Illinois Administrative Code › Title 83 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part 412 - OBLIGATIONS OF RETAIL ELECTRIC SUPPLIERS › Subpart A - GENERAL › Section 412.10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Act" means the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS
				  5].
"Alternative retail electric supplier" or "ARES" means alternative
				  retail electric supplier as defined in Section 16-102 of the Public Utilities
				  Act
.
"ARES sales agent" means any employee, agent, independent
				  contractor, consultant, or other person who is engaged by an ARES to solicit
				  customers to purchase, enroll in or contract for electric power and energy service
				  on behalf of an ARES. ARES sales agent does not include any agent, broker or
				  consultant licensed under Section 16-115C of the Public Utilities Act that is acting
				  as agent for the customer and not soliciting enrollments on behalf of any individual
				  ARES.
"Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.
"Complaint" means an objection made to an ARES by a customer or
				  other entity as to its charges, facilities or service, the disposal of which
				  complaint requires investigation or analysis.
"Customer," when used without additional modifying language, shall
				  mean small commercial retail customers and residential customers collectively, as
				  those terms are defined in this Section.
"Early termination fee" or "ETF" means a fee or penalty for
				  terminating an agreement or contract for electric power and energy service provided
				  by the ARES before the end of the contract term.
"Electric utility" means an electric utility as defined in Section
				  16-102 of the Public Utilities Act.
"Enrollment" means the process by which an ARES submits or
				  executes a change in a customer's selection of an electric supplier, enters into and
				  effectuates a contract with a customer to provide the supply portion of electric
				  service and the RES submits a valid direct access service request to the utility to
				  effectuate that contract.
"Fixed rate" means that the per-kWh charge for electric power and
				  energy service remains the same for the term of the contract.
"Goodwill and institutional advertising" means any advertising
				  either on a local or national basis designed primarily to bring the ARES's name
				  before the general public in such a way to improve the image of the ARES or to
				  promote the ARES or the industry, and that does not:
contain information about prices, terms, or conditions of retail
				  electric supply products or services offered by ARES to customers; or
direct or induce customers to sign up for such products or
				  services.
"Inbound enrollment call" means a telephone call to an ARES sales
				  agent initiated by a customer that results in either an enrollment or a change of
				  provision of that customer's electric power and energy service.
"In-person solicitation" means any sale initiated or conducted
				  when an ARES sales agent is physically present with the customer.
"Letter of Agency" or "LOA" means the document described in
				  Section 2EE of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act
				  [815 ILCS
				  505] and referenced in Section 16-115A of the Public
				  Utilities Act.
"Pending enrollment" means that a valid direct access service
				  request has been submitted by an ARES and accepted by an electric utility, for which
				  the beginning meter read date upon which the switch will become effective has not
				  yet occurred.
"Public Utility" has the same meaning as "public utility" as
				  defined by Section 3-105 of the Act.
"
Renewable energy credit
" or "REC"
means
				  a tradeable credit that represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt
				  hour
(1,000 kWh)
of energy produced from a renewable energy
				  resource.
[20 ILCS 3855/1-10]
"
Renewable energy resources
" means, according to
				  42 USC
				  7372, any energy resource that has recently
				  originated in the sun.
"Renewable energy resources" includes energy and its
				  associated renewable energy credit or renewable energy credits from wind, solar
				  thermal energy, photovoltaic cells and panels, biodiesel, anaerobic digestion, crops
				  and untreated and unadulterated organic waste biomass, tree waste, hydropower that
				  does not involve new construction or significant expansion of hydropower dams, and
				  landfill gas produced in
Illinois.
"Renewable energy resources"
				  does not include the incineration or burning of tires, garbage, general household,
				  institutional, and commercial waste, industrial lunchroom or office waste, landscape
				  waste other than tree waste, railroad crossties, utility poles, or construction or
				  demolition debris, other than untreated and unadulterated waste wood.
[20 ILCS
				  3855/1-10]
"Rescission" or "to rescind" means the cancellation of an
				  agreement or contract with an ARES before the ARES has submitted an enrollment
				  request to the electric utility and/or within 10 calendar days after the date on the
				  electric utility's written notice to the customer of the switch.
"Residential customer" means a person receiving gas, electric,
				  water or sanitary sewer utility service for household purposes furnished to a
				  dwelling of one or two units that is billed under a residential rate.
"Send" or "Sent", when used in this Part to describe the action to
				  be taken by an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier in sending a document to a
				  customer, may include, if agreed to by the receiving customer, transmission of the
				  document to the customer via electronic delivery (e.g., fax or email).
"Small commercial retail customer" means a nonresidential customer
				  of an electric utility consuming 15,000 kWh or less of electricity annually in its
				  service area. An ARES may remove the customer from designation as a "small
				  commercial retail customer" if the customer consumes more than 15,000 kWh of
				  electricity in any calendar year after becoming a customer of an ARES. In
				  determining whether a customer is a small commercial retail customer, usage by the
				  same commercial customer shall be aggregated to include usage at the same premises,
				  even if measured by more than one meter, and to include usage at multiple premises.
				  Nothing in this Part creates an affirmative obligation on an electric utility to
				  monitor or inform customers or ARES as to a customer's status as a small commercial
				  retail customer as defined by this definition. Nothing in this Part relieves an
				  electric utility from any obligation to provide information upon request to a
				  customer, an ARES, the Commission or others necessary to determine whether a
				  customer meets the classification of small commercial retail customer.
"Third party verification" or "TPV" means the process required by
				  Section 2EE(b) of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act
				  [815 ILCS
				  505] to be used to verify that the customer wants to make a
				  change in electric supplier. An ARES or its agent shall not describe the TPV as
				  having any other purpose.
Time-of-use rate" means that the per-unit charge for electric
				  power and energy service changes more than once per month.
"Transferred call" means any enrollment call to an ARES in which
				  the customer did not directly dial an ARES. This includes calls that originate as
				  live or automated calls to the customer, who then might select an option that
				  results in the call being forwarded to an ARES sales agent. "Transferred call" does
				  not include enrollment calls in which the customer directly dials an aRES call
				  center and selects to be forwarded to an ARES sales agent from a call center menu or
				  live operator. For purposes of enrollment compliance, transferred calls shall be
				  treated as telemarketing within the meaning of Section
				  412.130.
"Utility assistance recipient" means a utility customer that
				  received financial assistance in the previous 12 months from either the Low Income
				  Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Low Income Home Water Assistance Program
				  (LIHWAP), or that, at the time of enrollment, is participating in the Percentage of
				  Income Payment Plan (PIPP) described in
				  220 ILCS
				  5/19-116.
"Utility Electric Supply Price to Compare" or "PTC" means
the sum
on the day of the disclosure
of the electric supply
				  charge and the transmission services charge
and shall
not include
				  the purchased electricity adjustment.
[220 ILCS
				  5/16-115A(e)(i)]
"Variable rate" means that the per-kWh charge for electric power
				  and energy service changes at any time during the term of the contract but does not
				  change more than once per month.
"Written" or "in writing" means a paper copy. However, when this
				  Part requires information to be "written" or "in writing", an electronic copy
				  satisfies that requirement so long as the customer has agreed to electronic
				  communication.