Introduction and Background

Incorporated on October 5th, 1938, SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SEIEC) is a non-profit corporation organized and existing pursuant to the Illinois Nonprofit Corporation Act.  SEIEC was formed by its members to provide retail distribution energy services. SEIEC is entirely controlled by its members and governed by a locally elected Board of Trustees.  SEIEC is a distribution cooperative that provides energy services to approximately 23,500 residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial accounts in ten counties located in Southeastern Illinois.  SEIEC's physical plant includes 34 distribution substations and approximately 3,500 miles of distribution line located in the Illinois counties of Franklin, Gallatin, Jefferson, Hamilton, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope, White and Williamson.  SEIEC is the largest of 24 distribution cooperatives in Illinois based upon annual kwh delivered with expected sales over 850 million kwh in the year 2009.

SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SEIEC) signed a full-requirements power supply contract with Southern Illinois Power Cooperative, Inc. (SIPC), on December 8, 1959, and Supplement No. 3 of said contract was executed on May 31, 2000, both of which occurred prior to the enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which extended the term of this full-requirements power supply contract until the year 2033.  SEIEC signed Supplement No. 4 of said contract on September 23, 2008 which extends the term of this full-requirements power supply contract until the year 2043.  Therefore, SIPC is responsible for supplying the generation and transmission requirements of SEIEC. 

The President of the United States signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 into law on December 19, 2007.  The statue adds four new federal standards to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) Section 111(d) for state commissions and utilities to consider. The four new federal standards are as follows:

                       Section 532 PURPA 111(d) Standards

            (16)      Integrated Resource Planning

            (17)      Rate Design Modifications to Promote Energy Efficiency Investments

                       Section 1307 PURPA 111(d) Standards

            (16)      Consideration of Smart Grid Investments

            (17)      Smart Grid Information

The stated purpose of the PURPA Title II standards are to encourage:

            (1)        Conservation of energy supplied by electric utilities

            (2)        Optimal efficiency of electric utility facilities and resources

            (3)        Equitable rates for electric consumers

PURPA Title II standards apply to non-regulated electric utilities with total annual retail sales greater than 500 million kilowatt-hours.  A non-regulated utility, as defined by the Energy Policy Act of 2007, is an electric utility that is not subject to the ratemaking authority of the state commission.  Since SEIEC meets this definition of a non-regulated utility and delivered greater than 500 million kilowatt-hours in the baseline year, SEIEC must consider the four new standards added to PURPA by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

SEIEC's primary responsibility is to consider and make a specific determination on whether implementation of the federal standards is appropriate to carry out the Title II purposes.  SEIEC may implement any standard or decline to implement any standard.  If any standard is declined, SEIEC is required to state in writing the reason for declining the standard and make that statement available to the public.