83 Ill. Adm. Code 501.600
Extension of Distribution Mains in Urban Areas
Section 501.600 Extension of Distribution Mains in Urban
Areas
a) Urban Customer
1) For
the purposes of this Section, a customer shall be deemed to be an urban
customer if his or her premises are located within the incorporated limits of a
city, village or town, or in a territory where the conditions of service
approximate the conditions of service normally found in recognized urban
territory; provided, however, that a public utility may file with the Commission
for its consideration maps showing the areas deemed to be urban and, when so
filed and approved by order or otherwise by the Commission, those maps shall
govern. A utility shall consider a customer whose premises are not located in
urban territory to be a rural customer.
2) The
provisions of this Section shall not apply to applicants for service under
tariffs allowing interruptions of service. A utility with service tariffs that
allow the utility to interrupt service to a customer shall file with the
Commission an extension provision or an agreement with the applicant that shall
govern main extensions for service under those tariffs.
b) Free Extensions
1) If a
utility determines that a main extension is necessary to provide firm gas
service for an applicant or group of applicants whose premises are located in
urban areas within which the utility operates, the utility, upon written
request for service by the applicants, shall without charge make the necessary
main extension along a street, highway or other right-of-way to the nearest
point adjacent to the premises of the applicants, provided the extension does
not exceed 100 feet of low pressure system main or 200 feet of high pressure
system main per applicant, and provided further that no free extension shall be
made from existing mains on which refunds are still due from previous deposits.
When refunds are still due, any further extension shall be made only upon the
applicant making a deposit equal to the full estimated cost of the further
extension required.
2) For
the purpose of this Section, high pressure system mains transport gas to the
applicant's premises at a nominal pressure of two pounds or more per square
inch, and low pressure system mains transport gas at a nominal pressure of less
than two pounds per square inch.
c) Extension in Excess of Free
Limits
1) If a
utility determines that a main extension is necessary to provide firm gas
service for an applicant or group of applicants in excess of the free limit
specified in subsection (b), and the requested service is in an area where the
utility operates, the utility shall make the extension upon agreement by the
applicant or group of applicants to comply with the following provisions:
A) A
utility may file in conjunction with its rate schedule a main extension
provision that would provide the utility customer with the choice of obtaining
the extension under the provision or under subsection (c)(1)(C). If a utility
files a main extension provision and the Commission permits it to become
effective, the applicant may, at his or her election, proceed either under the
provision or under subsection (c)(1)(C).
B) A
utility may file a main extension provision that operates in place of, and not
as an alternative to, subsection (c)(1)(C), but in that case the main extension
provision shall not become effective except after a showing that it is
generally more favorable to applicants than are the provisions of subsection
(c)(1)(C), and after specific action by the Commission, by order or otherwise,
permitting the provision to become effective. If the provision becomes
effective, it shall govern the making of extensions in excess of the free
limits.
C) The
utility may require the applicant or group of applicants to deposit with the
utility the estimated cost of the extension in excess of the free limit
specified in subsection (b), determined in the manner designated in subsection
(d). The utility then shall refund an amount equal to the average estimated
cost, at the time of making the deposit, of constructing in the area 100 feet
of low pressure main or 200 feet of high pressure main, for each additional
customer whose service shall be taken from the original extension or from any
extension thereof within a period of 10 years from the making of the original
extension, provided that the total amount refunded shall not exceed the
original deposit.
2) A
utility, when reaching agreement with a group of applicants, shall consider the
group to be governed by the majority as applied to any specific extension to
the extent this option is available.
d) A
utility shall provide the applicant with a free estimate of the cost of the requested
main extension along the expected route for the main extension designated by
the utility. A utility shall also provide a free estimate of the cost of an
alternative route if the applicant requests an alternative route and the
utility expects the cost for the alternative route to not exceed the cost from
the expected route by more than 50%.
e) A
utility shall use, as the basis for determining the amount of a deposit, the
distance the applicant is from the nearest available distribution main and a
route that the utility would normally follow in making the extension and over
which right-of-way is available.
f) A
utility may petition the Commission for an investigation and determination of
the reasonableness of any main extension if circumstances indicate that the
additional revenues generated as a result of the main extension would be so
meager as to make it unlikely to pay a fair compensation to the utility for its
investment, operation, maintenance and replacement of the extension, or that
for other substantial reasons the extension is unwarranted. If, after a
hearing, the Commission orders a utility to construct an extension that has
been challenged on any of these grounds, the applicant or group of applicants
shall reimburse the utility for the construction costs to the extent necessary
to ensure that the utility earns the Commission-authorized return from the
required investment.