ICC Issues First Notice Order on ABC Licensing Amendments

The Illinois Commerce Commission has issued an order to begin the first notice period for amendments to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 454, relating to electric agent, broker, and consultant licensing regulations and related rules (10-0733), which track the requirements of Public Act 96-1385.

Consistent with statute, the proposed amendments would end, effective July 1, 2011, the requirement for ABCs to disclose the amount of anticipated remuneration to be paid by a supplier. Instead, ABCs will only have to disclose the total price per kilowatt-hour, and the total anticipated cost, inclusive of all fees or commissions received by the licensee, to be paid by the customer over the period of the proposed underlying customer contract.

ABCs will have to disclose to all customers, prior to the customer signing a contract, the fact that the ABC will be receiving compensation from the supplier, but the amount need not be disclosed after July 1, 2011.

The amendments also memorialize other legislative changes, such as the requirements that prior to the customer singing a contract, the ABC shall disclose that it is not employed by the electric utility operating in the applicable service territory. Staff noted that while the legislation containing this requirement refers to "all third-party sales representatives," the amendments would only apply the requirement to entities required to be licensed as an ABC.

The proposed revisions also add a new exemption from the ABC licensing requirement for, "[a]ny person acting exclusively on behalf of a retail electric supplier on condition that exclusivity is disclosed to the customer."

This new language is addition to the current exemption for any person or entity acting exclusively on behalf of a "single" retail electric supplier on the condition that exclusivity is disclosed to the customer.

As provided in statute, the amendments would explicitly provide that ABCs can redact portions of their annual reports with the ICC to prevent disclosure of competitively sensitive information, such as the names of the suppliers with whom the ABC has contracted customers. ABCs would also no longer be required to file financial statements as part of the reports.

The amendments would also memorialize the ICC's new discretion in addressing any ABC licensing violations, removing the automatic suspension previously required.