Broad Illinois Clean Energy Bill Would Subject Retail Suppliers To Carbon-Free Supply Requirements
March 01,2019
An Illinois bill (SB2132) addressing a variety of clean energy issues would subject retail suppliers to carbon reduction requirements
The bill provides as follows:
Sec. 16-115E. Carbon-free supply for alternative retail
electric suppliers and electric utilities operating outside
their service territories.
(a) Beginning in the delivery year that commences on June
1, 2021, an alternative retail electric supplier shall be
responsible for procuring cost-effective electricity that has
an annual carbon dioxide emissions rate, in pounds of CO2
emissions per megawatt-hour, no greater than the annual targets in subsection (k) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act.
(b) Each alternative retail electric supplier shall, by
September 1, 2021 and by September 1 of each year thereafter,
prepare and submit to the Commission a public report, in a
format to be specified by the Commission, that provides
information certifying compliance by the alternative retail
electric supplier with this Section, including the source,
quantity and hourly CO2 emissions of supplied electricity, and any other information that the Commission determines necessary to ensure compliance with this Section.
The referenced subsection (k) of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act under the bill would provide as follows:
(k) Carbon-free resources.
(1) Carbon-free capacity. Beginning with the procurement for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2022, if possible, but no later than for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2023, the Agency shall develop a plan and conduct a procurement of capacity from qualified resources as part of its procurement plan described in Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act with the goals of reducing pollution from the power sector, lowering consumer costs, and creating investment opportunities for new renewable resources. For the purposes of this subsection, "qualified resources" means (A) energy efficiency measures that are implemented pursuant to plans approved by the Commission under Sections 8-103, 8-103B,
and 8-104 of the Public Utilities Act; (B) renewable energy
resources; (C) zero emission facilities; and (D) resources
as part of a clean peak program under subsection (l) of
this Section, subject to the requirements in the open
access tariff and manuals of PJM Interconnection and
approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The
capacity portion of qualified resources shall be counted
toward fulfillment of capacity obligations within the
local delivery area of an electric utility serving more
than 3,000,000 retail customers that is a member of PJM
Interconnection LLC, as defined in the open access tariff
and manuals of PJM Interconnection and approved by the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as applicable. The
Agency shall calculate the eligible capacity contribution
of qualified resources procured, and match it to an
equivalent megawatt quantity or portion of capacity
obligation of load within the local delivery zone. The
resulting capacity and load obligation shall be reported in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Open
Access Transmission Tariff and manuals of PJM
Interconnection LLC
(2) Carbon-free supply. Beginning with the delivery year commencing June 1, 2021, the Agency shall ensure its procurement of energy supply, in accordance with the requirements of Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act for the eligible retail customers of electric utilities that on December 31, 2005 provided electric service to at least 100,000 customers in Illinois, achieves a progressive annual ramp down to an emission rate of zero pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour by May 31, 2030. At a minimum, energy supply procured by the Agency through new long-term bundled contracts shall be:
(A) 1,000 pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2021.
(B) 500 pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2026.
(C) zero pounds per megawatt-hour of carbon dioxide emissions per megawatt-hour for the delivery year beginning June 1, 2030 and thereafter.
The bill would further require utilities to offer residential default service customers a non-hourly Time Of Use supply rate
The TOU utility supply rate tariff shall include 3 time blocks: a peak time block defined as 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays, an off-peak time block defined as 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays, and a super-off-peak time block defined as all other hours. The tariff shall create price ratios between the blocks as follows: the super-off-peak time block price shall be no less than zero but no greater than one-half of the price of the off-peak time block price, and the off-peak time block price shall be no greater than one-half of the price of the peak time block price.
The bill calls for such utility TOU supply rates to be actively marketed by a third-party administrator
The bill also ostensibly authorizes a potential PJM capacity market carve-out, such that load would not be included in the PJM base residual auction, as follows: "Beginning with the procurement for the delivery year commencing June 1, 2021, the [Illinois Power] Agency shall for each year develop a plan, as part of its procurement plan, to conduct a procurement of capacity from qualified resources needed to meet capacity requirements of the retail customers of electric utilities that serve more than 3,000,000 retail customers and are located in the PJM interconnection, subject to the open access tariff and manuals of PJM Interconnection and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The capacity procurement plan shall be updated annually and shall include electricity generated from renewable resources sufficient to achieve the renewable portfolio standards as specified in this Act."
The bill also sets requirements for the procurement of long-term "bundled" renewable energy supply by the Illinois Power Agency
The bill addresses a variety of other clean energy issues such as distributed generation, storage and energy efficiency
Among other things, the bill would provide that an electric utility serving more than 100,000 retail customers may propose one or more Clean Energy Empowerment Zone pilot projects to the Illinois Commerce Commission to conduct a competitive procurement for independently-owned energy storage systems to be located in Clean Energy Empowerment Zones.
