The following is an excellent summary of the Wind Turbine Legislation in Illinois from George A. Marchetti, of Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney & Priess, L.L.P. Additionally, I have been working with Keeneyville School District Gary Ofisher and State Representative Fred Crespo to achieve this legislation. My goal has been to achieve a benefit for all School Districts that touch Hanover Park and save the residents tax dollars for many years to come. This message from George A. Marchetti indicates that there are many in the State of Illinois who agree with our initiative.
George's message follows,
This email is published with permission.
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Ladies and Gentlemen:
No one has an exclusive on important ideas. While I have been working on draft legislation to enable consortiums of units of local government and school districts to remotely net meter the energy produced by wind turbines, Mayor Rodney Craig of the Village of Hanover Park has been pursuing the same goal. Mayor Craig's legislation was recently introduced as House Bill 6660. There are currently 5 co-sponsors in the House. A copy of the House bill and its current status are attached. Mayor Craig's legislation, though worded somewhat differently from my draft, is substantively the same. Consequently, we should contact our local legislators (especially potential Senate spo nsors) to support House Bill 6660. Here is the current status.
There are 3 important pieces of legislation that will affect governmental wind turbine farm consortiums. First, there is P.A. 95-0420, which is codified as 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5 and became effective August 24, 2007. That new statute has established the principle of net metering for renewable electric power generation facilities, including wind turbines. The statute applies to all renewable electric power generation facilities, not just those owned by local government agencies. Net metering under this statute, however, is effectively limited to the meter which is located at the renewable electric power generation site itself.
Second, there is House Bill 4646. That bill was passed unanimously by both houses of the General Assembly during the last session. It is on the Governor's desk. House Bill 4646 allows counties, non-home rule municipalities, community college districts and school districts to own wind turbine farms, either individually or jointly. Until the governor signs the bill, non-home rule counties and municipalities lack the statutory authority to own wind turbine farms. Under the present law, home rule units, community college districts and school districts can establish a wind turbine farm consortium.
Third, there is House Bill 6660, which amends 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5 above . That bill allows units of local government that own or operate renewable electric power generation facilities, including wind turbines, to use "meter aggregation". Meter aggregation is a particular type of net metering which allows a meters to be grouped together for reading and billing purposes. With meter aggregation, the electrical energy generated and delivered to the grid a t one meter is netted against electrical energy consumption at a series of other meters owned by the local government agencies. Electrical energy generated at the wind turbine site meter is credited on a 1:1 kilowatt-hour basis against usage at the aggregated meters, which may be off-site meters. Because local government agencies (unlike private companies) receive no tax advantages for deploying wind turbines, meter aggregation is very important for governmental wind turbine farms to be cost effective. Moreover, with a consortium and with meter aggregation, the wind turbine farm can be located in rural area where the wind efficiency can be most effectively optimized.
Please take the opportunity to contact your local legislators to garner additional support for House Bill 6660. Should you have any questions or comments, please contact me.
George Marchetti
Tressler, Soderstrom, Maloney & Priess, L.L.P.
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