exercise best efforts to 7 comply with and execute the EPC contractor's diversity 8 obligations under the plan. The plan may provide for 9 the applicant or owner to set aside a portion of the 10 work on the project to serve as an incubation program 11 for qualified businesses, as specified in the plan, 12 owned by minority persons, women, persons with 13 disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and veterans, and 14 businesses located in environmental justice 15 communities, seeking to enter the renewable energy 16 industry. 17 (D) The applicant or owner may submit a revised or 18 updated plan to the Commission from time to time as 19 circumstances warrant. The applicant or owner shall 20 file annual reports with the Commission detailing the 21 applicant's or owner's progress in implementing its 22 plan and achieving its goals and any modifications the 23 applicant or owner has made to its plan to better 24 achieve its diversity, equity and inclusion goals. The 25 applicant or owner shall file a final report on the 26 fifth June 1 following the commercial operation date HB2563 - 102 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 103 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 103 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 103 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 of the new renewable energy resource or new energy 2 storage facility, but the applicant or owner shall 3 thereafter continue to be subject to applicable 4 reporting requirements of Section 5-117 of the Public 5 Utilities Act. 6 (c-10) Equity accountability system. It is the purpose of 7 this subsection (c-10) to create an equity accountability 8 system, which includes the minimum equity standards for all 9 renewable energy procurements, the equity category of the 10 Adjustable Block Program, and the equity prioritization for 11 noncompetitive procurements, that is successful in advancing 12 priority access to the clean energy economy for businesses and 13 workers from communities that have been excluded from economic 14 opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to 15 disproportionate levels of pollution, and have 16 disproportionately experienced negative public health 17 outcomes. Further, it is the purpose of this subsection to 18 ensure that this equity accountability system is successful in 19 advancing equity across Illinois by providing access to the 20 clean energy economy for businesses and workers from 21 communities that have been historically excluded from economic 22 opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to 23 disproportionate levels of pollution, and have 24 disproportionately experienced negative public health 25 outcomes. 26 (1) Minimum equity standards. The Agency shall create HB2563 - 103 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 104 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 104 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 104 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 programs with the purpose of increasing access to and 2 development of equity eligible contractors, who are prime 3 contractors and subcontractors, across all of the programs 4 it manages. All applications for renewable energy credit 5 procurements shall comply with specific minimum equity 6 commitments. Starting in the delivery year immediately 7 following the next long-term renewable resources 8 procurement plan, at least 10% of the project workforce 9 for each entity participating in a procurement program 10 outlined in this subsection (c-10) must be done by equity 11 eligible persons or equity eligible contractors. The 12 Agency shall increase the minimum percentage each delivery 13 year thereafter by increments that ensure a statewide 14 average of 30% of the project workforce for each entity 15 participating in a procurement program is done by equity 16 eligible persons or equity eligible contractors by 2030. 17 The Agency shall propose a schedule of percentage 18 increases to the minimum equity standards in its draft 19 revised renewable energy resources procurement plan 20 submitted to the Commission for approval pursuant to 21 paragraph (5) of subsection (b) of Section 16-111.5 of the 22 Public Utilities Act. In determining these annual 23 increases, the Agency shall have the discretion to 24 establish different minimum equity standards for different 25 types of procurements and different regions of the State 26 if the Agency finds that doing so will further the HB2563 - 104 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 105 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 105 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 105 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 purposes of this subsection (c-10). The proposed schedule 2 of annual increases shall be revisited and updated on an 3 annual basis. Revisions shall be developed with 4 stakeholder input, including from equity eligible persons, 5 equity eligible contractors, clean energy industry 6 representatives, and community-based organizations that 7 work with such persons and contractors. 8 (A) At the start of each delivery year, the Agency 9 shall require a compliance plan from each entity 10 participating in a procurement program of subsection 11 (c) of this Section that demonstrates how they will 12 achieve compliance with the minimum equity standard 13 percentage for work completed in that delivery year. 14 If an entity applies for its approved vendor or 15 designee status between delivery years, the Agency 16 shall require a compliance plan at the time of 17 application. 18 (B) Halfway through each delivery year, the Agency 19 shall require each entity participating in a 20 procurement program to confirm that it will achieve 21 compliance in that delivery year, when applicable. The 22 Agency may offer corrective action plans to entities 23 that are not on track to achieve compliance. 24 (C) At the end of each delivery year, each entity 25 participating and completing work in that delivery 26 year in a procurement program of subsection (c) shall HB2563 - 105 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 106 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 106 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 106 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 submit a report to the Agency that demonstrates how it 2 achieved compliance with the minimum equity standards 3 percentage for that delivery year. 4 (D) The Agency shall prohibit participation in 5 procurement programs by an approved vendor or 6 designee, as applicable, or entities with which an 7 approved vendor or designee, as applicable, shares a 8 common parent company if an approved vendor or 9 designee, as applicable, failed to meet the minimum 10 equity standards for the prior delivery year. Waivers 11 approved for lack of equity eligible persons or equity 12 eligible contractors in a geographic area of a project 13 shall not count against the approved vendor or 14 designee. The Agency shall offer a corrective action 15 plan for any such entities to assist them in obtaining 16 compliance and shall allow continued access to 17 procurement programs upon an approved vendor or 18 designee demonstrating compliance. 19 (E) The Agency shall pursue efficiencies achieved 20 by combining with other approved vendor or designee 21 reporting. 22 (2) Equity accountability system within the Adjustable 23 Block program. The equity category described in item (vi) 24 of subparagraph (K) of subsection (c) is only available to 25 applicants that are equity eligible contractors. 26 (3) Equity accountability system within competitive HB2563 - 106 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 107 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 107 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 107 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 procurements. Through its long-term renewable resources 2 procurement plan, the Agency shall develop requirements 3 for ensuring that competitive procurement processes, 4 including utility-scale solar, utility-scale wind, and 5 brownfield site photovoltaic projects, advance the equity 6 goals of this subsection (c-10). Subject to Commission 7 approval, the Agency shall develop bid application 8 requirements and a bid evaluation methodology for ensuring 9 that utilization of equity eligible contractors, whether 10 as bidders or as participants on project development, is 11 optimized, including requiring that winning or successful 12 applicants for utility-scale projects are or will partner 13 with equity eligible contractors and giving preference to 14 bids through which a higher portion of contract value 15 flows to equity eligible contractors. To the extent 16 practicable, entities participating in competitive 17 procurements shall also be required to meet all the equity 18 accountability requirements for approved vendors and their 19 designees under this subsection (c-10). In developing 20 these requirements, the Agency shall also consider whether 21 equity goals can be further advanced through additional 22 measures. 23 (4) In the first revision to the long-term renewable 24 energy resources procurement plan and each revision 25 thereafter, the Agency shall include the following: 26 (A) The current status and number of equity HB2563 - 107 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 108 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 108 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 108 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 eligible contractors listed in the Energy Workforce 2 Equity Database designed in subsection (c-25), 3 including the number of equity eligible contractors 4 with current certifications as issued by the Agency. 5 (B) A mechanism for measuring, tracking, and 6 reporting project workforce at the approved vendor or 7 designee level, as applicable, which shall include a 8 measurement methodology and records to be made 9 available for audit by the Agency or the Program 10 Administrator. 11 (C) A program for approved vendors, designees, 12 eligible persons, and equity eligible contractors to 13 receive trainings, guidance, and other support from 14 the Agency or its designee regarding the equity 15 category outlined in item (vi) of subparagraph (K) of 16 paragraph (1) of subsection (c) and in meeting the 17 minimum equity standards of this subsection (c-10). 18 (D) A process for certifying equity eligible 19 contractors and equity eligible persons. The 20 certification process shall coordinate with the Energy 21 Workforce Equity Database set forth in subsection 22 (c-25). 23 (E) An application for waiver of the minimum 24 equity standards of this subsection, which the Agency 25 shall have the discretion to grant in rare 26 circumstances. The Agency may grant such a waiver HB2563 - 108 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 109 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 109 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 109 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 where the applicant provides evidence of significant 2 efforts toward meeting the minimum equity commitment, 3 including: use of the Energy Workforce Equity 4 Database; efforts to hire or contract with entities 5 that hire eligible persons; and efforts to establish 6 contracting relationships with eligible contractors. 7 The Agency shall support applicants in understanding 8 the Energy Workforce Equity Database and other 9 resources for pursuing compliance of the minimum 10 equity standards. Waivers shall be project-specific, 11 unless the Agency deems it necessary to grant a waiver 12 across a portfolio of projects, and in effect for no 13 longer than one year. Any waiver extension or 14 subsequent waiver request from an applicant shall be 15 subject to the requirements of this Section and shall 16 specify efforts made to reach compliance. When 17 considering whether to grant a waiver, and to what 18 extent, the Agency shall consider the degree to which 19 similarly situated applicants have been able to meet 20 these minimum equity commitments. For repeated waiver 21 requests for specific lack of eligible persons or 22 eligible contractors available, the Agency shall make 23 recommendations to target recruitment to add such 24 eligible persons or eligible contractors to the 25 database. 26 (5) The Agency shall collect information about work on HB2563 - 109 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 110 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 110 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 110 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 projects or portfolios of projects subject to these 2 minimum equity standards to ensure compliance with this 3 subsection (c-10). Reporting in furtherance of this 4 requirement may be combined with other annual reporting 5 requirements. Such reporting shall include proof of 6 certification of each equity eligible contractor or equity 7 eligible person during the applicable time period. 8 (6) The Agency shall keep confidential all information 9 and communication that provides private or personal 10 information. 11 (7) Modifications to the equity accountability system. 12 As part of the update of the long-term renewable resources 13 procurement plan to be initiated in 2023, or sooner if the 14 Agency deems necessary, the Agency shall determine the 15 extent to which the equity accountability system described 16 in this subsection (c-10) has advanced the goals of this 17 amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, including 18 through the inclusion of equity eligible persons and 19 equity eligible contractors in renewable energy credit 20 projects. If the Agency finds that the equity 21 accountability system has failed to meet those goals to 22 its fullest potential, the Agency may revise the following 23 criteria for future Agency procurements: (A) the 24 percentage of project workforce, or other appropriate 25 workforce measure, certified as equity eligible persons or 26 equity eligible contractors; (B) definitions for equity HB2563 - 110 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 111 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 111 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 111 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 investment eligible persons and equity investment eligible 2 community; and (C) such other modifications necessary to 3 advance the goals of this amendatory Act of the 102nd 4 General Assembly effectively. Such revised criteria may 5 also establish distinct equity accountability systems for 6 different types of procurements or different regions of 7 the State if the Agency finds that doing so will further 8 the purposes of such programs. Revisions shall be 9 developed with stakeholder input, including from equity 10 eligible persons, equity eligible contractors, and 11 community-based organizations that work with such persons 12 and contractors. 13 (c-15) Racial discrimination elimination powers and 14 process. 15 (1) Purpose. It is the purpose of this subsection to 16 empower the Agency and other State actors to remedy racial 17 discrimination in Illinois' clean energy economy as 18 effectively and expediently as possible, including through 19 the use of race-conscious remedies, such as race-conscious 20 contracting and hiring goals, as consistent with State and 21 federal law. 22 (2) Racial disparity and discrimination review 23 process. 24 (A) Within one year after awarding contracts using 25 the equity actions processes established in this 26 Section, the Agency shall publish a report evaluating HB2563 - 111 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 112 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 112 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 112 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 the effectiveness of the equity actions point criteria 2 of this Section in increasing participation of equity 3 eligible persons and equity eligible contractors. The 4 report shall disaggregate participating workers and 5 contractors by race and ethnicity. The report shall be 6 forwarded to the Governor, the General Assembly, and 7 the Illinois Commerce Commission and be made available 8 to the public. 9 (B) As soon as is practicable thereafter, the 10 Agency, in consultation with the Department of 11 Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Department of 12 Labor, and other agencies that may be relevant, shall 13 commission and publish a disparity and availability 14 study that measures the presence and impact of 15 discrimination on minority businesses and workers in 16 Illinois' clean energy economy. The Agency may hire 17 consultants and experts to conduct the disparity and 18 availability study, with the retention of those 19 consultants and experts exempt from the requirements 20 of Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code. The 21 Illinois Power Agency shall forward a copy of its 22 findings and recommendations to the Governor, the 23 General Assembly, and the Illinois Commerce 24 Commission. If the disparity and availability study 25 establishes a strong basis in evidence that there is 26 discrimination in Illinois' clean energy economy, the HB2563 - 112 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 113 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 113 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 113 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Agency, Department of Commerce and Economic 2 Opportunity, Department of Labor, Department of 3 Corrections, and other appropriate agencies shall take 4 appropriate remedial actions, including race-conscious 5 remedial actions as consistent with State and federal 6 law, to effectively remedy this discrimination. Such 7 remedies may include modification of the equity 8 accountability system as described in subsection 9 (c-10). 10 (c-20) Program data collection. 11 (1) Purpose. Data collection, data analysis, and 12 reporting are critical to ensure that the benefits of the 13 clean energy economy provided to Illinois residents and 14 businesses are equitably distributed across the State. The 15 Agency shall collect data from program applicants in order 16 to track and improve equitable distribution of benefits 17 across Illinois communities for all procurements the 18 Agency conducts. The Agency shall use this data to, among 19 other things, measure any potential impact of racial 20 discrimination on the distribution of benefits and provide 21 information necessary to correct any discrimination 22 through methods consistent with State and federal law. 23 (2) Agency collection of program data. The Agency 24 shall collect demographic and geographic data for each 25 entity awarded contracts under any Agency-administered 26 program. HB2563 - 113 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 114 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 114 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 114 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (3) Required information to be collected. The Agency 2 shall collect the following information from applicants 3 and program participants where applicable: 4 (A) demographic information, including racial or 5 ethnic identity for real persons employed, contracted, 6 or subcontracted through the program and owners of 7 businesses or entities that apply to receive renewable 8 energy credits from the Agency; 9 (B) geographic location of the residency of real 10 persons employed, contracted, or subcontracted through 11 the program and geographic location of the 12 headquarters of the business or entity that applies to 13 receive renewable energy credits from the Agency; and 14 (C) any other information the Agency determines is 15 necessary for the purpose of achieving the purpose of 16 this subsection. 17 (4) Publication of collected information. The Agency 18 shall publish, at least annually, information on the 19 demographics of program participants on an aggregate 20 basis. 21 (5) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to 22 limit the authority of the Agency, or other agency or 23 department of the State, to require or collect demographic 24 information from applicants of other State programs. 25 (c-25) Energy Workforce Equity Database. 26 (1) The Agency, in consultation with the Department of HB2563 - 114 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 115 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 115 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 115 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Commerce and Economic Opportunity, shall create an Energy 2 Workforce Equity Database, and may contract with a third 3 party to do so ("database program administrator"). If the 4 Department decides to contract with a third party, that 5 third party shall be exempt from the requirements of 6 Section 20-10 of the Illinois Procurement Code. The Energy 7 Workforce Equity Database shall be a searchable database 8 of suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors for clean energy 9 industries that is: 10 (A) publicly accessible; 11 (B) easy for people to find and use; 12 (C) organized by company specialty or field; 13 (D) region-specific; and 14 (E) populated with information including, but not 15 limited to, contacts for suppliers, vendors, or 16 subcontractors who are minority and women-owned 17 business enterprise certified or who participate or 18 have participated in any of the programs described in 19 this Act. 20 (2) The Agency shall create an easily accessible, 21 public facing online tool using the database information 22 that includes, at a minimum, the following: 23 (A) a map of environmental justice and equity 24 investment eligible communities; 25 (B) job postings and recruiting opportunities; 26 (C) a means by which recruiting clean energy HB2563 - 115 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 116 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 116 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 116 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 companies can find and interact with current or former 2 participants of clean energy workforce training 3 programs; 4 (D) information on workforce training service 5 providers and training opportunities available to 6 prospective workers; 7 (E) renewable energy company diversity reporting; 8 (F) a list of equity eligible contractors with 9 their contact information, types of work performed, 10 and locations worked in; 11 (G) reporting on outcomes of the programs 12 described in the workforce programs of the Energy 13 Transition Act, including information such as, but not 14 limited to, retention rate, graduation rate, and 15 placement rates of trainees; and 16 (H) information about the Jobs and Environmental 17 Justice Grant Program, the Clean Energy Jobs and 18 Justice Fund, and other sources of capital. 19 (3) The Agency shall ensure the database is regularly 20 updated to ensure information is current and shall 21 coordinate with the Department of Commerce and Economic 22 Opportunity to ensure that it includes information on 23 individuals and entities that are or have participated in 24 the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, Clean Energy 25 Contractor Incubator Program, Returning Residents Clean 26 Jobs Training Program, or Clean Energy Primes Contractor HB2563 - 116 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 117 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 117 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 117 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Accelerator Program. 2 (c-30) Enforcement of minimum equity standards. All 3 entities seeking renewable energy credits must submit an 4 annual report to demonstrate compliance with each of the 5 equity commitments required under subsection (c-10). If the 6 Agency concludes the entity has not met or maintained its 7 minimum equity standards required under the applicable 8 subparagraphs under subsection (c-10), the Agency shall deny 9 the entity's ability to participate in procurement programs in 10 subsection (c), including by withholding approved vendor or 11 designee status. The Agency may require the entity to enter 12 into a corrective action plan. An entity that is not 13 recertified for failing to meet required equity actions in 14 subparagraph (c-10) may reapply once they have a corrective 15 action plan and achieve compliance with the minimum equity 16 standards. 17 (d) Clean coal portfolio standard. 18 (1) The procurement plans shall include electricity 19 generated using clean coal. Each utility shall enter into 20 one or more sourcing agreements with the initial clean 21 coal facility, as provided in paragraph (3) of this 22 subsection (d), covering electricity generated by the 23 initial clean coal facility representing at least 5% of 24 each utility's total supply to serve the load of eligible 25 retail customers in 2015 and each year thereafter, as 26 described in paragraph (3) of this subsection (d), subject HB2563 - 117 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 118 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 118 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 118 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 to the limits specified in paragraph (2) of this 2 subsection (d). It is the goal of the State that by January 3 1, 2025, 25% of the electricity used in the State shall be 4 generated by cost-effective clean coal facilities. For 5 purposes of this subsection (d), "cost-effective" means 6 that the expenditures pursuant to such sourcing agreements 7 do not cause the limit stated in paragraph (2) of this 8 subsection (d) to be exceeded and do not exceed cost-based 9 benchmarks, which shall be developed to assess all 10 expenditures pursuant to such sourcing agreements covering 11 electricity generated by clean coal facilities, other than 12 the initial clean coal facility, by the procurement 13 administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, 14 Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be 15 subject to Commission review and approval. 16 A utility party to a sourcing agreement shall 17 immediately retire any emission credits that it receives 18 in connection with the electricity covered by such 19 agreement. 20 Utilities shall maintain adequate records documenting 21 the purchases under the sourcing agreement to comply with 22 this subsection (d) and shall file an accounting with the 23 load forecast that must be filed with the Agency by July 15 24 of each year, in accordance with subsection (d) of Section 25 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. 26 A utility shall be deemed to have complied with the HB2563 - 118 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 119 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 119 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 119 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 clean coal portfolio standard specified in this subsection 2 (d) if the utility enters into a sourcing agreement as 3 required by this subsection (d). 4 (2) For purposes of this subsection (d), the required 5 execution of sourcing agreements with the initial clean 6 coal facility for a particular year shall be measured as a 7 percentage of the actual amount of electricity 8 (megawatt-hours) supplied by the electric utility to 9 eligible retail customers in the planning year ending 10 immediately prior to the agreement's execution. For 11 purposes of this subsection (d), the amount paid per 12 kilowatthour means the total amount paid for electric 13 service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. For 14 purposes of this subsection (d), the total amount paid for 15 electric service includes without limitation amounts paid 16 for supply, transmission, distribution, surcharges and 17 add-on taxes. 18 Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection 19 (d), the total amount paid under sourcing agreements with 20 clean coal facilities pursuant to the procurement plan for 21 any given year shall be reduced by an amount necessary to 22 limit the annual estimated average net increase due to the 23 costs of these resources included in the amounts paid by 24 eligible retail customers in connection with electric 25 service to: 26 (A) in 2010, no more than 0.5% of the amount paid HB2563 - 119 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 120 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 120 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 120 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 per kilowatthour by those customers during the year 2 ending May 31, 2009; 3 (B) in 2011, the greater of an additional 0.5% of 4 the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers 5 during the year ending May 31, 2010 or 1% of the amount 6 paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the 7 year ending May 31, 2009; 8 (C) in 2012, the greater of an additional 0.5% of 9 the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers 10 during the year ending May 31, 2011 or 1.5% of the 11 amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers during 12 the year ending May 31, 2009; 13 (D) in 2013, the greater of an additional 0.5% of 14 the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers 15 during the year ending May 31, 2012 or 2% of the amount 16 paid per kilowatthour by those customers during the 17 year ending May 31, 2009; and 18 (E) thereafter, the total amount paid under 19 sourcing agreements with clean coal facilities 20 pursuant to the procurement plan for any single year 21 shall be reduced by an amount necessary to limit the 22 estimated average net increase due to the cost of 23 these resources included in the amounts paid by 24 eligible retail customers in connection with electric 25 service to no more than the greater of (i) 2.015% of 26 the amount paid per kilowatthour by those customers HB2563 - 120 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 121 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 121 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 121 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 during the year ending May 31, 2009 or (ii) the 2 incremental amount per kilowatthour paid for these 3 resources in 2013. These requirements may be altered 4 only as provided by statute. 5 No later than June 30, 2015, the Commission shall 6 review the limitation on the total amount paid under 7 sourcing agreements, if any, with clean coal facilities 8 pursuant to this subsection (d) and report to the General 9 Assembly its findings as to whether that limitation unduly 10 constrains the amount of electricity generated by 11 cost-effective clean coal facilities that is covered by 12 sourcing agreements. 13 (3) Initial clean coal facility. In order to promote 14 development of clean coal facilities in Illinois, each 15 electric utility subject to this Section shall execute a 16 sourcing agreement to source electricity from a proposed 17 clean coal facility in Illinois (the "initial clean coal 18 facility") that will have a nameplate capacity of at least 19 500 MW when commercial operation commences, that has a 20 final Clean Air Act permit on June 1, 2009 (the effective 21 date of Public Act 95-1027), and that will meet the 22 definition of clean coal facility in Section 1-10 of this 23 Act when commercial operation commences. The sourcing 24 agreements with this initial clean coal facility shall be 25 subject to both approval of the initial clean coal 26 facility by the General Assembly and satisfaction of the HB2563 - 121 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 122 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 122 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 122 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 requirements of paragraph (4) of this subsection (d) and 2 shall be executed within 90 days after any such approval 3 by the General Assembly. The Agency and the Commission 4 shall have authority to inspect all books and records 5 associated with the initial clean coal facility during the 6 term of such a sourcing agreement. A utility's sourcing 7 agreement for electricity produced by the initial clean 8 coal facility shall include: 9 (A) a formula contractual price (the "contract 10 price") approved pursuant to paragraph (4) of this 11 subsection (d), which shall: 12 (i) be determined using a cost of service 13 methodology employing either a level or deferred 14 capital recovery component, based on a capital 15 structure consisting of 45% equity and 55% debt, 16 and a return on equity as may be approved by the 17 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which in any 18 case may not exceed the lower of 11.5% or the rate 19 of return approved by the General Assembly 20 pursuant to paragraph (4) of this subsection (d); 21 and 22 (ii) provide that all miscellaneous net 23 revenue, including but not limited to net revenue 24 from the sale of emission allowances, if any, 25 substitute natural gas, if any, grants or other 26 support provided by the State of Illinois or the HB2563 - 122 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 123 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 123 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 123 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 United States Government, firm transmission 2 rights, if any, by-products produced by the 3 facility, energy or capacity derived from the 4 facility and not covered by a sourcing agreement 5 pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) 6 or item (5) of subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of 7 the Public Utilities Act, whether generated from 8 the synthesis gas derived from coal, from SNG, or 9 from natural gas, shall be credited against the 10 revenue requirement for this initial clean coal 11 facility; 12 (B) power purchase provisions, which shall: 13 (i) provide that the utility party to such 14 sourcing agreement shall pay the contract price 15 for electricity delivered under such sourcing 16 agreement; 17 (ii) require delivery of electricity to the 18 regional transmission organization market of the 19 utility that is party to such sourcing agreement; 20 (iii) require the utility party to such 21 sourcing agreement to buy from the initial clean 22 coal facility in each hour an amount of energy 23 equal to all clean coal energy made available from 24 the initial clean coal facility during such hour 25 times a fraction, the numerator of which is such 26 utility's retail market sales of electricity HB2563 - 123 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 124 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 124 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 124 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in the State 2 during the prior calendar month and the 3 denominator of which is the total retail market 4 sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours 5 sold) in the State by utilities during such prior 6 month and the sales of electricity (expressed in 7 kilowatthours sold) in the State by alternative 8 retail electric suppliers during such prior month 9 that are subject to the requirements of this 10 subsection (d) and paragraph (5) of subsection (d) 11 of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, 12 provided that the amount purchased by the utility 13 in any year will be limited by paragraph (2) of 14 this subsection (d); and 15 (iv) be considered pre-existing contracts in 16 such utility's procurement plans for eligible 17 retail customers; 18 (C) contract for differences provisions, which 19 shall: 20 (i) require the utility party to such sourcing 21 agreement to contract with the initial clean coal 22 facility in each hour with respect to an amount of 23 energy equal to all clean coal energy made 24 available from the initial clean coal facility 25 during such hour times a fraction, the numerator 26 of which is such utility's retail market sales of HB2563 - 124 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 125 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 125 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 125 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 electricity (expressed in kilowatthours sold) in 2 the utility's service territory in the State 3 during the prior calendar month and the 4 denominator of which is the total retail market 5 sales of electricity (expressed in kilowatthours 6 sold) in the State by utilities during such prior 7 month and the sales of electricity (expressed in 8 kilowatthours sold) in the State by alternative 9 retail electric suppliers during such prior month 10 that are subject to the requirements of this 11 subsection (d) and paragraph (5) of subsection (d) 12 of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities Act, 13 provided that the amount paid by the utility in 14 any year will be limited by paragraph (2) of this 15 subsection (d); 16 (ii) provide that the utility's payment 17 obligation in respect of the quantity of 18 electricity determined pursuant to the preceding 19 clause (i) shall be limited to an amount equal to 20 (1) the difference between the contract price 21 determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) of 22 paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) and the 23 day-ahead price for electricity delivered to the 24 regional transmission organization market of the 25 utility that is party to such sourcing agreement 26 (or any successor delivery point at which such HB2563 - 125 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 126 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 126 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 126 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 utility's supply obligations are financially 2 settled on an hourly basis) (the "reference 3 price") on the day preceding the day on which the 4 electricity is delivered to the initial clean coal 5 facility busbar, multiplied by (2) the quantity of 6 electricity determined pursuant to the preceding 7 clause (i); and 8 (iii) not require the utility to take physical 9 delivery of the electricity produced by the 10 facility; 11 (D) general provisions, which shall: 12 (i) specify a term of no more than 30 years, 13 commencing on the commercial operation date of the 14 facility; 15 (ii) provide that utilities shall maintain 16 adequate records documenting purchases under the 17 sourcing agreements entered into to comply with 18 this subsection (d) and shall file an accounting 19 with the load forecast that must be filed with the 20 Agency by July 15 of each year, in accordance with 21 subsection (d) of Section 16-111.5 of the Public 22 Utilities Act; 23 (iii) provide that all costs associated with 24 the initial clean coal facility will be 25 periodically reported to the Federal Energy 26 Regulatory Commission and to purchasers in HB2563 - 126 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 127 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 127 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 127 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 accordance with applicable laws governing 2 cost-based wholesale power contracts; 3 (iv) permit the Illinois Power Agency to 4 assume ownership of the initial clean coal 5 facility, without monetary consideration and 6 otherwise on reasonable terms acceptable to the 7 Agency, if the Agency so requests no less than 3 8 years prior to the end of the stated contract 9 term; 10 (v) require the owner of the initial clean 11 coal facility to provide documentation to the 12 Commission each year, starting in the facility's 13 first year of commercial operation, accurately 14 reporting the quantity of carbon emissions from 15 the facility that have been captured and 16 sequestered and report any quantities of carbon 17 released from the site or sites at which carbon 18 emissions were sequestered in prior years, based 19 on continuous monitoring of such sites. If, in any 20 year after the first year of commercial operation, 21 the owner of the facility fails to demonstrate 22 that the initial clean coal facility captured and 23 sequestered at least 50% of the total carbon 24 emissions that the facility would otherwise emit 25 or that sequestration of emissions from prior 26 years has failed, resulting in the release of HB2563 - 127 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 128 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 128 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 128 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the owner of 2 the facility must offset excess emissions. Any 3 such carbon offsets must be permanent, additional, 4 verifiable, real, located within the State of 5 Illinois, and legally and practicably enforceable. 6 The cost of such offsets for the facility that are 7 not recoverable shall not exceed $15 million in 8 any given year. No costs of any such purchases of 9 carbon offsets may be recovered from a utility or 10 its customers. All carbon offsets purchased for 11 this purpose and any carbon emission credits 12 associated with sequestration of carbon from the 13 facility must be permanently retired. The initial 14 clean coal facility shall not forfeit its 15 designation as a clean coal facility if the 16 facility fails to fully comply with the applicable 17 carbon sequestration requirements in any given 18 year, provided the requisite offsets are 19 purchased. However, the Attorney General, on 20 behalf of the People of the State of Illinois, may 21 specifically enforce the facility's sequestration 22 requirement and the other terms of this contract 23 provision. Compliance with the sequestration 24 requirements and offset purchase requirements 25 specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection (d) 26 shall be reviewed annually by an independent HB2563 - 128 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 129 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 129 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 129 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 expert retained by the owner of the initial clean 2 coal facility, with the advance written approval 3 of the Attorney General. The Commission may, in 4 the course of the review specified in item (vii), 5 reduce the allowable return on equity for the 6 facility if the facility willfully fails to comply 7 with the carbon capture and sequestration 8 requirements set forth in this item (v); 9 (vi) include limits on, and accordingly 10 provide for modification of, the amount the 11 utility is required to source under the sourcing 12 agreement consistent with paragraph (2) of this 13 subsection (d); 14 (vii) require Commission review: (1) to 15 determine the justness, reasonableness, and 16 prudence of the inputs to the formula referenced 17 in subparagraphs (A)(i) through (A)(iii) of 18 paragraph (3) of this subsection (d), prior to an 19 adjustment in those inputs including, without 20 limitation, the capital structure and return on 21 equity, fuel costs, and other operations and 22 maintenance costs and (2) to approve the costs to 23 be passed through to customers under the sourcing 24 agreement by which the utility satisfies its 25 statutory obligations. Commission review shall 26 occur no less than every 3 years, regardless of HB2563 - 129 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 130 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 130 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 130 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 whether any adjustments have been proposed, and 2 shall be completed within 9 months; 3 (viii) limit the utility's obligation to such 4 amount as the utility is allowed to recover 5 through tariffs filed with the Commission, 6 provided that neither the clean coal facility nor 7 the utility waives any right to assert federal 8 pre-emption or any other argument in response to a 9 purported disallowance of recovery costs; 10 (ix) limit the utility's or alternative retail 11 electric supplier's obligation to incur any 12 liability until such time as the facility is in 13 commercial operation and generating power and 14 energy and such power and energy is being 15 delivered to the facility busbar; 16 (x) provide that the owner or owners of the 17 initial clean coal facility, which is the 18 counterparty to such sourcing agreement, shall 19 have the right from time to time to elect whether 20 the obligations of the utility party thereto shall 21 be governed by the power purchase provisions or 22 the contract for differences provisions; 23 (xi) append documentation showing that the 24 formula rate and contract, insofar as they relate 25 to the power purchase provisions, have been 26 approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory HB2563 - 130 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 131 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 131 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 131 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Commission pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal 2 Power Act; 3 (xii) provide that any changes to the terms of 4 the contract, insofar as such changes relate to 5 the power purchase provisions, are subject to 6 review under the public interest standard applied 7 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 8 pursuant to Sections 205 and 206 of the Federal 9 Power Act; and 10 (xiii) conform with customary lender 11 requirements in power purchase agreements used as 12 the basis for financing non-utility generators. 13 (4) Effective date of sourcing agreements with the 14 initial clean coal facility. Any proposed sourcing 15 agreement with the initial clean coal facility shall not 16 become effective unless the following reports are prepared 17 and submitted and authorizations and approvals obtained: 18 (i) Facility cost report. The owner of the initial 19 clean coal facility shall submit to the Commission, 20 the Agency, and the General Assembly a front-end 21 engineering and design study, a facility cost report, 22 method of financing (including but not limited to 23 structure and associated costs), and an operating and 24 maintenance cost quote for the facility (collectively 25 "facility cost report"), which shall be prepared in 26 accordance with the requirements of this paragraph (4) HB2563 - 131 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 132 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 132 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 132 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 of subsection (d) of this Section, and shall provide 2 the Commission and the Agency access to the work 3 papers, relied upon documents, and any other backup 4 documentation related to the facility cost report. 5 (ii) Commission report. Within 6 months following 6 receipt of the facility cost report, the Commission, 7 in consultation with the Agency, shall submit a report 8 to the General Assembly setting forth its analysis of 9 the facility cost report. Such report shall include, 10 but not be limited to, a comparison of the costs 11 associated with electricity generated by the initial 12 clean coal facility to the costs associated with 13 electricity generated by other types of generation 14 facilities, an analysis of the rate impacts on 15 residential and small business customers over the life 16 of the sourcing agreements, and an analysis of the 17 likelihood that the initial clean coal facility will 18 commence commercial operation by and be delivering 19 power to the facility's busbar by 2016. To assist in 20 the preparation of its report, the Commission, in 21 consultation with the Agency, may hire one or more 22 experts or consultants, the costs of which shall be 23 paid for by the owner of the initial clean coal 24 facility. The Commission and Agency may begin the 25 process of selecting such experts or consultants prior 26 to receipt of the facility cost report. HB2563 - 132 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 133 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 133 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 133 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (iii) General Assembly approval. The proposed 2 sourcing agreements shall not take effect unless, 3 based on the facility cost report and the Commission's 4 report, the General Assembly enacts authorizing 5 legislation approving (A) the projected price, stated 6 in cents per kilowatthour, to be charged for 7 electricity generated by the initial clean coal 8 facility, (B) the projected impact on residential and 9 small business customers' bills over the life of the 10 sourcing agreements, and (C) the maximum allowable 11 return on equity for the project; and 12 (iv) Commission review. If the General Assembly 13 enacts authorizing legislation pursuant to 14 subparagraph (iii) approving a sourcing agreement, the 15 Commission shall, within 90 days of such enactment, 16 complete a review of such sourcing agreement. During 17 such time period, the Commission shall implement any 18 directive of the General Assembly, resolve any 19 disputes between the parties to the sourcing agreement 20 concerning the terms of such agreement, approve the 21 form of such agreement, and issue an order finding 22 that the sourcing agreement is prudent and reasonable. 23 The facility cost report shall be prepared as follows: 24 (A) The facility cost report shall be prepared by 25 duly licensed engineering and construction firms 26 detailing the estimated capital costs payable to one HB2563 - 133 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 134 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 134 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 134 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 or more contractors or suppliers for the engineering, 2 procurement and construction of the components 3 comprising the initial clean coal facility and the 4 estimated costs of operation and maintenance of the 5 facility. The facility cost report shall include: 6 (i) an estimate of the capital cost of the 7 core plant based on one or more front end 8 engineering and design studies for the 9 gasification island and related facilities. The 10 core plant shall include all civil, structural, 11 mechanical, electrical, control, and safety 12 systems. 13 (ii) an estimate of the capital cost of the 14 balance of the plant, including any capital costs 15 associated with sequestration of carbon dioxide 16 emissions and all interconnects and interfaces 17 required to operate the facility, such as 18 transmission of electricity, construction or 19 backfeed power supply, pipelines to transport 20 substitute natural gas or carbon dioxide, potable 21 water supply, natural gas supply, water supply, 22 water discharge, landfill, access roads, and coal 23 delivery. 24 The quoted construction costs shall be expressed 25 in nominal dollars as of the date that the quote is 26 prepared and shall include capitalized financing costs HB2563 - 134 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 135 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 135 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 135 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 during construction, taxes, insurance, and other 2 owner's costs, and an assumed escalation in materials 3 and labor beyond the date as of which the construction 4 cost quote is expressed. 5 (B) The front end engineering and design study for 6 the gasification island and the cost study for the 7 balance of plant shall include sufficient design work 8 to permit quantification of major categories of 9 materials, commodities and labor hours, and receipt of 10 quotes from vendors of major equipment required to 11 construct and operate the clean coal facility. 12 (C) The facility cost report shall also include an 13 operating and maintenance cost quote that will provide 14 the estimated cost of delivered fuel, personnel, 15 maintenance contracts, chemicals, catalysts, 16 consumables, spares, and other fixed and variable 17 operations and maintenance costs. The delivered fuel 18 cost estimate will be provided by a recognized third 19 party expert or experts in the fuel and transportation 20 industries. The balance of the operating and 21 maintenance cost quote, excluding delivered fuel 22 costs, will be developed based on the inputs provided 23 by duly licensed engineering and construction firms 24 performing the construction cost quote, potential 25 vendors under long-term service agreements and plant 26 operating agreements, or recognized third party plant HB2563 - 135 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 136 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 136 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 136 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 operator or operators. 2 The operating and maintenance cost quote 3 (including the cost of the front end engineering and 4 design study) shall be expressed in nominal dollars as 5 of the date that the quote is prepared and shall 6 include taxes, insurance, and other owner's costs, and 7 an assumed escalation in materials and labor beyond 8 the date as of which the operating and maintenance 9 cost quote is expressed. 10 (D) The facility cost report shall also include an 11 analysis of the initial clean coal facility's ability 12 to deliver power and energy into the applicable 13 regional transmission organization markets and an 14 analysis of the expected capacity factor for the 15 initial clean coal facility. 16 (E) Amounts paid to third parties unrelated to the 17 owner or owners of the initial clean coal facility to 18 prepare the core plant construction cost quote, 19 including the front end engineering and design study, 20 and the operating and maintenance cost quote will be 21 reimbursed through Coal Development Bonds. 22 (5) Re-powering and retrofitting coal-fired power 23 plants previously owned by Illinois utilities to qualify 24 as clean coal facilities. During the 2009 procurement 25 planning process and thereafter, the Agency and the 26 Commission shall consider sourcing agreements covering HB2563 - 136 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 137 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 137 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 137 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 electricity generated by power plants that were previously 2 owned by Illinois utilities and that have been or will be 3 converted into clean coal facilities, as defined by 4 Section 1-10 of this Act. Pursuant to such procurement 5 planning process, the owners of such facilities may 6 propose to the Agency sourcing agreements with utilities 7 and alternative retail electric suppliers required to 8 comply with subsection (d) of this Section and item (5) of 9 subsection (d) of Section 16-115 of the Public Utilities 10 Act, covering electricity generated by such facilities. In 11 the case of sourcing agreements that are power purchase 12 agreements, the contract price for electricity sales shall 13 be established on a cost of service basis. In the case of 14 sourcing agreements that are contracts for differences, 15 the contract price from which the reference price is 16 subtracted shall be established on a cost of service 17 basis. The Agency and the Commission may approve any such 18 utility sourcing agreements that do not exceed cost-based 19 benchmarks developed by the procurement administrator, in 20 consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff and 21 the procurement monitor, subject to Commission review and 22 approval. The Commission shall have authority to inspect 23 all books and records associated with these clean coal 24 facilities during the term of any such contract. 25 (6) Costs incurred under this subsection (d) or 26 pursuant to a contract entered into under this subsection HB2563 - 137 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 138 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 138 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 138 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (d) shall be deemed prudently incurred and reasonable in 2 amount and the electric utility shall be entitled to full 3 cost recovery pursuant to the tariffs filed with the 4 Commission. 5 (d-5) Zero emission standard. 6 (1) Beginning with the delivery year commencing on 7 June 1, 2017, the Agency shall, for electric utilities 8 that serve at least 100,000 retail customers in this 9 State, procure contracts with zero emission facilities 10 that are reasonably capable of generating cost-effective 11 zero emission credits in an amount approximately equal to 12 16% of the actual amount of electricity delivered by each 13 electric utility to retail customers in the State during 14 calendar year 2014. For an electric utility serving fewer 15 than 100,000 retail customers in this State that 16 requested, under Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities 17 Act, that the Agency procure power and energy for all or a 18 portion of the utility's Illinois load for the delivery 19 year commencing June 1, 2016, the Agency shall procure 20 contracts with zero emission facilities that are 21 reasonably capable of generating cost-effective zero 22 emission credits in an amount approximately equal to 16% 23 of the portion of power and energy to be procured by the 24 Agency for the utility. The duration of the contracts 25 procured under this subsection (d-5) shall be for a term 26 of 10 years ending May 31, 2027. The quantity of zero HB2563 - 138 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 139 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 139 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 139 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 emission credits to be procured under the contracts shall 2 be all of the zero emission credits generated by the zero 3 emission facility in each delivery year; however, if the 4 zero emission facility is owned by more than one entity, 5 then the quantity of zero emission credits to be procured 6 under the contracts shall be the amount of zero emission 7 credits that are generated from the portion of the zero 8 emission facility that is owned by the winning supplier. 9 The 16% value identified in this paragraph (1) is the 10 average of the percentage targets in subparagraph (B) of 11 paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of this Section for the 5 12 delivery years beginning June 1, 2017. 13 The procurement process shall be subject to the 14 following provisions: 15 (A) Those zero emission facilities that intend to 16 participate in the procurement shall submit to the 17 Agency the following eligibility information for each 18 zero emission facility on or before the date 19 established by the Agency: 20 (i) the in-service date and remaining useful 21 life of the zero emission facility; 22 (ii) the amount of power generated annually 23 for each of the years 2005 through 2015, and the 24 projected zero emission credits to be generated 25 over the remaining useful life of the zero 26 emission facility, which shall be used to HB2563 - 139 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 140 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 140 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 140 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 determine the capability of each facility; 2 (iii) the annual zero emission facility cost 3 projections, expressed on a per megawatthour 4 basis, over the next 6 delivery years, which shall 5 include the following: operation and maintenance 6 expenses; fully allocated overhead costs, which 7 shall be allocated using the methodology developed 8 by the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations; 9 fuel expenditures; non-fuel capital expenditures; 10 spent fuel expenditures; a return on working 11 capital; the cost of operational and market risks 12 that could be avoided by ceasing operation; and 13 any other costs necessary for continued 14 operations, provided that "necessary" means, for 15 purposes of this item (iii), that the costs could 16 reasonably be avoided only by ceasing operations 17 of the zero emission facility; and 18 (iv) a commitment to continue operating, for 19 the duration of the contract or contracts executed 20 under the procurement held under this subsection 21 (d-5), the zero emission facility that produces 22 the zero emission credits to be procured in the 23 procurement. 24 The information described in item (iii) of this 25 subparagraph (A) may be submitted on a confidential 26 basis and shall be treated and maintained by the HB2563 - 140 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 141 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 141 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 141 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Agency, the procurement administrator, and the 2 Commission as confidential and proprietary and exempt 3 from disclosure under subparagraphs (a) and (g) of 4 paragraph (1) of Section 7 of the Freedom of 5 Information Act. The Office of Attorney General shall 6 have access to, and maintain the confidentiality of, 7 such information pursuant to Section 6.5 of the 8 Attorney General Act. 9 (B) The price for each zero emission credit 10 procured under this subsection (d-5) for each delivery 11 year shall be in an amount that equals the Social Cost 12 of Carbon, expressed on a price per megawatthour 13 basis. However, to ensure that the procurement remains 14 affordable to retail customers in this State if 15 electricity prices increase, the price in an 16 applicable delivery year shall be reduced below the 17 Social Cost of Carbon by the amount ("Price 18 Adjustment") by which the market price index for the 19 applicable delivery year exceeds the baseline market 20 price index for the consecutive 12-month period ending 21 May 31, 2016. If the Price Adjustment is greater than 22 or equal to the Social Cost of Carbon in an applicable 23 delivery year, then no payments shall be due in that 24 delivery year. The components of this calculation are 25 defined as follows: 26 (i) Social Cost of Carbon: The Social Cost of HB2563 - 141 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 142 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 142 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 142 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Carbon is $16.50 per megawatthour, which is based 2 on the U.S. Interagency Working Group on Social 3 Cost of Carbon's price in the August 2016 4 Technical Update using a 3% discount rate, 5 adjusted for inflation for each year of the 6 program. Beginning with the delivery year 7 commencing June 1, 2023, the price per 8 megawatthour shall increase by $1 per 9 megawatthour, and continue to increase by an 10 additional $1 per megawatthour each delivery year 11 thereafter. 12 (ii) Baseline market price index: The baseline 13 market price index for the consecutive 12-month 14 period ending May 31, 2016 is $31.40 per 15 megawatthour, which is based on the sum of (aa) 16 the average day-ahead energy price across all 17 hours of such 12-month period at the PJM 18 Interconnection LLC Northern Illinois Hub, (bb) 19 50% multiplied by the Base Residual Auction, or 20 its successor, capacity price for the rest of the 21 RTO zone group determined by PJM Interconnection 22 LLC, divided by 24 hours per day, and (cc) 50% 23 multiplied by the Planning Resource Auction, or 24 its successor, capacity price for Zone 4 25 determined by the Midcontinent Independent System 26 Operator, Inc., divided by 24 hours per day. HB2563 - 142 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 143 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 143 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 143 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (iii) Market price index: The market price 2 index for a delivery year shall be the sum of 3 projected energy prices and projected capacity 4 prices determined as follows: 5 (aa) Projected energy prices: the 6 projected energy prices for the applicable 7 delivery year shall be calculated once for the 8 year using the forward market price for the 9 PJM Interconnection, LLC Northern Illinois 10 Hub. The forward market price shall be 11 calculated as follows: the energy forward 12 prices for each month of the applicable 13 delivery year averaged for each trade date 14 during the calendar year immediately preceding 15 that delivery year to produce a single energy 16 forward price for the delivery year. The 17 forward market price calculation shall use 18 data published by the Intercontinental 19 Exchange, or its successor. 20 (bb) Projected capacity prices: 21 (I) For the delivery years commencing 22 June 1, 2017, June 1, 2018, and June 1, 23 2019, the projected capacity price shall 24 be equal to the sum of (1) 50% multiplied 25 by the Base Residual Auction, or its 26 successor, price for the rest of the RTO HB2563 - 143 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 144 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 144 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 144 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 zone group as determined by PJM 2 Interconnection LLC, divided by 24 hours 3 per day and, (2) 50% multiplied by the 4 resource auction price determined in the 5 resource auction administered by the 6 Midcontinent Independent System Operator, 7 Inc., in which the largest percentage of 8 load cleared for Local Resource Zone 4, 9 divided by 24 hours per day, and where 10 such price is determined by the 11 Midcontinent Independent System Operator, 12 Inc. 13 (II) For the delivery year commencing 14 June 1, 2020, and each year thereafter, 15 the projected capacity price shall be 16 equal to the sum of (1) 50% multiplied by 17 the Base Residual Auction, or its 18 successor, price for the ComEd zone as 19 determined by PJM Interconnection LLC, 20 divided by 24 hours per day, and (2) 50% 21 multiplied by the resource auction price 22 determined in the resource auction 23 administered by the Midcontinent 24 Independent System Operator, Inc., in 25 which the largest percentage of load 26 cleared for Local Resource Zone 4, divided HB2563 - 144 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 145 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 145 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 145 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 by 24 hours per day, and where such price 2 is determined by the Midcontinent 3 Independent System Operator, Inc. 4 For purposes of this subsection (d-5): 5 "Rest of the RTO" and "ComEd Zone" shall have 6 the meaning ascribed to them by PJM 7 Interconnection, LLC. 8 "RTO" means regional transmission 9 organization. 10 (C) No later than 45 days after June 1, 2017 (the 11 effective date of Public Act 99-906), the Agency shall 12 publish its proposed zero emission standard 13 procurement plan. The plan shall be consistent with 14 the provisions of this paragraph (1) and shall provide 15 that winning bids shall be selected based on public 16 interest criteria that include, but are not limited 17 to, minimizing carbon dioxide emissions that result 18 from electricity consumed in Illinois and minimizing 19 sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter 20 emissions that adversely affect the citizens of this 21 State. In particular, the selection of winning bids 22 shall take into account the incremental environmental 23 benefits resulting from the procurement, such as any 24 existing environmental benefits that are preserved by 25 the procurements held under Public Act 99-906 and 26 would cease to exist if the procurements were not HB2563 - 145 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 146 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 146 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 146 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 held, including the preservation of zero emission 2 facilities. The plan shall also describe in detail how 3 each public interest factor shall be considered and 4 weighted in the bid selection process to ensure that 5 the public interest criteria are applied to the 6 procurement and given full effect. 7 For purposes of developing the plan, the Agency 8 shall consider any reports issued by a State agency, 9 board, or commission under House Resolution 1146 of 10 the 98th General Assembly and paragraph (4) of 11 subsection (d) of this Section, as well as publicly 12 available analyses and studies performed by or for 13 regional transmission organizations that serve the 14 State and their independent market monitors. 15 Upon publishing of the zero emission standard 16 procurement plan, copies of the plan shall be posted 17 and made publicly available on the Agency's website. 18 All interested parties shall have 10 days following 19 the date of posting to provide comment to the Agency on 20 the plan. All comments shall be posted to the Agency's 21 website. Following the end of the comment period, but 22 no more than 60 days later than June 1, 2017 (the 23 effective date of Public Act 99-906), the Agency shall 24 revise the plan as necessary based on the comments 25 received and file its zero emission standard 26 procurement plan with the Commission. HB2563 - 146 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 147 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 147 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 147 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 If the Commission determines that the plan will 2 result in the procurement of cost-effective zero 3 emission credits, then the Commission shall, after 4 notice and hearing, but no later than 45 days after the 5 Agency filed the plan, approve the plan or approve 6 with modification. For purposes of this subsection 7 (d-5), "cost effective" means the projected costs of 8 procuring zero emission credits from zero emission 9 facilities do not cause the limit stated in paragraph 10 (2) of this subsection to be exceeded. 11 (C-5) As part of the Commission's review and 12 acceptance or rejection of the procurement results, 13 the Commission shall, in its public notice of 14 successful bidders: 15 (i) identify how the winning bids satisfy the 16 public interest criteria described in subparagraph 17 (C) of this paragraph (1) of minimizing carbon 18 dioxide emissions that result from electricity 19 consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur 20 dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter 21 emissions that adversely affect the citizens of 22 this State; 23 (ii) specifically address how the selection of 24 winning bids takes into account the incremental 25 environmental benefits resulting from the 26 procurement, including any existing environmental HB2563 - 147 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 148 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 148 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 148 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 benefits that are preserved by the procurements 2 held under Public Act 99-906 and would have ceased 3 to exist if the procurements had not been held, 4 such as the preservation of zero emission 5 facilities; 6 (iii) quantify the environmental benefit of 7 preserving the resources identified in item (ii) 8 of this subparagraph (C-5), including the 9 following: 10 (aa) the value of avoided greenhouse gas 11 emissions measured as the product of the zero 12 emission facilities' output over the contract 13 term multiplied by the U.S. Environmental 14 Protection Agency eGrid subregion carbon 15 dioxide emission rate and the U.S. Interagency 16 Working Group on Social Cost of Carbon's price 17 in the August 2016 Technical Update using a 3% 18 discount rate, adjusted for inflation for each 19 delivery year; and 20 (bb) the costs of replacement with other 21 zero carbon dioxide resources, including wind 22 and photovoltaic, based upon the simple 23 average of the following: 24 (I) the price, or if there is more 25 than one price, the average of the prices, 26 paid for renewable energy credits from new HB2563 - 148 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 149 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 149 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 149 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 utility-scale wind projects in the 2 procurement events specified in item (i) 3 of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) of 4 subsection (c) of this Section; and 5 (II) the price, or if there is more 6 than one price, the average of the prices, 7 paid for renewable energy credits from new 8 utility-scale solar projects and 9 brownfield site photovoltaic projects in 10 the procurement events specified in item 11 (ii) of subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) 12 of subsection (c) of this Section and, 13 after January 1, 2015, renewable energy 14 credits from photovoltaic distributed 15 generation projects in procurement events 16 held under subsection (c) of this Section. 17 Each utility shall enter into binding contractual 18 arrangements with the winning suppliers. 19 The procurement described in this subsection 20 (d-5), including, but not limited to, the execution of 21 all contracts procured, shall be completed no later 22 than May 10, 2017. Based on the effective date of 23 Public Act 99-906, the Agency and Commission may, as 24 appropriate, modify the various dates and timelines 25 under this subparagraph and subparagraphs (C) and (D) 26 of this paragraph (1). The procurement and plan HB2563 - 149 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 150 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 150 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 150 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 approval processes required by this subsection (d-5) 2 shall be conducted in conjunction with the procurement 3 and plan approval processes required by subsection (c) 4 of this Section and Section 16-111.5 of the Public 5 Utilities Act, to the extent practicable. 6 Notwithstanding whether a procurement event is 7 conducted under Section 16-111.5 of the Public 8 Utilities Act, the Agency shall immediately initiate a 9 procurement process on June 1, 2017 (the effective 10 date of Public Act 99-906). 11 (D) Following the procurement event described in 12 this paragraph (1) and consistent with subparagraph 13 (B) of this paragraph (1), the Agency shall calculate 14 the payments to be made under each contract for the 15 next delivery year based on the market price index for 16 that delivery year. The Agency shall publish the 17 payment calculations no later than May 25, 2017 and 18 every May 25 thereafter. 19 (E) Notwithstanding the requirements of this 20 subsection (d-5), the contracts executed under this 21 subsection (d-5) shall provide that the zero emission 22 facility may, as applicable, suspend or terminate 23 performance under the contracts in the following 24 instances: 25 (i) A zero emission facility shall be excused 26 from its performance under the contract for any HB2563 - 150 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 151 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 151 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 151 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 cause beyond the control of the resource, 2 including, but not restricted to, acts of God, 3 flood, drought, earthquake, storm, fire, 4 lightning, epidemic, war, riot, civil disturbance 5 or disobedience, labor dispute, labor or material 6 shortage, sabotage, acts of public enemy, 7 explosions, orders, regulations or restrictions 8 imposed by governmental, military, or lawfully 9 established civilian authorities, which, in any of 10 the foregoing cases, by exercise of commercially 11 reasonable efforts the zero emission facility 12 could not reasonably have been expected to avoid, 13 and which, by the exercise of commercially 14 reasonable efforts, it has been unable to 15 overcome. In such event, the zero emission 16 facility shall be excused from performance for the 17 duration of the event, including, but not limited 18 to, delivery of zero emission credits, and no 19 payment shall be due to the zero emission facility 20 during the duration of the event. 21 (ii) A zero emission facility shall be 22 permitted to terminate the contract if legislation 23 is enacted into law by the General Assembly that 24 imposes or authorizes a new tax, special 25 assessment, or fee on the generation of 26 electricity, the ownership or leasehold of a HB2563 - 151 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 152 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 152 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 152 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 generating unit, or the privilege or occupation of 2 such generation, ownership, or leasehold of 3 generation units by a zero emission facility. 4 However, the provisions of this item (ii) do not 5 apply to any generally applicable tax, special 6 assessment or fee, or requirements imposed by 7 federal law. 8 (iii) A zero emission facility shall be 9 permitted to terminate the contract in the event 10 that the resource requires capital expenditures in 11 excess of $40,000,000 that were neither known nor 12 reasonably foreseeable at the time it executed the 13 contract and that a prudent owner or operator of 14 such resource would not undertake. 15 (iv) A zero emission facility shall be 16 permitted to terminate the contract in the event 17 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission terminates the 18 resource's license. 19 (F) If the zero emission facility elects to 20 terminate a contract under subparagraph (E) of this 21 paragraph (1), then the Commission shall reopen the 22 docket in which the Commission approved the zero 23 emission standard procurement plan under subparagraph 24 (C) of this paragraph (1) and, after notice and 25 hearing, enter an order acknowledging the contract 26 termination election if such termination is consistent HB2563 - 152 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 153 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 153 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 153 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 with the provisions of this subsection (d-5). 2 (2) For purposes of this subsection (d-5), the amount 3 paid per kilowatthour means the total amount paid for 4 electric service expressed on a per kilowatthour basis. 5 For purposes of this subsection (d-5), the total amount 6 paid for electric service includes, without limitation, 7 amounts paid for supply, transmission, distribution, 8 surcharges, and add-on taxes. 9 Notwithstanding the requirements of this subsection 10 (d-5), the contracts executed under this subsection (d-5) 11 shall provide that the total of zero emission credits 12 procured under a procurement plan shall be subject to the 13 limitations of this paragraph (2). For each delivery year, 14 the contractual volume receiving payments in such year 15 shall be reduced for all retail customers based on the 16 amount necessary to limit the net increase that delivery 17 year to the costs of those credits included in the amounts 18 paid by eligible retail customers in connection with 19 electric service to no more than 1.65% of the amount paid 20 per kilowatthour by eligible retail customers during the 21 year ending May 31, 2009. The result of this computation 22 shall apply to and reduce the procurement for all retail 23 customers, and all those customers shall pay the same 24 single, uniform cents per kilowatthour charge under 25 subsection (k) of Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities 26 Act. To arrive at a maximum dollar amount of zero emission HB2563 - 153 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 154 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 154 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 154 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 credits to be paid for the particular delivery year, the 2 resulting per kilowatthour amount shall be applied to the 3 actual amount of kilowatthours of electricity delivered by 4 the electric utility in the delivery year immediately 5 prior to the procurement, to all retail customers in its 6 service territory. Unpaid contractual volume for any 7 delivery year shall be paid in any subsequent delivery 8 year in which such payments can be made without exceeding 9 the amount specified in this paragraph (2). The 10 calculations required by this paragraph (2) shall be made 11 only once for each procurement plan year. Once the 12 determination as to the amount of zero emission credits to 13 be paid is made based on the calculations set forth in this 14 paragraph (2), no subsequent rate impact determinations 15 shall be made and no adjustments to those contract amounts 16 shall be allowed. All costs incurred under those contracts 17 and in implementing this subsection (d-5) shall be 18 recovered by the electric utility as provided in this 19 Section. 20 No later than June 30, 2019, the Commission shall 21 review the limitation on the amount of zero emission 22 credits procured under this subsection (d-5) and report to 23 the General Assembly its findings as to whether that 24 limitation unduly constrains the procurement of 25 cost-effective zero emission credits. 26 (3) Six years after the execution of a contract under HB2563 - 154 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 155 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 155 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 155 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 this subsection (d-5), the Agency shall determine whether 2 the actual zero emission credit payments received by the 3 supplier over the 6-year period exceed the Average ZEC 4 Payment. In addition, at the end of the term of a contract 5 executed under this subsection (d-5), or at the time, if 6 any, a zero emission facility's contract is terminated 7 under subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of this subsection 8 (d-5), then the Agency shall determine whether the actual 9 zero emission credit payments received by the supplier 10 over the term of the contract exceed the Average ZEC 11 Payment, after taking into account any amounts previously 12 credited back to the utility under this paragraph (3). If 13 the Agency determines that the actual zero emission credit 14 payments received by the supplier over the relevant period 15 exceed the Average ZEC Payment, then the supplier shall 16 credit the difference back to the utility. The amount of 17 the credit shall be remitted to the applicable electric 18 utility no later than 120 days after the Agency's 19 determination, which the utility shall reflect as a credit 20 on its retail customer bills as soon as practicable; 21 however, the credit remitted to the utility shall not 22 exceed the total amount of payments received by the 23 facility under its contract. 24 For purposes of this Section, the Average ZEC Payment 25 shall be calculated by multiplying the quantity of zero 26 emission credits delivered under the contract times the HB2563 - 155 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 156 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 156 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 156 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 average contract price. The average contract price shall 2 be determined by subtracting the amount calculated under 3 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (3) from the amount 4 calculated under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph (3), 5 as follows: 6 (A) The average of the Social Cost of Carbon, as 7 defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this 8 subsection (d-5), during the term of the contract. 9 (B) The average of the market price indices, as 10 defined in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this 11 subsection (d-5), during the term of the contract, 12 minus the baseline market price index, as defined in 13 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection 14 (d-5). 15 If the subtraction yields a negative number, then the 16 Average ZEC Payment shall be zero. 17 (4) Cost-effective zero emission credits procured from 18 zero emission facilities shall satisfy the applicable 19 definitions set forth in Section 1-10 of this Act. 20 (5) The electric utility shall retire all zero 21 emission credits used to comply with the requirements of 22 this subsection (d-5). 23 (6) Electric utilities shall be entitled to recover 24 all of the costs associated with the procurement of zero 25 emission credits through an automatic adjustment clause 26 tariff in accordance with subsection (k) and (m) of HB2563 - 156 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 157 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 157 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 157 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Section 16-108 of the Public Utilities Act, and the 2 contracts executed under this subsection (d-5) shall 3 provide that the utilities' payment obligations under such 4 contracts shall be reduced if an adjustment is required 5 under subsection (m) of Section 16-108 of the Public 6 Utilities Act. 7 (7) This subsection (d-5) shall become inoperative on 8 January 1, 2028. 9 (d-10) Nuclear Plant Assistance; carbon mitigation 10 credits. 11 (1) The General Assembly finds: 12 (A) The health, welfare, and prosperity of all 13 Illinois citizens require that the State of Illinois act 14 to avoid and not increase carbon emissions from electric 15 generation sources while continuing to ensure affordable, 16 stable, and reliable electricity to all citizens. 17 (B) Absent immediate action by the State to preserve 18 existing carbon-free energy resources, those resources may 19 retire, and the electric generation needs of Illinois' 20 retail customers may be met instead by facilities that 21 emit significant amounts of carbon pollution and other 22 harmful air pollutants at a high social and economic cost 23 until Illinois is able to develop other forms of clean 24 energy. 25 (C) The General Assembly finds that nuclear power 26 generation is necessary for the State's transition to 100% HB2563 - 157 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 158 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 158 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 158 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 clean energy, and ensuring continued operation of nuclear 2 plants advances environmental and public health interests 3 through providing carbon-free electricity while reducing 4 the air pollution profile of the Illinois energy 5 generation fleet. 6 (D) The clean energy attributes of nuclear generation 7 facilities support the State in its efforts to achieve 8 100% clean energy. 9 (E) The State currently invests in various forms of 10 clean energy, including, but not limited to, renewable 11 energy, energy efficiency, and low-emission vehicles, 12 among others. 13 (F) The Environmental Protection Agency commissioned 14 an independent audit which provided a detailed assessment 15 of the financial condition of the Illinois nuclear fleet 16 to evaluate its financial viability and whether the 17 environmental benefits of such resources were at risk. The 18 report identified the risk of losing the environmental 19 benefits of several specific nuclear units. The report 20 also identified that the LaSalle County Generating Station 21 will continue to operate through 2026 and therefore is not 22 eligible to participate in the carbon mitigation credit 23 program. 24 (G) Nuclear plants provide carbon-free energy, which 25 helps to avoid many health-related negative impacts for 26 Illinois residents. HB2563 - 158 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 159 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 159 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 159 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (H) The procurement of carbon mitigation credits 2 representing the environmental benefits of carbon-free 3 generation will further the State's efforts at achieving 4 100% clean energy and decarbonizing the electricity sector 5 in a safe, reliable, and affordable manner. Further, the 6 procurement of carbon emission credits will enhance the 7 health and welfare of Illinois residents through decreased 8 reliance on more highly polluting generation. 9 (I) The General Assembly therefore finds it necessary 10 to establish carbon mitigation credits to ensure decreased 11 reliance on more carbon-intensive energy resources, for 12 transitioning to a fully decarbonized electricity sector, 13 and to help ensure health and welfare of the State's 14 residents. 15 (2) As used in this subsection: 16 "Baseline costs" means costs used to establish a customer 17 protection cap that have been evaluated through an independent 18 audit of a carbon-free energy resource conducted by the 19 Environmental Protection Agency that evaluated projected 20 annual costs for operation and maintenance expenses; fully 21 allocated overhead costs, which shall be allocated using the 22 methodology developed by the Institute for Nuclear Power 23 Operations; fuel expenditures; nonfuel capital expenditures; 24 spent fuel expenditures; a return on working capital; the cost 25 of operational and market risks that could be avoided by 26 ceasing operation; and any other costs necessary for continued HB2563 - 159 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 160 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 160 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 160 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 operations, provided that "necessary" means, for purposes of 2 this definition, that the costs could reasonably be avoided 3 only by ceasing operations of the carbon-free energy resource. 4 "Carbon mitigation credit" means a tradable credit that 5 represents the carbon emission reduction attributes of one 6 megawatt-hour of energy produced from a carbon-free energy 7 resource. 8 "Carbon-free energy resource" means a generation facility 9 that: (1) is fueled by nuclear power; and (2) is 10 interconnected to PJM Interconnection, LLC. 11 (3) Procurement. 12 (A) Beginning with the delivery year commencing on 13 June 1, 2022, the Agency shall, for electric utilities 14 serving at least 3,000,000 retail customers in the State, 15 seek to procure contracts for no more than approximately 16 54,500,000 cost-effective carbon mitigation credits from 17 carbon-free energy resources because such credits are 18 necessary to support current levels of carbon-free energy 19 generation and ensure the State meets its carbon dioxide 20 emissions reduction goals. The Agency shall not make a 21 partial award of a contract for carbon mitigation credits 22 covering a fractional amount of a carbon-free energy 23 resource's projected output. 24 (B) Each carbon-free energy resource that intends to 25 participate in a procurement shall be required to submit 26 to the Agency the following information for the resource HB2563 - 160 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 161 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 161 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 161 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 on or before the date established by the Agency: 2 (i) the in-service date and remaining useful life 3 of the carbon-free energy resource; 4 (ii) the amount of power generated annually for 5 each of the past 10 years, which shall be used to 6 determine the capability of each facility; 7 (iii) a commitment to be reflected in any contract 8 entered into pursuant to this subsection (d-10) to 9 continue operating the carbon-free energy resource at 10 a capacity factor of at least 88% annually on average 11 for the duration of the contract or contracts executed 12 under the procurement held under this subsection 13 (d-10), except in an instance described in 14 subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subsection (d-5) 15 of this Section or made impracticable as a result of 16 compliance with law or regulation; 17 (iv) financial need and the risk of loss of the 18 environmental benefits of such resource, which shall 19 include the following information: 20 (I) the carbon-free energy resource's cost 21 projections, expressed on a per megawatt-hour 22 basis, over the next 5 delivery years, which shall 23 include the following: operation and maintenance 24 expenses; fully allocated overhead costs, which 25 shall be allocated using the methodology developed 26 by the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations; HB2563 - 161 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 162 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 162 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 162 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 fuel expenditures; nonfuel capital expenditures; 2 spent fuel expenditures; a return on working 3 capital; the cost of operational and market risks 4 that could be avoided by ceasing operation; and 5 any other costs necessary for continued 6 operations, provided that "necessary" means, for 7 purposes of this subitem (I), that the costs could 8 reasonably be avoided only by ceasing operations 9 of the carbon-free energy resource; and 10 (II) the carbon-free energy resource's revenue 11 projections, including energy, capacity, ancillary 12 services, any other direct State support, known or 13 anticipated federal attribute credits, known or 14 anticipated tax credits, and any other direct 15 federal support. 16 The information described in this subparagraph (B) may 17 be submitted on a confidential basis and shall be treated 18 and maintained by the Agency, the procurement 19 administrator, and the Commission as confidential and 20 proprietary and exempt from disclosure under subparagraphs 21 (a) and (g) of paragraph (1) of Section 7 of the Freedom of 22 Information Act. The Office of the Attorney General shall 23 have access to, and maintain the confidentiality of, such 24 information pursuant to Section 6.5 of the Attorney 25 General Act. 26 (C) The Agency shall solicit bids for the contracts HB2563 - 162 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 163 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 163 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 163 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 described in this subsection (d-10) from carbon-free 2 energy resources that have satisfied the requirements of 3 subparagraph (B) of this paragraph (3). The contracts 4 procured pursuant to a procurement event shall reflect, 5 and be subject to, the following terms, requirements, and 6 limitations: 7 (i) Contracts are for delivery of carbon 8 mitigation credits, and are not energy or capacity 9 sales contracts requiring physical delivery. Pursuant 10 to item (iii), contract payments shall fully deduct 11 the value of any monetized federal production tax 12 credits, credits issued pursuant to a federal clean 13 energy standard, and other federal credits if 14 applicable. 15 (ii) Contracts for carbon mitigation credits shall 16 commence with the delivery year beginning on June 1, 17 2022 and shall be for a term of 5 delivery years 18 concluding on May 31, 2027. 19 (iii) The price per carbon mitigation credit to be 20 paid under a contract for a given delivery year shall 21 be equal to an accepted bid price less the sum of: 22 (I) one of the following energy price indices, 23 selected by the bidder at the time of the bid for 24 the term of the contract: 25 (aa) the weighted-average hourly day-ahead 26 price for the applicable delivery year at the HB2563 - 163 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 164 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 164 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 164 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 busbar of all resources procured pursuant to 2 this subsection (d-10), weighted by actual 3 production from the resources; or 4 (bb) the projected energy price for the 5 PJM Interconnection, LLC Northern Illinois Hub 6 for the applicable delivery year determined 7 according to subitem (aa) of item (iii) of 8 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of 9 subsection (d-5). 10 (II) the Base Residual Auction Capacity Price 11 for the ComEd zone as determined by PJM 12 Interconnection, LLC, divided by 24 hours per day, 13 for the applicable delivery year for the first 3 14 delivery years, and then any subsequent delivery 15 years unless the PJM Interconnection, LLC applies 16 the Minimum Offer Price Rule to participating 17 carbon-free energy resources because they supply 18 carbon mitigation credits pursuant to this Section 19 at which time, upon notice by the carbon-free 20 energy resource to the Commission and subject to 21 the Commission's confirmation, the value under 22 this subitem shall be zero, as further described 23 in the carbon mitigation credit procurement plan; 24 and 25 (III) any value of monetized federal tax 26 credits, direct payments, or similar subsidy HB2563 - 164 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 165 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 165 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 165 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 provided to the carbon-free energy resource from 2 any unit of government that is not already 3 reflected in energy prices. 4 If the price-per-megawatt-hour calculation 5 performed under item (iii) of this subparagraph (C) 6 for a given delivery year results in a net positive 7 value, then the electric utility counterparty to the 8 contract shall multiply such net value by the 9 applicable contract quantity and remit the amount to 10 the supplier. 11 To protect retail customers from retail rate 12 impacts that may arise upon the initiation of carbon 13 policy changes, if the price-per-megawatt-hour 14 calculation performed under item (iii) of this 15 subparagraph (C) for a given delivery year results in 16 a net negative value, then the supplier counterparty 17 to the contract shall multiply such net value by the 18 applicable contract quantity and remit such amount to 19 the electric utility counterparty. The electric 20 utility shall reflect such amounts remitted by 21 suppliers as a credit on its retail customer bills as 22 soon as practicable. 23 (iv) To ensure that retail customers in Northern 24 Illinois do not pay more for carbon mitigation credits 25 than the value such credits provide, and 26 notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection HB2563 - 165 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 166 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 166 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 166 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 (d-10), the Agency shall not accept bids for contracts 2 that exceed a customer protection cap equal to the 3 baseline costs of carbon-free energy resources. 4 The baseline costs for the applicable year shall 5 be the following: 6 (I) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 7 2022, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal 8 to $30.30 per megawatt-hour. 9 (II) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 10 2023, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal 11 to $32.50 per megawatt-hour. 12 (III) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 13 2024, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal 14 to $33.43 per megawatt-hour. 15 (IV) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 16 2025, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal 17 to $33.50 per megawatt-hour. 18 (V) For the delivery year beginning June 1, 19 2026, the baseline costs shall be an amount equal 20 to $34.50 per megawatt-hour. 21 An Environmental Protection Agency consultant 22 forecast, included in a report issued April 14, 2021, 23 projects that a carbon-free energy resource has the 24 opportunity to earn on average approximately $30.28 25 per megawatt-hour, for the sale of energy and capacity 26 during the time period between 2022 and 2027. HB2563 - 166 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 167 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 167 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 167 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 Therefore, the sale of carbon mitigation credits 2 provides the opportunity to receive an additional 3 amount per megawatt-hour in addition to the projected 4 prices for energy and capacity. 5 Although actual energy and capacity prices may 6 vary from year-to-year, the General Assembly finds 7 that this customer protection cap will help ensure 8 that the cost of carbon mitigation credits will be 9 less than its value, based upon the social cost of 10 carbon identified in the Technical Support Document 11 issued in February 2021 by the U.S. Interagency 12 Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases and 13 the PJM Interconnection, LLC carbon dioxide marginal 14 emission rate for 2020, and that a carbon-free energy 15 resource receiving payment for carbon mitigation 16 credits receives no more than necessary to keep those 17 units in operation. 18 (D) No later than 7 days after the effective date of 19 this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the 20 Agency shall publish its proposed carbon mitigation credit 21 procurement plan. The Plan shall provide that winning bids 22 shall be selected by taking into consideration which 23 resources best match public interest criteria that 24 include, but are not limited to, minimizing carbon dioxide 25 emissions that result from electricity consumed in 26 Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, HB2563 - 167 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 168 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 168 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 168 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 and particulate matter emissions that adversely affect the 2 citizens of this State. The selection of winning bids 3 shall also take into account the incremental environmental 4 benefits resulting from the procurement or procurements, 5 such as any existing environmental benefits that are 6 preserved by a procurement held under this subsection 7 (d-10) and would cease to exist if the procurement were 8 not held, including the preservation of carbon-free energy 9 resources. For those bidders having the same public 10 interest criteria score, the relative ranking of such 11 bidders shall be determined by price. The Plan shall 12 describe in detail how each public interest factor shall 13 be considered and weighted in the bid selection process to 14 ensure that the public interest criteria are applied to 15 the procurement. The Plan shall, to the extent practical 16 and permissible by federal law, ensure that successful 17 bidders make commercially reasonable efforts to apply for 18 federal tax credits, direct payments, or similar subsidy 19 programs that support carbon-free generation and for which 20 the successful bidder is eligible. Upon publishing of the 21 carbon mitigation credit procurement plan, copies of the 22 plan shall be posted and made publicly available on the 23 Agency's website. All interested parties shall have 7 days 24 following the date of posting to provide comment to the 25 Agency on the plan. All comments shall be posted to the 26 Agency's website. Following the end of the comment period, HB2563 - 168 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 169 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 169 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 169 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 but no more than 19 days later than the effective date of 2 this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the 3 Agency shall revise the plan as necessary based on the 4 comments received and file its carbon mitigation credit 5 procurement plan with the Commission. 6 (E) If the Commission determines that the plan is 7 likely to result in the procurement of cost-effective 8 carbon mitigation credits, then the Commission shall, 9 after notice and hearing and opportunity for comment, but 10 no later than 42 days after the Agency filed the plan, 11 approve the plan or approve it with modification. For 12 purposes of this subsection (d-10), "cost-effective" means 13 carbon mitigation credits that are procured from 14 carbon-free energy resources at prices that are within the 15 limits specified in this paragraph (3). As part of the 16 Commission's review and acceptance or rejection of the 17 procurement results, the Commission shall, in its public 18 notice of successful bidders: 19 (i) identify how the selected carbon-free energy 20 resources satisfy the public interest criteria 21 described in this paragraph (3) of minimizing carbon 22 dioxide emissions that result from electricity 23 consumed in Illinois and minimizing sulfur dioxide, 24 nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter emissions that 25 adversely affect the citizens of this State; 26 (ii) specifically address how the selection of HB2563 - 169 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 170 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 170 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 170 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 carbon-free energy resources takes into account the 2 incremental environmental benefits resulting from the 3 procurement, including any existing environmental 4 benefits that are preserved by the procurements held 5 under this amendatory Act of the 102nd General 6 Assembly and would have ceased to exist if the 7 procurements had not been held, such as the 8 preservation of carbon-free energy resources; 9 (iii) quantify the environmental benefit of 10 preserving the carbon-free energy resources procured 11 pursuant to this subsection (d-10), including the 12 following: 13 (I) an assessment value of avoided greenhouse 14 gas emissions measured as the product of the 15 carbon-free energy resources' output over the 16 contract term, using generally accepted 17 methodologies for the valuation of avoided 18 emissions; and 19 (II) an assessment of costs of replacement 20 with other carbon-free energy resources and 21 renewable energy resources, including wind and 22 photovoltaic generation, based upon an assessment 23 of the prices paid for renewable energy credits 24 through programs and procurements conducted 25 pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 1-75 of this 26 Act, and the additional storage necessary to HB2563 - 170 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 171 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 171 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 171 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 produce the same or similar capability of matching 2 customer usage patterns. 3 (F) The procurements described in this paragraph (3), 4 including, but not limited to, the execution of all 5 contracts procured, shall be completed no later than 6 December 3, 2021. The procurement and plan approval 7 processes required by this paragraph (3) shall be 8 conducted in conjunction with the procurement and plan 9 approval processes required by Section 16-111.5 of the 10 Public Utilities Act, to the extent practicable. However, 11 the Agency and Commission may, as appropriate, modify the 12 various dates and timelines under this subparagraph and 13 subparagraphs (D) and (E) of this paragraph (3) to meet 14 the December 3, 2021 contract execution deadline. 15 Following the completion of such procurements, and 16 consistent with this paragraph (3), the Agency shall 17 calculate the payments to be made under each contract in a 18 timely fashion. 19 (F-1) Costs incurred by the electric utility pursuant 20 to a contract authorized by this subsection (d-10) shall 21 be deemed prudently incurred and reasonable in amount, and 22 the electric utility shall be entitled to full cost 23 recovery pursuant to a tariff or tariffs filed with the 24 Commission. 25 (G) The counterparty electric utility shall retire all 26 carbon mitigation credits used to comply with the HB2563 - 171 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 172 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 172 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 172 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 requirements of this subsection (d-10). 2 (H) If a carbon-free energy resource is sold to 3 another owner, the rights, obligations, and commitments 4 under this subsection (d-10) shall continue to the 5 subsequent owner. 6 (I) This subsection (d-10) shall become inoperative on 7 January 1, 2028. 8 (e) The draft procurement plans are subject to public 9 comment, as required by Section 16-111.5 of the Public 10 Utilities Act. 11 (f) The Agency shall submit the final procurement plan to 12 the Commission. The Agency shall revise a procurement plan if 13 the Commission determines that it does not meet the standards 14 set forth in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. 15 (g) The Agency shall assess fees to each affected utility 16 to recover the costs incurred in preparation of the annual 17 procurement plan for the utility. 18 (h) The Agency shall assess fees to each bidder to recover 19 the costs incurred in connection with a competitive 20 procurement process. 21 (i) A renewable energy credit, carbon emission credit, 22 zero emission credit, or carbon mitigation credit can only be 23 used once to comply with a single portfolio or other standard 24 as set forth in subsection (c), subsection (d), or subsection 25 (d-5) of this Section, respectively. A renewable energy 26 credit, carbon emission credit, zero emission credit, or HB2563 - 172 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563- 173 -LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 173 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b HB2563 - 173 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b 1 carbon mitigation credit cannot be used to satisfy the 2 requirements of more than one standard. If more than one type 3 of credit is issued for the same megawatt hour of energy, only 4 one credit can be used to satisfy the requirements of a single 5 standard. After such use, the credit must be retired together 6 with any other credits issued for the same megawatt hour of 7 energy. 8 (Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-113, eff. 1-1-20; 9 102-662, eff. 9-15-21.) HB2563 - 173 - LRB103 29504 AMQ 55899 b