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1 AN ACT concerning regulation.


2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

3represented in the General Assembly:



4 Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing 
5Sections 19-105 and 19-111 as follows:



6 (220 ILCS 5/19-105)


7 Sec. 19-105. Definitions. For the purposes of this Article, 
8the following
terms shall be defined as set forth in this 
9Section.

10 "Alternative gas supplier" means every person, 
11cooperative, corporation,
municipal corporation, company, 
12association, joint stock company or
association, firm,

13partnership, individual, or other entity, their lessees, 
14trustees, or receivers
appointed by
any court whatsoever, that 
15offers gas for sale, lease, or in exchange for other
value

16received to one or more customers, or that engages in the 
17furnishing of gas to
one or
more customers, and shall include 
18affiliated interests of a gas utility,
resellers,
aggregators 
19and marketers, but shall not include (i) gas utilities (or any

20agent of the gas
utility to the extent the gas utility provides 
21tariffed services to customers
through an
agent); (ii) public 
22utilities that are owned and operated by any political

23subdivision, public institution of higher education or 
 
 
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1municipal corporation
of this State, or public utilities that 
2are owned by a political
subdivision, public institution of 
3higher education, or municipal corporation
and operated by any 
4of its lessees or operating agents; (iii)
natural gas 
5cooperatives that are not-for-profit corporations operated for

6the purpose of administering, on a cooperative basis, the

7furnishing of natural gas for the benefit of their members who

8are
consumers of natural gas; and (iv) the ownership or 
9operation
of a facility that sells compressed natural gas at 
10retail to the public for use
only as a motor vehicle fuel and 
11the selling of compressed natural gas at
retail to the public 
12for use only as a motor vehicle fuel.

13 "Gas utility" means a public utility, as defined in Section 
143-105 of this
Act,
that
has a franchise, license, permit, or 
15right to furnish or sell gas
or transportation services to

16customers within a service area.

17 "Non-tariffed service" means any service provided by an 
18alternative gas supplier to a residential customer or a small 
19commercial customer. 
20 "Residential customer" means a customer who receives gas 
21utility service for
household purposes distributed to a 
22dwelling of 2 or fewer units which is
billed under
a 
23residential rate or gas utility service for household purposes 
24distributed to
a dwelling
unit or units which is billed under a 
25residential rate and is registered by a
separate meter
for each 
26dwelling unit.

 
 
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1 "Sales agent" means any employee, agent, independent 
2contractor, consultant, or other person that is engaged by the 
3alternative gas supplier to solicit customers to purchase, 
4enroll in, or contract for alternative gas service on behalf of 
5an alternative gas supplier. 
6 "Service area" means (i) the geographic area within which a 
7gas utility was
lawfully entitled to provide gas to customers 
8as of the effective date
of this
amendatory
Act of the 92nd 
9General Assembly and includes (ii) the location of any
customer 
10to
which the gas utility was lawfully providing gas utility 
11services on such
effective date.

12 "Single billing" means the combined billing of the services 
13provided by both a natural gas utility and an alternative gas 
14supplier to any customer who has enrolled in a customer choice 
15program.
16 "Small commercial customer" means a nonresidential retail 
17customer of
a
natural gas utility
who consumed 5,000 or fewer 
18therms of natural gas
during the previous year; provided that 
19any alternative gas
supplier may remove the customer from 
20designation as a "small
commercial customer" if the customer 
21consumes more than 5,000 therms
of natural gas in any calendar 
22year after becoming a customer of the
alternative gas supplier. 
23In determining whether a customer has consumed 5,000 or fewer 
24therms of natural gas during the previous year, usage by the 
25same commercial customer shall be aggregated to include usage 
26at the same premises even if measured by more than one meter, 
 
 
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1and to include usage at multiple premises. Nothing in this 
2Section creates an affirmative obligation on a gas utility to 
3monitor or inform customers or alternative gas suppliers as to 
4a customer's status as a small commercial customer as that term 
5is defined herein. Nothing in this Section relieves a gas 
6utility from any obligation to provide information upon request 
7to a customer, alternative gas supplier, the Commission, or 
8others necessary to determine whether a customer meets the 
9classification of small commercial customers as that term is 
10defined herein. 

11 "Tariffed service" means a service provided to customers by 
12a gas
utility as
defined by its rates on file with the 
13Commission pursuant to the provisions of
Article IX
of this 
14Act.

15 "Transportation services" means those services provided by 
16the gas utility
that
are necessary in order for the storage, 
17transmission and distribution systems
to
function so that

18customers located in the gas utility's service area can receive 
19gas from
suppliers other
than the gas utility and shall 
20include, without limitation, standard metering
and billing

21services.

22(Source: P.A. 95-1051, eff. 4-10-09; 96-435, eff. 1-1-10; 
2396-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)


24 (220 ILCS 5/19-111)
25 Sec. 19-111. Material changes in business.
 
 
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1 (a) The provisions of this Section shall apply only to 
2alternative gas suppliers serving or seeking to serve 
3residential or small commercial customers and only to the 
4extent such alternative gas suppliers provide services to 
5residential or small commercial customers.
6 (b) Alternative gas suppliers shall file with the 
7Commission a notification of any material change to the 
8information supplied in a certification application within 30 
9days of such material change. 
10  (1) An alternative gas supplier shall file such notice 
11 under the docket number assigned to the alternative gas 
12 supplier's certification application, whichever is the 
13 most recent. The supplier shall also serve such notice upon 
14 the gas utility company serving customers in the service 
15 area where the alternative gas supplier is certified to 
16 provide service.
17  (2) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the 
18 Commission may (i) suspend, rescind, or conditionally 
19 rescind an alternative gas supplier's certificate if it 
20 determines that the material change will adversely affect 
21 the alternative gas supplier's fitness or ability to 
22 provide the services for which it is certified or (ii) 
23 require the alternative gas supplier to provide reasonable 
24 financial assurances sufficient to protect their customers 
25 and gas utilities from default. 
26 (c) Material changes to the information contained in or 
 
 
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1supplied with a certification application include, but are not 
2limited to, the following:
3  (1) Any significant change in ownership (an ownership 
4 interest of 5% or more) of the applicant or alternative gas 
5 supplier.
6  (2) An affiliation with any gas utility or change of an 
7 affiliation with a gas utility in this State.
8  (3) Retirement or other long-term changes to the 
9 operational status of supply resources relied upon by the 
10 alternative gas supplier to provide alternative gas 
11 service. Changes in the volume of supply from any given 
12 supply resource replaced by a comparable supply resource do 
13 not need to be reported.
14  (4) Revocation, restriction, or termination of any 
15 interconnection or service agreement with a pipeline 
16 company or natural gas company relied upon by an 
17 alternative gas supplier to provide alternative retail 
18 natural gas service, but only if such revocation, 
19 restriction, or termination creates a situation in which 
20 the alternative gas supplier does not meet the tariffed 
21 capacity requirements of the relevant Illinois natural gas 
22 utility or utilities.
23  (5) If the alternative gas supplier has a long-term 
24 bond rating from Standard & Poor's or its successor, or 
25 Fitch Ratings or its successor, or Moody's Investor Service 
26 or its successor, and the alternative gas supplier's 
 
 
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1 long-term bond rating falls below BBB as reported by 
2 Standard & Poor's or its successor or Fitch Ratings or its 
3 successor or below Baa3 as reported by Moody's Investors 
4 Service or its successor.
5  (6) The applicant or alternative gas supplier has or 
6 intends to file for reorganization, protection from 
7 creditors, or any other form of bankruptcy with any court.
8  (7) Any judgment, finding, or ruling by a court or 
9 regulatory agency that could affect an alternative gas 
10 supplier's fitness or ability to provide service in this 
11 State.
12  (8) Any change in the alternative gas supplier's name 
13 or logo, including without limitation any change in the 
14 alternative gas supplier's legal name, fictitious names, 
15 or assumed business names, except for logos and names the 
16 alternative gas supplier provided as part of its original 
17 certification process or that the alternative gas supplier 
18 previously provided to the Commission under this Section. 

19 (d) An alternative gas supplier shall provide annually to 
20the Commission a list of all non-tariffed services available to 
21customers in a service area for publication on the Commission's 
22website. 
23(Source: P.A. 95-1051, eff. 4-10-09.)