Surprise! Exelon Nuke Bailout Bill Being Used To Impose New Tax on Retail Suppliers (Directs ICC To "Consider" Making Suppliers Subject To Public Utility Fund Assessment)

A late amendment offered to the Exelon nuclear subsidy bill (SB2814) would direct the Illinois Commerce Commission to consider making alternative retail electric suppliers and alternative gas suppliers subject to assessments under the Public Utility Fund

Currently, competitive suppliers are not subject to the Public Utility Fund assessments

Amendment 5 to the bill would provide, "the Commission shall initiate a docketed proceeding in which it shall consider, in addition to assessments from electric and gas utilities subject to this [Public Utility Fund] subsection, the raising of assessments from, or the payment of fees by, water and sewer utilities, entities possessing certificates of service authority as alternative retail electric suppliers under Section 16-115 of this Act, entities possessing certificates of service authority as alternative gas suppliers under Section 19-110 of this Act, and telecommunications carriers providing local exchange telecommunications service or interexchange telecommunications service under sections 13-204 or 13-205 of this Act."

"The amounts so determined shall be based on the costs to the agency of the exercise of its regulatory and supervisory functions with regard to the different industries and service providers subject to the proceeding," Amendment 5 states

Amendment 5 has not yet been voted on and has not, as of publication time, received a recommendation for adoption from a committee.

Another amendment, Amendment 4, could make retail electric and gas suppliers subject to certain requirements concerning spending with female-owned, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and small business enterprises.

Specifically, Amendment 4 would provide that, "any other supplier of energy within this State," shall be subject to certain of the procurement policies applicable to the utilities and (as expanded under the amendment) suppliers of wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy. Although Amendment 4 does not use the term "alternative retail" in describing the "other" suppliers that would be newly subject to the diversity procurement policies, nothing expressly excludes retail suppliers from the broad term "any other supplier of energy."

The diversity procurement requirements include annual reports on diversity spending and goals to increase participation

Amendment 4 has not yet been voted on but has been recommended for adoption by the House energy committee