220 ILCS 5/16-115A
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 220 - UTILITIES|220 ILCS 5/ - Public Utilities Act.|Article XVI - Electric Service Customer Choice And Rate Relief Law Of 1997

Sec. 16-115A. Obligations of alternative retail electric  suppliers.(a) An alternative retail electric supplier:(i) shall comply with the requirements imposed on     public utilities by Sections 8-201 through 8-207, 8-301, 8-505 and 8-507 of this Act, to the extent that these Sections have application to the services being offered by the alternative retail electric supplier;(ii) shall continue to comply with the requirements     for certification stated in subsection (d) of Section 16-115;(iii) by May 31, 2020 and every June 30 thereafter,     shall submit to the Commission and the Office of the Attorney General the rates the retail electric supplier charged to residential customers in the prior year, including each distinct rate charged and whether the rate was a fixed or variable rate, the basis for the variable rate, and any fees charged in addition to the supply rate, including monthly fees, flat fees, or other service charges; and(iv) shall make publicly available on its website,     without the need for a customer login, rate information for all of its variable, time-of-use, and fixed rate contracts currently available to residential customers, including, but not limited to, fixed monthly charges, early termination fees, and kilowatt-hour charges.(b) An alternative retail electric supplier shall obtain verifiable  authorization from a customer, in a form or manner approved by the Commission  consistent with Section 2EE of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business  Practices Act, before the customer is switched from another supplier.(c) No alternative retail electric supplier, or electric  utility other than the electric utility in whose service area  a customer is located, shall (i) enter into or employ any  arrangements which have the effect of preventing a retail  customer with a maximum electrical demand of less than one  megawatt from having access to the services of the electric  utility in whose service area the customer is located or (ii)  charge retail customers for such access. This subsection shall not be  construed to prevent an arms-length agreement between a  supplier and a retail customer that sets a term of service, notice  period for terminating service and provisions governing early  termination through a tariff or contract as allowed by Section 16-119.(d) An alternative retail electric supplier that is  certified to serve residential or small commercial retail  customers shall not:(1) deny service to a customer or group of customers     nor establish any differences as to prices, terms, conditions, services, products, facilities, or in any other respect, whereby such denial or differences are based upon race, gender or income, except as provided in Section 16-115E.(2) deny service to a customer or group of customers     based on locality nor establish any unreasonable difference as to prices, terms, conditions, services, products, or facilities as between localities.(e) An alternative retail electric supplier shall comply  with the following requirements with respect to the marketing,  offering and provision of products or services to residential  and small commercial retail customers:(i) All marketing materials, including, but not     limited to, electronic marketing materials, in-person solicitations, and telephone solicitations, shall contain information that adequately discloses the prices, terms, and conditions of the products or services that the alternative retail electric supplier is offering or selling to the customer and shall disclose the current utility electric supply price to compare applicable at the time the alternative retail electric supplier is offering or selling the products or services to the customer and shall disclose the date on which the utility electric supply price to compare became effective and the date on which it will expire. The utility electric supply price to compare shall be the sum of the electric supply charge and the transmission services charge and shall not include the purchased electricity adjustment. The disclosure shall include a statement that the price to compare does not include the purchased electricity adjustment, and, if applicable, the range of the purchased electricity adjustment. All marketing materials, including, but not limited to, electronic marketing materials, in-person solicitations, and telephone solicitations, shall include the following statement:"(Name of the alternative retail electric         supplier) is not the same entity as your electric delivery company. You are not required to enroll with (name of alternative retail electric supplier). Beginning on (effective date), the electric supply price to compare is (price in cents per kilowatt hour). The electric utility electric supply price will expire on (expiration date). The utility electric supply price to compare does not include the purchased electricity adjustment factor. For more information go to the Illinois Commerce Commission's free website at www.pluginillinois.org.".If applicable, the statement shall  also include the     following statement:"The purchased electricity adjustment factor may         range between +.5 cents and -.5 cents per kilowatt hour.".This paragraph (i) does not apply to goodwill or     institutional advertising.(ii) Before any customer is switched from another     supplier, the alternative retail electric supplier shall give the customer written information that adequately discloses, in plain language, the prices, terms and conditions of the products and services being offered and sold to the customer. This written information shall be provided in a language in which the customer subject to the marketing or solicitation is able to understand and communicate, and the alternative retail electric supplier shall not switch a customer who is unable to understand and communicate in a language in which the marketing or solicitation was conducted. The alternative retail electric supplier shall comply with Section 2N of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.(iii) An alternative retail electric supplier shall     provide documentation to the Commission and to customers that substantiates any claims made by the alternative retail electric supplier regarding the technologies and fuel types used to generate the electricity offered or sold to customers.(iv) The alternative retail electric supplier shall     provide to the customer (1) itemized billing statements that describe the products and services provided to the customer and their prices, and (2) an additional statement, at least annually, that adequately discloses the average monthly prices, and the terms and conditions, of the products and services sold to the customer.(v) All in-person and telephone solicitations shall     be conducted in, translated into, and provided in a language in which the consumer subject to the marketing or solicitation is able to understand and communicate. An alternative retail electric supplier shall terminate a solicitation if the consumer subject to the marketing or communication is unable to understand and communicate in the language in which the marketing or solicitation is being conducted. An alternative retail electric supplier shall comply with Section 2N of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.(vi) Each alternative retail electric supplier shall     conduct training for individual representatives engaged in in-person solicitation and telemarketing to residential customers on behalf of that alternative retail electric supplier prior to conducting any such solicitations on the alternative retail electric supplier's behalf. Each alternative retail electric supplier shall submit a copy of its training material to the Commission on an annual basis and the Commission shall have the right to review and require updates to the material. After initial training, each alternative retail electric supplier shall be required to conduct refresher training for its individual representatives every 6 months.(f) An alternative retail electric supplier may limit  the overall size or availability of a service offering by  specifying one or more of the following:  a maximum number of  customers, maximum amount of electric load to be served, time  period during which the offering will be available, or other  comparable limitation, but not including the geographic  locations of customers within the area which the alternative  retail electric supplier is certificated to serve.  The  alternative retail electric supplier shall file the terms and  conditions of such service offering including the applicable  limitations with the Commission prior to making the service  offering available to customers.(g) Nothing in this Section shall be construed as  preventing an alternative retail electric supplier,  which is an affiliate of, or which contracts with, (i) an  industry or trade organization or association, (ii) a  membership organization or association that exists for a  purpose other than the purchase of electricity, or (iii)  another organization that meets criteria established in a rule  adopted by the Commission, from offering through the  organization or association services at prices, terms and  conditions that are available solely to the members of the  organization or association.  (Source: P.A. 101-590, eff. 1-1-20; 102-459, eff. 8-20-21.)