Illinois Code § 5-6

§ 5-6.

Validity of existing franchise fees and agreement; police powers. (a) On and after the effective date of this Law, no electricity deliverer paying an infrastructure maintenance fee imposed under this Law may be denied the right to use, directly or indirectly, public rights of way because of the failure to pay any other fee or charge for the right to use those rights of way except to the extent that the electricity deliverer during the Initial Period fails under any existing franchise agreement to pay franchise fees which are based on the gross receipts or gross revenues attributable to non-residential customers or to provide free electrical service or other compensation attributable to non-residential customers. A municipality that imposes an infrastructure maintenance fee pursuant to Section 5-5 shall impose no other fees or charges upon electricity deliverers for such use except as provided by subsections (b) or (c) of this Section. (b) Agreements between electricity deliverers and municipalities regarding use of the public way shall remain valid according to and for their stated terms. However, a municipality that, pursuant to a franchise agreement in existence on the effective date of this Law, receives any franchise fees, permit fees, free electrical service or other compensation for use of the public rights of way, may impose an infrastructure maintenance fee pursuant to this Law only if the municipality: (1) waives its right to receive all compensation from the electricity deliverer for use of the public rights of way during the time the infrastructure maintenance fee is imposed, except as provided in subsection (c), and except that during the Initial Period any municipality may continue to receive franchise fees, free electrical service or other compensation from the electricity deliverer which are equal in value to the Initial Period Compensation; and (2) provides written notice of this waiver to the appropriate electricity deliverer at the time that the municipality provides notice of the imposition of the infrastructure maintenance fee under subsection (d) of Section 5-5. For purposes of this Section, "Initial Period Compensation" shall mean the total amount of compensation due under the existing franchise agreement during the Initial Period less the amount of the infrastructure maintenance fee imposed under this Section during the Initial Period. (c) Nothing in this Law prohibits a municipality from the reasonable exercise of its police powers over the public rights of way. In addition, a municipality may require an electricity deliverer to reimburse any special or extraordinary expenses or costs reasonably incurred by the municipality as a direct result of damages to its property or public rights of way, such as the costs of restoration of streets damaged by an electricity deliverer that does not make timely repair of the damage, or for the loss of revenue due to the inability to use public facilities as a direct result of the actions of the electricity deliverer, such as parking meters that are required to be removed because of work of an electricity deliverer. (Source: P.A. 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)