EMERGENCY ENERGY PLAN

Municipal Code of Chicago tit. 7, ch. 7-58

in effect

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-010 Definitions.

7-58-010 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: "Electric utility company" means any person engaged in the business of distributing, transmitting, or otherwise delivering electricity, regardless of its source, for use or consumption within the city. The term shall not include any person who delivers electricity to fewer than 50 persons within the city. "Emergency energy plan" means a planned course of action developed by an electric utility company to be implemented when the demand for electricity exceeds, or is at significant risk of exceeding, the supply. "Executive Director" means the Executive Director of Emergency Management and Communications. (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. III, § 1)

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-020 Submittal of emergency energy plan.

7-58-020 Submittal of emergency energy plan. (a) Every electric utility company must adopt and maintain an emergency energy plan. Every new electric utility company shall adopt its plan within 30 days after becoming an electric utility company. Every such company shall submit to the Executive Director of Emergency Management and Communications, Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner, and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management any emergency energy plan adopted by the company within 24 hours of the time the plan is adopted. The company shall notify those officials within 24 hours of any significant revisions to a plan and the rationale for the revisions. Such revisions shall be submitted by the company as soon as practicable and shall be reviewed and approved by the Executive Director in accordance with Section 7-58-030. (b) The plan shall include, at a minimum, information detailing: (1) the circumstances that would require the implementation of the plan; (2) the levels or stages of the emergency plan; (3) the potential impact of the plan on public health and safety and on the duties of the City’s public health and safety agencies; (4) what steps the company has taken to mitigate those potential health or safety problems; (5) the geographic limits of each outage area; (6) the number of customers within each outage area; (7) identification of customers and facilities within each outage area for which a service interruption would pose increased risk to public health and safety, including but not limited to, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, buildings in excess of 80 feet in height, day-care centers, persons on life-support systems and water pumping stations; and (8) the anticipated sequence and duration of service interruptions. (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140; Amend Coun. J. 3-31-04, p. 20916, § 3.29; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. III, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. III, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-19, p. 11390, Art. III, § 11; Amend Coun. J. 11-15-23, p. 6542, Art. I, § 13)

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-030 Review of plan.

7-58-030 Review of plan. Upon submission of the emergency energy plan required under Section 7-58-020, the Executive Director, in consultation with the Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner, and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management, or their respective departmental designees, shall review the plan. In order to assure appropriate coordination with public health and safety agencies, the Executive Director shall have the right to approve or reject the plan or any element thereof based on: (1) the potential impact of the plan on public health and safety, (2) the potential impact of the plan on the duties of the City’s public health and safety agencies; and (3) what steps the company has taken to mitigate those potential health or safety problems. Within 30 days after the date on which the plan is submitted, the Executive Director shall notify the electric utility company, in writing, whether the submitted plan has been approved or rejected. If the plan is rejected, the reasons therefor shall be stated in writing. In such case, within 30 days after notice of the rejection is given, the electric utility company shall submit a revised plan to the Executive Director, Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management, or their respective designees. Following consultation with the Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management, the Executive Director shall approve or reject the revised plan, in writing, within 30 days after the date on which it is resubmitted. An electric utility company shall be in violation of this chapter if such company fails to have in place an emergency energy plan approved by the Executive Director within 120 days after the plan is required to be submitted under subsection 7-58-020(a). (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. III, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-19, p. 11390, Art. III, § 12; Amend Coun. J. 11-15-23, p. 6542, Art. I, § 13)

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-040 Implementation of emergency energy plan.

7-58-040 Implementation of emergency energy plan. (a) Whenever an electric utility company determines that it is necessary to implement an emergency energy plan, the company shall notify the Executive Director, Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner, and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management, or their respective designees, pursuant to a notification procedure approved by the Executive Director after consultation with the Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner, and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management. The notification shall be made as soon as practicable and shall be made prior to implementation of the plan. The Executive Director may waive the notice requirement to accommodate exigent circumstances. (b) Notice of the implementation of each level or stage of the emergency energy plan shall be made under this section pursuant to rules promulgated by the Executive Director after consultation with the Superintendent of Police, Fire Commissioner, and Commissioner of Fleet and Facility Management. The notification shall be made for each of the following actions: (1) the use of operating reserves – spinning; (2) the curtailment of service to "interruptible" customers (customers who have agreed to the interruption of service under certain circumstances pursuant to their contact with the electrical utility company); (3) the declaration of a control area emergency; (4) a public appeal for voluntary curtailment of electricity use (the notification shall include the specific wording of the appeal); (5) the determination of the need for an intentional interruption of service pursuant to the emergency plan (the notification shall include the areas to be interrupted; the sequence and estimated duration of outage for each area; and the affected feeders and number of affected customers in each area); and (6) such other actions requiring notice pursuant to rules promulgated by the Executive Director under this section. The notification of such intentional service interruptions shall be made immediately upon the determination that the interruptions are necessary. Whenever practical, the notification shall be made at least two hours prior to the time of the interruption and in no case shall the notification be made less than 30 minutes prior to the interruption. (c) Notification required by this section shall be in addition to any notification requirements contained in Section 2-29-060 of this Code. (d) Whenever an electric utility company implements an emergency energy plan, the company shall provide appropriate personnel, as determined by the Executive Director, to staff the City's Office of Emergency Management and Communications and any other City emergency response facility that the Executive Director determines requires such staffing while the company's emergency energy plan is being implemented. (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140; Amend Coun. J. 12-4-02, p. 99026, § 8.6; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. III, § 2; Amend Coun. J. 11-21-17, p. 61755, Art. III, § 4; Amend Coun. J. 11-26-19, p. 11390, Art. III, § 13; Amend Coun. J. 11-15-23, p. 6542, Art. I, § 13)

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-050 Violations; reimbursement.

7-58-050 Violations; reimbursement. (a) Any electric utility company that violates this chapter or any rules promulgated thereunder shall be subject to a fine of not less than $2,500.00 and not more than $10,000.00 for each offense. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. (b) Whenever the city incurs any expenses in providing the services of public health and safety agencies as the result of: (1) an electric utility company's violation of this chapter or rules promulgated thereunder; or (2) the intentional interruption of power by an electric utility whether or not pursuant to an emergency energy plan; that company shall reimburse the city for all amounts expended within 30 days of receipt of a certified invoice from the city. (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140)

Municipal Code of Chicago § 7-58-060 Construction.

7-58-060 Construction. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to preclude or interfere with the implementation by an electric utility company of measures necessary to assure the provision of adequate, efficient, reliable and environmentally safe service, as required by the Illinois Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq.). (Added Coun. J. 9-9-98, p. 77140)

Source: City of Chicago, Municipal Code of Chicago (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2643114Fetched: 10/24/2026