Illinois Administrative Code › Title 83 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part 512 - OBLIGATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE GAS SUPPLIERS › Subpart B - MARKETING PRACTICES › Section 512.165 - Rate Notice to Customers

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Each AGS shall
				make publicly available on its website, without need for customer login, rates
				currently available to residential customers, including but not limited to fixed
				periodic charges and per-therm charges. Additionally, when a customer's rates change
				during the term of an agreement or contract, the AGS shall make the new rates
				available to that customer on its website, and, if applicable, through the
				customer's online account, at least 30 days prior to the effective date of any rate
				change. The AGS must disclose the period to which the rates will apply. In addition,
				each AGS shall provide the rate information to its residential variable rate
				customers who request it through the AGS' toll-free number. The customer's contract
				shall contain the website address and toll-free phone number through which a
				customer may obtain variable rate information in accordance with this
				Section.
b) If the AGS charges for
				residential variable rate customers are included on the utility's bill, the AGS
				shall use the allotted space on the utility's bill to disclose the customer's
				variable rate that is in effect at the time the bill is received by the customer and
				the percentage change, if any, of the variable rate from one monthly billing period
				to the next. When there is insufficient available allotted space on the utility bill
				for the AGS to make these disclosures each month, the AGS shall ensure that no
				residential variable rate customer receives consecutive monthly bills that fail to
				disclose upcoming variable rates in the bill's message section.
c) If the AGS bills its residential variable rate
				customers directly, the AGS shall ensure that those customers' bills always contain
				the variable rate information described in this Section. Additionally, every AGS
				that issues a single bill for delivery and supply shall include the utility gas
				supply cost.
d) If the natural gas
				utility's implementation of Section 19-135 prevents an AGS from complying with this
				Section, the AGS shall include a bill message that contains the toll-free phone
				number and website address where the variable rate information can be obtained by
				the customer. The requirements of subsections (b) and (c) to provide notifications
				in customer bills do not apply if the AGS sends the notifications required by this
				subsection via a written communication sent at the same time as the customer's
				monthly bill.
e) If a residential
				variable rate customer's rate increases by more than 20% from one monthly billing
				period to the next, in addition to any notice required by this Section, the AGS
				shall send a separate, dated, written notice to the customer informing the customer
				of the upcoming rate change and including the utility gas supply cost.
f) Subsections (a) through (e) shall not apply to
				contracts that disclose the formula that will allow a customer to determine the
				variable rate based on a publicly available, whether for free or a fee, index or
				benchmark. For contracts to which subsections (a) through (e) do not apply:
1) The AGS shall provide sufficient information on
				its website, or through the customer's online account to identify the inputs to the
				formula used to calculate the variable rate, including the timing and location of
				the index or benchmark price and any other information necessary to calculate the
				rate;
2) The AGS shall provide clear and
				unambiguous information on the index or benchmark and any risks represented by the
				potential volatility (price spikes) involved in the rate calculations; and
3) Notice of the rates shall be available on the
				AGS' website and by toll-free telephone as soon as reasonably practicable.