SB2266 Summary

• Natural gas utilities serving more than 100,000 customers must submit annual performance reports to the Illinois Commerce Commission beginning April 1, 2014, covering emergency response times, pipeline damage incidents, cathodic protection readings, inactive service lines, infrastructure replacements, and contracts with minority-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.

• Natural gas utilities with more than 700,000 customers may file tariffs for surcharges to recover costs of qualifying infrastructure investments, including replacement of aging pipelines, meter relocations, system upgrades, and advanced meter installation, independent of general rate cases.

• Surcharge tariffs must be approved within 120 days and can take effect on the first day of the calendar year, with utilities able to withdraw the surcharge with 10 days' notice subject to final reconciliation.

• Cumulative surcharge increases are capped at an average of 4% annually of delivery base rate revenues, not exceeding 5.5% in any single year, and utilities must demonstrate projects prioritize public safety and reliability.

• Utilities obtaining a surcharge tariff are excused from standard rate case filing requirements, and the surcharge provisions expire December 31, 2023.