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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS-1997-083-R-97• 10/17/97, 10/22/97 A RESOLUTION Opposing Senate Bill 55 Regarding Electric Deregulation WHEREAS, the Electric Utility Industry is undergoing significant restructuring at the Federal and State level; and WHEREAS, the State of Illinois has joined with other states to study the impact of deregulation and industry restructuring; and WHEREAS, Governor James Edgar of Illinois had appointed a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed of individuals and groups interested and experts knowledgeable in • the electric utility area; and WHEREAS, TAG set forth a set of principal issues which they believed needed to be resolved in restructuring the electric utility industry in Illinois and reforming its regulation; and WHEREAS, the City of Evanston pursuant to Resolution 10-R-97 did adopt a set of principles recommended by the Evanston Energy Commission which were substantially based upon the issues set forth by TAG. These principles are as set forth in Appendix A attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference; and WHEREAS, the City Council pursuant to Resolution 10-R-97 did encourage the Illinois Legislature to move forward with due diligence to address this critical issue; and • WHEREAS, the Illinois Legislation is considering Senate Bill No. 55; and 1 WHEREAS, Evanston Energy Commission has reviewed Senate Bill No. 55; and • WHEREAS, the Energy Commission at its October 13, 1997 meeting did determine that Senate Bill 55 is not consistent with the principles sets forth in Appendix A; and WHEREAS, the Energy Commission did recommend that the City of Evanston not support the passage of Senate Bill 55 in its present form, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVANSTON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS: Bill No. 55. SECTION 1: That the City of Evanston does not support the passage of Senate SECTION 2: That the State Legislators representing the citizens of the City of Evanston are encouraged to not support Senate Bill 55. SECTION 3: That this Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after • the date of its passage and approval in the manner required by law. ATTEST: Mayor Ci Lerk Adopted: J- , 1997 2 • APPENDIX A • Areas of Agreement with the Technical Advisory Group 1. Retail direct access can and should be allowed. It is a question of when, not whether. 2. All participants have a compelling interest in maintenance of safe and reliable electric service and a utility infrastructure that is capable of providing it. 3. There must be a speedy transition period and transition mechanisms to enable electric utilities to move from the current (and Historic) method of regulation to a system that is largely market and competition driven. 4. Evanston does not support legislatively -imposed stranded cost recovery mechanisms. 5. If there are regulatorily-imposed stranded cost recovery mechanisms, utilities should mitigate their potential stranded costs. 6. Restructuring and regulatory reform must be accomplished in a way that results, ultimately, in all customers, whether aggregated or not, having the opportunity to benefit from the competitive market. Further, if there is a transition period during which customers become eligible to choose direct access at varying points in time, other benefits should be provided to those customers not yet allowed direct access during that period. • 7. Aggregation of customer loads, particularly by smaller customers, to access the competitive market must be allowed. Local units of government must be given the option to become aggregators. Electric utilities must provided non-discriminatory transmission and delivery service to all suppliers and customers at a price based on the cost of service. 9. All electric power suppliers and non -utility suppliers must follow the technical and operation rules, policies, procedures, and practices needed to maintain the integrity of the integrated transmission and distribution system. 10. A method must be developed to,fund universal service and other social policy objectives that is competitively neutral and spreads the burden among all market participants. 11. Taxes applicable to Illinois electric utilities -including at a minimum the Public Utilities Revenue Tax -must be modified or replaced with competitively neutral taxes applicable to all market participants that maintain(or increase) the states' and local government's revenues from this source. is