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Parties File Initial Comments in Data Access Rulemaking
On October 6, 2026 parties filed initial comments in the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) rulemaking proceeding pursuant to Sections 5-10 and 5-15 of the Utility Data Access Act to establish procedures to request and transfer customer usage data.
An overview of the comments is presented below.
Mission:data Initial Comments – “[T]he Illinois Commerce Commission (the “Commission”) should direct Illinois’ utilities to adopt an online, web-based version of the authorization form approved in this proceeding, regardless of the disclosure language ultimately approved. Utilities must provide an online option under the explicit language contained within the recently enacted Utility Data Access Act (“UDAA”), a section within the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (“CRGA”). Moreover, providing customers with the option to utilize a web-based form is a best practice, as states that have failed to provide such online authorization pathways have experienced unnecessary administrative costs and litigation and hindered customer participation in beneficial programs.”
Staff: (1) recommended ICC take, as a base, the authorization language “for non-Retail Electric Supplier third party access to interval usage data” from Docket No. 15-0073 and “modify it to account for the requirements of the UDAA,” as shown in Staff’s redline of the 15-0073 language, including that: (i) “the utility will provide the best available consumption and other information, consistent with the utility’s records as presented to the customer on the utility’s customer portal and captured at the meter level”; and (ii) “the data sharing authorization remains valid until the account holder revokes it”; (2) provided draft authorization forms (electric, gas, and combined), with the gas form “identical to the one for electric customers, except for… [taking] into account that the type of interval data to be provided to third parties depends on the meter technology deployed for the particular customer providing the authorization”; and (3) recommended ICC consider its draft forms “in effect for an interim period only,” as “It appears likely that Staff and other parties will propose additional or modified provisions for these forms throughout this rulemaking proceeding.”
Joint Utilities – “The Utility Data Access Act (“UDAA”) directs the Commission to adopt, no later than November 30, 2026, a standard form for a utility customer to consent to the sharing of the customer’s energy usage information. 220 ILCS 33/5-15(h). The Commission already approved such a form for electrical utilities in 2016, in response to laws requiring electrical utilities to safeguard customer usage information and, with appropriate authorization, share that information with third parties. Investigation into the Customer Authorization Required for Access by Third Parties Other than Retail Electric Suppliers to Advanced Metering Infrastructure Interval Meter Data, ICC Docket No. 15-0073, Order (Mar. 23, 2016) at 16. Commonwealth Edison Co.; Northern Illinois Gas Co. d/b/a Nicor Gas Co.; North Shore Gas Co.; The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co.; and Ameren Illinois Co. (together, the “Joint Utilities”) respectfully suggest that the Commission re-adopt its previously approved customer consent form, subject to minor revisions described below. A draft of the Joint Utilities’ proposed customer consent form is attached hereto as Ex. A.”
“The UDAA will affect no change in the law until after the conclusion of the rulemaking contemplated by the UDAA. See 220 ILCS 33/5-15. Moreover, the UDAA contains no specific prescription for the content of the customer consent form. 220 ILCS 33/5-15(h). New regulations contemplated by the UDAA—which relate primarily to the provision of tenants’ energy usage data to building owners—will take effect after a two-year rulemaking subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. 220 ILCS 33/5-15(b). Any change to the customer consent form before completion of the rulemaking would be premature. The Commission can revisit the form after the rulemaking if necessary.”On October 7, 2026 an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a notice of general continuance.
As background, the rulemaking was initiated to implement §5-10 and 5-15 of the Utility Data Access Act (UDAA), SB25 of 2026. As amended on 6/26/26, the act requires that electric and natural gas utilities with more than 100,000 customers:
- retain all usage data for at least five years and, until that time, not delete or alter data that has been provided to a qualified recipient except to correct errors or reflect rebills;
- provide covered usage data to any entity authorized by an account holder upon authorized request;
- provide aggregated usage data upon request by the owner of a multi-meter building or property or their authorized agent;
- establish a tool or process to enable data requests;
- provide updates or corrections to previously provided usage information;
- respond to initial data requests within 30 days;
- provide requested data on at least a monthly schedule, to be set by ICC, until the recipient revokes the request or is no longer qualified to receive the data; and
- not charge for provision of usage data.
Staff circulated draft rules and held discussions of the law with stakeholders across several meetings of the Data Access Working Group (DAWG). In addition to codifying the above requirements, Staff proposes that utilities must: (1) have a secure and convenient online portal for account holder data requests and deliveries; and (2) not require identity validation more onerous than current utility practice.
