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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution #3980 , . RESOLUTION NO 3980 A RESOLUTION APPROVING A PLAN OF OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE FOR RESIDENTIAL AND SMALL COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC AGGREGATION WHEREAS, pursuant to 20 ILCS 3855/1-92 the State of Illinois enacted electric deregulation statutes, which authorizes the corporate authorities of the City to adopt an ordinance under which it may aggregate its residential and small commercial retail electrical loads located within the City and may solicit bids and enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity and related services and equipment; and WHEREAS, in order to save their citizens money, the City of Canton desires to aggregate the residential and small commercial retail electrical loads located within its jurisdictional boundaries and arrange for competitive retail electric supply for these retail electrical accounts; and WHEREAS, the City has selected Integrys Energy Services, Inc. as the supplier for the Aggregation and entered into an agreement for their services; WHEREAS, the City also placed a referendum on the March 20, 2012 ballot which asked the public for the authority to create an aggregation program; and WHEREAS, if the referendum question passes to allow for an electric aggregation program, the City is required to conduct two public meetings and adopt a Plan of Operation and Governance; and WHEREAS, the City is approving the attached Plan of Operation and Governance prior to knowing the referendum results to facilitate timely public hearings and program installation prior to the high-use electricity season. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CANTON, ILLINOIS, AS FOLLOWS: 1. That the agreement attached hereto and incorporated herein as Exhibit "A" is hereby approved by the Canton City Council. 2. That the Mayor and City Clerk of the City of Canton, Illinois are hereby authorized and directed to execute said Agreement on behalf of the City of Canton. 3. That this Resolution shall be in full force and effect on March 21, 2012 or the next available date when the referendum results are known and only upon an affirmative vote of the majority of citizens supporting such a program. PASSED by the City Council of the City of Canton, Illinois at a regular meeting this 20~' day of March 2012 upon a roll call vote as follows: AYES: Aldermen Schenck, Pasley, Fritz, West, Nelson, Ellis, Pickel, Hartford NAYS: None ? ~ ABSENT: None APPROVED: evin R. eade, Mayor TE : ' a Pavley, City C rk ~'r ti v , nar~te h.a_i~~z t ~`t r, a~~ CITY OF CANTON PLAN OF OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE Introduction. The Illinois Power Agency Act (the "Act") was amended by Public Act 96-0176 to add 20 ILCS 3855/1- 92 (the "Aggregation Statute"), which allows the City of Canton to adopt an ordinance under which it may aggregate the residential and small commercial retail electrical loads located within the City of Canton, to enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity and related services. The City engaged a Pre-Aggregation Services Provider to perform several pre-referendum functions, including without limitation (a) participating in Public Hearings to educate both the public and City employees on aggregation, (b) assisting in the establishment of an advisory committee, (c) establishing a toll-free telephone number staffed by customer service personnel to address questions of potential Aggregation Members, (d) providing sample documentation such as City communications pertaining to referendum, ballot language, Aggregation Program ordinance, Plan of Operation and Governance, and other communications in support of the referendum. Pursuant to the Aggregation Statute, on 12/6/2011, the City passed an ordinance authorizing a referendum on the 3/20/2012 ballot which asked the public for the authority to create an Opt-Out Aggregation Program. A majority of the voters approved the referendum at the March 20, 2012 election. The City plans plans on holding two public meetings on the matter, as required by the Aggregation Statute, after which the City will adopt this Plan of Operation and Governance. Duties of the Citv. The City shall submit to the Utility in writing, a warrant demonstrating the passage of the Aggregation Program ordinance, the adoption of this Plan by the corporate authorities, and a request for the identification of retail and small commercial electric customer account information and generic load profiles. Customer information will be maintained in a confidential manner as required by law and the City will use that information only for purposes of its Aggregation Program. Customer account information will be considered confidential and will not be disclosed to unauthorized entities or under the Freedom of Information Act. The City (i) will select or has selected an ARES to serve as the electricity supplier to Aggregation Members ("Supplier"), (ii) will negotiate or has negotiated the terms and conditions of the supply, and (iii) will communicate or has communicated with Utility and Supplier concerning enrollment data. Supplier Services. The Supplier will (a) draft customer communications for City's review, including an Opt-Out notice to potential Aggregation Members describing how to remove themselves from the Aggregation Program and a Welcome Letter to those who become Aggregation Members, (b) provide electricity supply to Aggregation Members, (c) mail informational materials and terms and conditions to potential Aggregation Members, (d) at the option of City, establish a post-referendum website landing page to support the Aggregation Program, (e) assist with the completion of the Government Authority Aggregation Form and communications with the Utility surrounding data exchange, (f) maintain a secure database of potential Aggregation Members who elect to Opt-Out and of Aggregation Members, and (g) invoice Aggregation Members via the Utility's purchase of receivables program, and (h) provide periodic reports to the City Price and Terms. City has the right to negotiate a price, product type, and term with the Supplier or may choose not to implement an Aggregation Program. Additional potential Aggregation Members may be allowed to enroll with the Supplier after the Opt-Out period, however they may pay a different rate than those who join during a planned Program Enrollment Period due to changing market conditions and to potentially different term from the initial offering. Page 1 of 5 nr c.,,~ ~ G+ ¢R~+IM~tp . A.CD.18P1 „ *t 17 ~ t~~S Eli~ibilitv and Oqt-Out Disclosures. The Utility, in accordance with the Aggregation Statute and its tariffs, will provide them City with the generic load profile (or estimated aggregated usage) and names and addresses of the potential Aggregation Members by rate class. Those eligible to be Aggregation Members are those who are permitted to participate according to the Aggregation Statute, are not at the time of the enrollment process served by an ARES, are not in an hourly or residential space heat Utility (Ameren Only) rate class, and are not on Bundled Hold. The City must keep this information confidential, and provide it to the Supplier for the sole purpose of negotiating a price for the Aggregation Program, administering the Opt-Out notice process,~ and enrolling and serving the Aggregation Members. The Supplier, with assistance from the City, will prepare and mail an Opt-Out notice to each potential Aggregation Member identified as eligible by the Utility. The Opt-Out notice will inform the eligible Aggregation Member that the City has formed an Aggregation Program, the price for electric supply and other terms and conditions of service, and explain how the potential Aggregation Member can Opt-Out of the Aggregation. The Supplier will receive all Opt-Out requests and adjust the list of Aggregation Members accordingly. In addition, if any Opt-Out notices are returned by mail to Supplier marked as undeliverable, those potential Aggregation Members will be removed from the Aggregation Program as well. Upon completion of the Opt-Out period (the length of which will be negotiated and agreed-upon between them City and Supplier), the Supplier, with assistance from the City, will notify the Utility of the accounts that will form the Aggregation, and, enroll the Aggregation. Upon enrollment, each participant will receive an enrollment notice from the Utility. Each Aggregation Member will also receive a welcome letter from the Supplier. An Aggregation Member may rescind its participation in the Aggregation by contacting the Utility or the Supplier within the Utility's applicable rescission period. Supplier shall repeat the Opt-Out enrollment process whenever the price changes at the end of an agreed-upon term (as agreed upon by the City and Supplier) and accordingly Aggregation Members will have the opportunity to decline participation at that time without paying an early termination fee once every two years between the City and Supplier. Movine within the limits of the Citv. Aggregation Members who move from one location to another within the limits of the City and retain the same account number, will remain an Aggregation Member and will receive the same price and term they would have received if their location had not moved. Aggregation Members who move from one location to another within limits of the City and are assigned a new account number may enroll their new account in the Aggregation Program and receive the same price as they would have received if they had not moved while served by Supplier (other than for any intervening billing periods in which the account is served by the Utility), provided the new account is eligible for Aggregation. Aggregation Members who move and receive a new account number may be dropped from the Aggregation by the Utility, but they will not be charged an early termination fee by the Supplier. If an Aggregation Member is dropped from the Aggregation Program due to a move within the City, the Aggregation Member should contact the Supplier to be re-enrolled at the earliest possible date. Movin¢ outside the limits of the Citv. Aggregation Members that move out of the City limits will no longer be eligible to participate in the Aggregation Program, but they will not be charged an early termination fee from the Supplier. Except as described above for re-location, an early termination fee may apply if an Aggregation Member terminates its Contract with the Supplier after the Opt-Out and rescission periods have ended and prior to the end of the current Term. Page 2 of 5 . ~,r c~~, ~ ~acatitzfa , .r~+~ „ A.D.189~ rt t ~ ~,*K Enrollin~ after the Opt-Out Period. Residential and small business accounts located within the City limits that are eligible to join the Aggregation but initially chose to Opt-Out of the Aggregation, or otherwise were not included in the Aggregation Program, may become Aggregation Members after the expiration of the applicable Opt-Out Period by contacting the Supplier. The Price and/or term of those joining after the expiration of the Opt-Out Period may be different from the price negotiated for the Aggregation. Renewal. The City and the Supplier will attempt to achieve a renewal Price and term before the expiration of the agreed-upon Term. However, if mutually agreeable price and terms are not reached, the agreement between City and the Supplier may be terminated by either the City or Supplier, without penalty, at the end of any agreed-upon term by providing written notice to the other Party at least 30 days prior to the end of the Term. Contract between the Supplier and the A~~re~ation Member. The electricity supply contract negotiated by the City for the Aggregation Members (the "Contract") shall be for firm, all-requirements electric supply service including capacity, transmission, energy, losses and various ancillary services. The Contract shall be between each individual Aggregation Member and the Supplier. Each Aggregation member will be individually bound to the Supplier by the Contract, and will be solely responsible for payment and performance. All electricity supply charges will be fully and prominently disclosed in consumer enrollment materials (such as the Opt-Out notice), available on the Supplier's website, and available by calling the Supplier's toll free customer service telephone number. The Contract will include an early termination fee for those that leave the Aggregation Program prior to the end of any agreed-upon term. Billin . Aggregation Members will each receive a single, monthly bill from the Utility, which will include charges from the Supplier for its electricity supply, as well as the ordinary Utility charges, which includes delivery services, taxes, and other charges. Aggregation Members will be billed according to their Utility billing cycle. Credit. Collections and Deposits. The Utility's credit and collection policy and policies regarding deposits will apply to the Aggregation Members and shall be administered by the Utility. Neither the City, nor the Supplier will implement additional policies with respect to credit, deposits and collections. Concerns and Complaints. Aggregation Members will have multiple means of expressing concerns and reporting complaints. As a general rule, concerns regarding service reliability and billing should be directed to the Utility. The Utility will continue to read meters, handle billing, and generally have the most information about the physical service to a location or account. Questions regarding the administration of the Aggregation should be directed to the Supplier. The Supplier's customer service center shall be available by telephone 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Any unresolved disputes should be directed to the Illinois Commerce Commission and/or the Citizens Utility Board. As a convenience, below is a list of helpful toll free telephone numbers. Nature of Concern/Comolaint Con Phone Number Downed wires/outage Utility 800-755-5000 Service turn on/off Utility 800-755-5000 Billing Disputes Utility 800-755-5000 Price/Joining/Leaving Program Supplier Customer Service 877-394-4569 Program Regulatory Questions Supplier Customer Service 877-394-4569 Page 3 of 5 ~ ~r C~~ _ ~ ~ Gi ~R~a~~Etr ,e A.B.lB?1 * t l Education. The Supplier and the City will work cooperatively to develop a plan to help educate the community with respect to: • aggregation, including the Opt-Out notices, ~ any demand management or efFiciency measures (if any) offered by the Supplier or promoted by the City, • renewable energy attributes (if any) associated with the supply that are above and beyond the attributes required by law, and • projects (if any) that will be funded as a byproduct of the Aggregation. Reuortine. The Supplier may provide periodic reports such as membership participation and/or comparisons to the Utility's pricing over the term upon request. Implementation Procedures Referendum to Aggregation Supplier sends Potential Aggregation approve municipal Customer educational materials, Members have the aggregation passes. database is Opt-out notice, and opportunity to Opt-out developed Contract to the by the Supplier potential Aggregation Members Aggregation Utility sends invoice to Supplier begins to Supplier submits list Members remit Aggregation Program provide electric of Aggregation payments to the members at the power supply to Members to Utility Utility Aggregation Program members of the after Opt-out price Aggregation response period Program expires ' Glossarv of Terms "Aggregation Prograrn" shall mean the program developed by the City, acting as facilitator pursuant to the Aggregation Statute, to provide residential and small commercial customers within the limits of the City with retail electricity supply from an ARES for those potential Aggregation Members that do not Opt-Out. "Aggregation Member" shall mean those residential and small commercial customers (i) located within the limits of the City, (ii) are permitted to participate according to the Aggregation Statute and any applicable Utility rules, (iii) do not Opt-Out of the Aggregation Program ,(iv) are not at the time of the enrollment process served by an ARES, (v) are not in the hourly or residential electric space heat rate classes (ComEd only), and (vi) are not on Bundled Hold with the Utility. Page 4 of 5 ~,,r ~ ~ ~ar.~ntxta ~a; , ~ . x.n.t~~z * ~~Zr~a~~ "Alternative Retail Electric Supplier" or "ARES" shali mean an entity certified by the Illinois Commerce Commission to offer electricity for sale, and shall include, without limitation, resellers, aggregators and power marketers but shall not include the Utility or the City. "Bundled Hold" shall mean the time required by the Utility to remain on Utility supply service after an account has returned to the Utility's supply service after having switched to an ARES prior to returning to the Utility. "Opt-Out" shall mean the process by which a customer who would be included in the Aggregation Program chooses not to participate in the Aggregation and notifies the Supplier of such choice as described in the Opt-Out notice with the Supplier. "Utility" shall mean Ameren. A COPY OF THIS PLAN OF OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE SHALL BE KEPT ON Page 5 of 5