220 ILCS 5/16-125
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. 16-125. Transmission and distribution reliability  requirements.(a) To assure the reliable delivery of electricity to all  customers in this State and the effective implementation of  the provisions of this Article, the Commission shall, within  180 days of the effective date of this Article, adopt rules  and regulations for assessing and assuring the reliability of  the transmission and distribution systems and facilities that  are under the Commission's jurisdiction.(b) These rules and regulations shall require each electric utility or  alternative retail electric supplier owning, controlling, or operating  transmission and distribution facilities and equipment subject to the  Commission's jurisdiction, referred to in this Section as "jurisdictional  entities", to adopt and implement procedures for restoring transmission and  distribution services to customers after transmission or distribution outages  on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to whether a customer has chosen  the electric utility, an affiliate of the electric utility, or another entity  as its provider of electric power and energy.  These rules and regulations  shall also, at a minimum, specifically require each jurisdictional entity to  submit annually to the Commission.(1) the number and duration of planned and unplanned     outages during the prior year and their impacts on customers;(2) outages that were controllable and outages that     were exacerbated in scope or duration by the condition of facilities, equipment or premises or by the actions or inactions of operating personnel or agents;(3) customer service interruptions that were due     solely to the actions or inactions of an alternative retail electric supplier or a public utility in supplying power or energy;(4) a detailed report of the age, current condition,     reliability and performance of the jurisdictional entity's existing transmission and distribution facilities, which shall include, without limitation, the following data:(i) a summary of the jurisdictional entity's         outages and voltage variances reportable under the Commission's rules;(ii) the jurisdictional entity's expenditures for         transmission construction and maintenance, the ratio of those expenditures to the jurisdictional entity's transmission investment, and the average remaining depreciation lives of the entity's transmission facilities, expressed as a percentage of total depreciation lives;(iii) the jurisdictional entity's expenditures         for distribution construction and maintenance, the ratio of those expenditures to the jurisdictional entity's distribution investment, and the average remaining depreciation lives of the entity's distribution facilities, expressed as a percentage of total depreciation lives;(iv) a customer satisfaction survey covering,         among other areas identified in Commission rules, reliability, customer service, and understandability of the jurisdictional entity's services and prices; and(v) the corresponding information, in the same         format, for the previous 3 years, if available;(5) a plan for future investment and reliability     improvements for the jurisdictional entity's transmission and distribution facilities that will ensure continued reliable delivery of energy to customers and provide the delivery reliability needed for fair and open competition; and(6) a report of the jurisdictional entity's     implementation of its plan filed pursuant to subparagraph (5) for the previous reporting period.(c) The Commission rules shall set forth the criteria  that will be used to assess each jurisdictional entity's annual report and  evaluate its reliability performance.  Such criteria  must take into account, at a minimum: the items required to be  reported in subsection (b); the relevant characteristics of  the area served; the age and condition of the system's  equipment and facilities; good engineering practices; the  costs of potential actions; and the benefits of avoiding the  risks of service disruption.(d) At least every 3 years, beginning in the year  the Commission issues the rules required by subsection  (a) or the following year if the rules are issued after June  1, the Commission shall assess the annual report of each  jurisdictional entity and evaluate its reliability performance.  The  Commission's evaluation shall  include specific identification of, and recommendations  concerning, any potential reliability problems that it has  identified as a result of its evaluation.(e) In the event that more than either (i) 30,000 (or some other number, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers or (ii) 0.8% (or some other percentage, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers, whichever is less, of an electric  utility are subjected to a continuous power interruption of  4 hours or more that results in the transmission of power  at less than 50% of the standard voltage, or that results in  the total loss of power transmission, the utility shall be  responsible for compensating customers affected by that interruption for 4  hours or more for all  actual damages, which shall not include consequential  damages, suffered as a result of the power interruption.  The utility shall also reimburse the affected municipality,  county, or other unit of local government in which the power  interruption has taken place for all  emergency and contingency expenses incurred by the unit of  local government as a result of the interruption.  A waiver  of the requirements of this subsection may be granted by the  Commission in instances in which the utility can show that  the power interruption was a result of any  one or more of the following causes:(1) Unpreventable damage due to weather events or     conditions.(2) Customer tampering.(3) Unpreventable damage due to civil or     international unrest or animals.(4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a     party other than the utility, its employees, agents, or contractors.  Loss of revenue and expenses incurred in complying with this  subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers.(f) In the event of a power surge or other fluctuation  that causes damage and affects more than either (i) 30,000 (or some other number, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers or (ii) 0.8% (or some other percentage, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers, whichever is less, the electric utility  shall pay to  affected customers the replacement value of all goods  damaged as a result of the power surge or other fluctuation  unless the utility can show that the power surge or other  fluctuation was due to one or more of the following causes:(1) Unpreventable damage due to weather events or     conditions.(2) Customer tampering.(3) Unpreventable damage due to civil or     international unrest or animals.(4) Damage to utility equipment or other actions by a     party other than the utility, its employees, agents, or contractors.  Loss of revenue and expenses incurred in complying with this  subsection may not be recovered from ratepayers.  Customers with respect to  whom a waiver has been granted by the Commission pursuant to subparagraphs  (1)-(4) of subsections (e) and (f) shall not count toward the either (i) 30,000 (or some other number, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers or (ii) 0.8% (or some other percentage, but only as provided by statute) of the total customers  required therein.(g) Whenever an electric utility must perform  planned or routine maintenance or repairs on its equipment  that will result in transmission of power at less than 50%  of the standard voltage, loss of power, or power fluctuation  (as defined in subsection (f)), the utility shall make  reasonable efforts to notify potentially affected customers  no less than 24 hours in advance of performance of the  repairs or maintenance.(h) Remedies provided for under this Section may be  sought exclusively through the Illinois Commerce Commission  as provided under Section 10-109 of this Act.  Damages  awarded under this Section for a power interruption shall be  limited to actual damages, which shall not include  consequential damages, and litigation costs. A utility's request for a waiver of this Section shall be timely if filed no later than 30 days after the date on which a claim is filed with the Commission seeking damages or expense reimbursement under this Section. No utility shall be liable under this Section while a request for waiver is pending.  Damage awards  may not be paid out of utility rate funds.(i) The provisions of this Section shall not in any way  diminish or replace other civil or administrative remedies  available to a customer or a class of customers.(j) The Commission shall by rule require an electric  utility to maintain service records detailing  information on each instance of transmission of power at  less than 50% of the standard voltage, loss of power, or  power fluctuation (as defined in subsection (f)), that  affects 10 or more customers.  Occurrences that are  momentary shall not be required to be recorded or reported.  The service record shall include, for each occurrence, the  following information:(1) The date.(2) The time of occurrence.(3) The duration of the incident.(4) The number of customers affected.(5) A description of the cause.(6) The geographic area affected.(7) The specific equipment involved in the     fluctuation or interruption.(8) A description of measures taken to restore     service.(9) A description of measures taken to remedy the     cause of the power interruption or fluctuation.(10) A description of measures taken to prevent     future occurrence.(11) The amount of remuneration, if any, paid to     affected customers.(12) A statement of whether the fixed charge was     waived for affected customers.Copies of the records containing this information shall  be available for public inspection at the utility's offices,  and copies thereof may be obtained upon payment of a fee not  exceeding the reasonable cost of reproduction.  A copy of  each record shall be filed with the Commission and shall be  available for public inspection.  Copies of the records may  be obtained upon payment of a fee not exceeding the  reasonable cost of reproduction.(k) The requirements of subsections (e) through (j) of  this Section shall apply only to an electric public utility  having 100,000 or more customers.  (Source: P.A. 95-1027, eff. 6-1-09.)