220 ILCS 5/9-102.1
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 220 - UTILITIES|220 ILCS 5/ - Public Utilities Act.|Article IX - Rates

Sec. 9-102.1. Negotiated rates.(a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Section of Article  IX of this Act, the Commission may approve one or more rate schedules filed by  a public utility that enable the public utility to provide service to customers  under contracts that are treated as proprietary and confidential by the  Commission notwithstanding the filing thereof.  Service under the contracts  shall be provided on such terms and for such rates or charges as the public  utility and the customer agree upon, without regard to any rate schedules the  public utility may have filed with the Commission under any other Section of  Article IX of this Act.  The contracts shall be filed with the Commission,  notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any schedule referred to in  subsection (b) of this Section.  For purposes of  Section 3-121 of this Act, the amounts collected under the contracts shall  be treated as having been collected under rates that the public utility is  required to file under Section 9-102 of this Act.(b) Each schedule described in subsection (a) that became effective before  August 25, 1995, and any contract thereunder, shall be deemed to have become  effective in accordance with its terms, subject to the provisions of any  Commission order that purported to authorize the schedule.(c) In any determination of the rates to be charged by an electric public  utility having contracts in effect pursuant to schedules filed under this  Section or schedules referred to in subsection (b) of this Section, the  revenues  received, or to be received, by the electric public utility under each such  contract shall be deemed to be equal to the revenues, based on the actual usage  of the customer, that would have been, or would be, received under the lowest  rates available under schedules on file pursuant to Section 9-201, applicable  to a class of consumers that includes the customer, including any applicable  riders or surcharges, plus any revenues that would have been, or would be  required to pay for investment or expenses incurred by the electric public  utility that would not be incurred if service were provided under such lowest  rates.  The cost of capital used to determine rates to be charged by the  electric public utility shall be that which would have obtained if service were  provided under such lowest rates.  The provisions of this subsection (c) shall not apply:  (1) in any  determination of the rates to be charged by a gas public utility, and (2) in  any determination of the rates to be charged by an electric public utility, to  contracts in effect prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996  pursuant  to economic development schedules referred to in Section 9-241 of this Act,  under which the electric public utility is authorized to provide discounts for  new electrical sales that result from the location of new or expanded  industrial facilities in the electric public utility's service territory.  The  preceding sentence shall not be construed to diminish the Commission's existing  authority as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996 to allocate  the costs  of all public utilities equitably, in any determination of rates, so as to set  rates which are just and reasonable.(d) Any contract filed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of  this  Section  shall be accorded  proprietary and confidential treatment by the Commission and otherwise deemed  to be exempt from the requirements of Sections 9-102, 9-103, 9-104, 9-201,  9-240, 9-241, and 9-243, except to the extent the Commission may, in its  discretion,  order otherwise.  The Commission shall permit any statutory consumer protection  agency to have access to any such contract,  provided that: (i) the agency, and each individual that will  have access on behalf of the agency, agree in writing to keep such contract  confidential, such agreement to be in a form  established by the Commission; and (ii) access is limited to full-time  employees  of the agency and such other persons as are acceptable to the public utility  or,  if the agency and the public utility are unable to agree, are determined to be  acceptable by the Commission.  "Statutory consumer protection agency" means any  office, corporation, or other agency created by any   Illinois statute as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1996  that has an express statutory duty to represent the interest of public utility  customers, any such agency subsequently created by act of the General Assembly  that expressly authorizes  the agency to access the information described in this subsection, or the  Attorney General of the State of Illinois.(e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to give a public utility the  authority to provide electric or natural gas service to a customer the public  utility is not otherwise lawfully entitled to serve.  Nothing in this Section  shall be construed to affect in any way the service rights of electric  suppliers as granted under the Electric Supplier Act.(f) The provisions of subsection (b) of this Section 9-102.1 are intended  to be severable from the remaining provisions of this Act; and therefore, no  determination of the validity of the provisions of subsection (b) shall affect  the validity of the remaining provisions of this Section 9-102.1.(g) After January 1, 2001, no contract for electric service may be entered  into under any schedule filed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of  this Section or under any schedule referred to in subsection (b) of this  Section.  The foregoing provision shall not affect any contract entered into prior to  January 1, 2001.(h) Nothing contained in this Section shall be construed as preventing any  customer or other appropriate party from filing a complaint or otherwise  requesting that the Commission investigate the reasonableness of the terms and  conditions of any schedule filed under this Section or referred to in  subsection  (b) of this Section.  Nothing contained in this Section shall be construed as  affecting the right of any customer or public utility to enter into and enforce  any contract providing for the amounts to be charged for service where the  contract is or has been filed pursuant to any other Section of this Act.  Nothing contained in this Section shall be construed to limit any Commission  authority to authorize a public utility to engage in experimental programs  relating to competition, including direct access programs.  (Source: P.A. 100-840, eff. 8-13-18.)