Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB3466 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 02/17/2023

                            103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3466 Introduced , by Rep. Tim Ozinga SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:  220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406  Amends the Public Utilities Act. Deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.  LRB103 30103 AMQ 56527 b   A BILL FOR 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3466 Introduced , by Rep. Tim Ozinga SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:  220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406 220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406 Amends the Public Utilities Act. Deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.  LRB103 30103 AMQ 56527 b     LRB103 30103 AMQ 56527 b   A BILL FOR
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3466 Introduced , by Rep. Tim Ozinga SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406 220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.
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    LRB103 30103 AMQ 56527 b
A BILL FOR
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1  AN ACT concerning regulation.
2  Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3  represented in the General Assembly:
4  Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing
5  Section 8-406 as follows:
6  (220 ILCS 5/8-406) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406)
7  Sec. 8-406. Certificate of public convenience and
8  necessity.
9  (a) No public utility not owning any city or village
10  franchise nor engaged in performing any public service or in
11  furnishing any product or commodity within this State as of
12  July 1, 1921 and not possessing a certificate of public
13  convenience and necessity from the Illinois Commerce
14  Commission, the State Public Utilities Commission, or the
15  Public Utilities Commission, at the time Public Act 84-617
16  goes into effect (January 1, 1986), shall transact any
17  business in this State until it shall have obtained a
18  certificate from the Commission that public convenience and
19  necessity require the transaction of such business. A
20  certificate of public convenience and necessity requiring the
21  transaction of public utility business in any area of this
22  State shall include authorization to the public utility
23  receiving the certificate of public convenience and necessity

 

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3466 Introduced , by Rep. Tim Ozinga SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406 220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406
Amends the Public Utilities Act. Deletes language that provides that no construction shall commence on any new nuclear power plant to be located within the State, and no certificate of public convenience and necessity or other authorization shall be issued therefor by the Illinois Commerce Commission, until the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency finds that the United States Government, through its authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste, or until such construction has been specifically approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR

 

 

220 ILCS 5/8-406 from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-406



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1  to construct such plant, equipment, property, or facility as
2  is provided for under the terms and conditions of its tariff
3  and as is necessary to provide utility service and carry out
4  the transaction of public utility business by the public
5  utility in the designated area.
6  (b) No public utility shall begin the construction of any
7  new plant, equipment, property, or facility which is not in
8  substitution of any existing plant, equipment, property, or
9  facility, or any extension or alteration thereof or in
10  addition thereto, unless and until it shall have obtained from
11  the Commission a certificate that public convenience and
12  necessity require such construction. Whenever after a hearing
13  the Commission determines that any new construction or the
14  transaction of any business by a public utility will promote
15  the public convenience and is necessary thereto, it shall have
16  the power to issue certificates of public convenience and
17  necessity. The Commission shall determine that proposed
18  construction will promote the public convenience and necessity
19  only if the utility demonstrates: (1) that the proposed
20  construction is necessary to provide adequate, reliable, and
21  efficient service to its customers and is the least-cost means
22  of satisfying the service needs of its customers or that the
23  proposed construction will promote the development of an
24  effectively competitive electricity market that operates
25  efficiently, is equitable to all customers, and is the least
26  cost means of satisfying those objectives; (2) that the

 

 

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1  utility is capable of efficiently managing and supervising the
2  construction process and has taken sufficient action to ensure
3  adequate and efficient construction and supervision thereof;
4  and (3) that the utility is capable of financing the proposed
5  construction without significant adverse financial
6  consequences for the utility or its customers.
7  (b-5) As used in this subsection (b-5):
8  "Qualifying direct current applicant" means an entity that
9  seeks to provide direct current bulk transmission service for
10  the purpose of transporting electric energy in interstate
11  commerce.
12  "Qualifying direct current project" means a high voltage
13  direct current electric service line that crosses at least one
14  Illinois border, the Illinois portion of which is physically
15  located within the region of the Midcontinent Independent
16  System Operator, Inc., or its successor organization, and runs
17  through the counties of Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin,
18  Montgomery, Christian, Shelby, Cumberland, and Clark, is
19  capable of transmitting electricity at voltages of 345
20  kilovolts or above, and may also include associated
21  interconnected alternating current interconnection facilities
22  in this State that are part of the proposed project and
23  reasonably necessary to connect the project with other
24  portions of the grid.
25  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a
26  qualifying direct current applicant that does not own,

 

 

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1  control, operate, or manage, within this State, any plant,
2  equipment, or property used or to be used for the transmission
3  of electricity at the time of its application or of the
4  Commission's order may file an application on or before
5  December 31, 2023 with the Commission pursuant to this Section
6  or Section 8-406.1 for, and the Commission may grant, a
7  certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct,
8  operate, and maintain a qualifying direct current project. The
9  qualifying direct current applicant may also include in the
10  application requests for authority under Section 8-503. The
11  Commission shall grant the application for a certificate of
12  public convenience and necessity and requests for authority
13  under Section 8-503 if it finds that the qualifying direct
14  current applicant and the proposed qualifying direct current
15  project satisfy the requirements of this subsection and
16  otherwise satisfy the criteria of this Section or Section
17  8-406.1 and the criteria of Section 8-503, as applicable to
18  the application and to the extent such criteria are not
19  superseded by the provisions of this subsection. The
20  Commission's order on the application for the certificate of
21  public convenience and necessity shall also include the
22  Commission's findings and determinations on the request or
23  requests for authority pursuant to Section 8-503. Prior to
24  filing its application under either this Section or Section
25  8-406.1, the qualifying direct current applicant shall conduct
26  3 public meetings in accordance with subsection (h) of this

 

 

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

 

 

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1  associated transfer of functional control of transmission
2  assets, benefits Illinois customers in light of the attendant
3  costs and is otherwise in the public interest. Nothing in this
4  subsection (b-5) requires a qualifying direct current
5  applicant to join a regional transmission organization.
6  Nothing in this subsection (b-5) requires the owner or
7  operator of a high voltage direct current transmission line
8  that is not a qualifying direct current project to obtain a
9  certificate of public convenience and necessity to the extent
10  it is not otherwise required by this Section 8-406 or any other
11  provision of this Act.
12  (c) (Blank). After September 11, 1987 (the effective date
13  of Public Act 85-377), no construction shall commence on any
14  new nuclear power plant to be located within this State, and no
15  certificate of public convenience and necessity or other
16  authorization shall be issued therefor by the Commission,
17  until the Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection
18  Agency finds that the United States Government, through its
19  authorized agency, has identified and approved a demonstrable
20  technology or means for the disposal of high level nuclear
21  waste, or until such construction has been specifically
22  approved by a statute enacted by the General Assembly.
23  As used in this Section, "high level nuclear waste" means
24  those aqueous wastes resulting from the operation of the first
25  cycle of the solvent extraction system or equivalent and the
26  concentrated wastes of the subsequent extraction cycles or

 

 

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1  equivalent in a facility for reprocessing irradiated reactor
2  fuel and shall include spent fuel assemblies prior to fuel
3  reprocessing.
4  (d) In making its determination under subsection (b) of
5  this Section, the Commission shall attach primary weight to
6  the cost or cost savings to the customers of the utility. The
7  Commission may consider any or all factors which will or may
8  affect such cost or cost savings, including the public
9  utility's engineering judgment regarding the materials used
10  for construction.
11  (e) The Commission may issue a temporary certificate which
12  shall remain in force not to exceed one year in cases of
13  emergency, to assure maintenance of adequate service or to
14  serve particular customers, without notice or hearing, pending
15  the determination of an application for a certificate, and may
16  by regulation exempt from the requirements of this Section
17  temporary acts or operations for which the issuance of a
18  certificate will not be required in the public interest.
19  A public utility shall not be required to obtain but may
20  apply for and obtain a certificate of public convenience and
21  necessity pursuant to this Section with respect to any matter
22  as to which it has received the authorization or order of the
23  Commission under the Electric Supplier Act, and any such
24  authorization or order granted a public utility by the
25  Commission under that Act shall as between public utilities be
26  deemed to be, and shall have except as provided in that Act the

 

 

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1  same force and effect as, a certificate of public convenience
2  and necessity issued pursuant to this Section.
3  No electric cooperative shall be made or shall become a
4  party to or shall be entitled to be heard or to otherwise
5  appear or participate in any proceeding initiated under this
6  Section for authorization of power plant construction and as
7  to matters as to which a remedy is available under the Electric
8  Supplier Act.
9  (f) Such certificates may be altered or modified by the
10  Commission, upon its own motion or upon application by the
11  person or corporation affected. Unless exercised within a
12  period of 2 years from the grant thereof, authority conferred
13  by a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the
14  Commission shall be null and void.
15  No certificate of public convenience and necessity shall
16  be construed as granting a monopoly or an exclusive privilege,
17  immunity or franchise.
18  (g) A public utility that undertakes any of the actions
19  described in items (1) through (3) of this subsection (g) or
20  that has obtained approval pursuant to Section 8-406.1 of this
21  Act shall not be required to comply with the requirements of
22  this Section to the extent such requirements otherwise would
23  apply. For purposes of this Section and Section 8-406.1 of
24  this Act, "high voltage electric service line" means an
25  electric line having a design voltage of 100,000 or more. For
26  purposes of this subsection (g), a public utility may do any of

 

 

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1  the following:
2  (1) replace or upgrade any existing high voltage
3  electric service line and related facilities,
4  notwithstanding its length;
5  (2) relocate any existing high voltage electric
6  service line and related facilities, notwithstanding its
7  length, to accommodate construction or expansion of a
8  roadway or other transportation infrastructure; or
9  (3) construct a high voltage electric service line and
10  related facilities that is constructed solely to serve a
11  single customer's premises or to provide a generator
12  interconnection to the public utility's transmission
13  system and that will pass under or over the premises owned
14  by the customer or generator to be served or under or over
15  premises for which the customer or generator has secured
16  the necessary right of way.
17  (h) A public utility seeking to construct a high-voltage
18  electric service line and related facilities (Project) must
19  show that the utility has held a minimum of 2 pre-filing public
20  meetings to receive public comment concerning the Project in
21  each county where the Project is to be located, no earlier than
22  6 months prior to filing an application for a certificate of
23  public convenience and necessity from the Commission. Notice
24  of the public meeting shall be published in a newspaper of
25  general circulation within the affected county once a week for
26  3 consecutive weeks, beginning no earlier than one month prior

 

 

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1  to the first public meeting. If the Project traverses 2
2  contiguous counties and where in one county the transmission
3  line mileage and number of landowners over whose property the
4  proposed route traverses is one-fifth or less of the
5  transmission line mileage and number of such landowners of the
6  other county, then the utility may combine the 2 pre-filing
7  meetings in the county with the greater transmission line
8  mileage and affected landowners. All other requirements
9  regarding pre-filing meetings shall apply in both counties.
10  Notice of the public meeting, including a description of the
11  Project, must be provided in writing to the clerk of each
12  county where the Project is to be located. A representative of
13  the Commission shall be invited to each pre-filing public
14  meeting.
15  (i) For applications filed after August 18, 2015 (the
16  effective date of Public Act 99-399), the Commission shall, by
17  certified mail, notify each owner of record of land, as
18  identified in the records of the relevant county tax assessor,
19  included in the right-of-way over which the utility seeks in
20  its application to construct a high-voltage electric line of
21  the time and place scheduled for the initial hearing on the
22  public utility's application. The utility shall reimburse the
23  Commission for the cost of the postage and supplies incurred
24  for mailing the notice.
25  (Source: P.A. 102-609, eff. 8-27-21; 102-662, eff. 9-15-21;
26  102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 102-931, eff. 5-27-22.)

 

 

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