Illinois Shines https://illinoisshines.com Building Our Solar Future Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:48:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://illinoisshines.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IL-Shines-favicon-150x150.png Illinois Shines https://illinoisshines.com 32 32 Minimum Equity Standard Mid-Year Report Due https://illinoisshines.com/minimum-equity-standard-mid-year-report-due/ Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:48:48 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15836 As set forth in the Long-Term Plan and the Program Guidebook, in Program Year 2025-26, at least 14% of the project workforce for each Approved Vendor and Designee participating in the Illinois Shines program must be composed of Equity Eligible Persons. The Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) applies to all Approved Vendors and Designees participating in the 2025-26 Program Year, with specific exceptions for Equity Eligible Contractors.

A Mid-Year Report should be submitted by all participating entities to demonstrate progress toward meeting the MES for the Program Year. If your organization faces challenges in fulfilling these obligations, the Program Administrator is available to provide additional resources and guidance tailored to your needs. To ensure compliance with the MES, all participating entities are encouraged to submit a Mid-Year Report, which should take 10-15 minutes to complete.

Please submit your MES Mid-Year Report via this form by December 31, 2025.

Failure to submit a Mid-Year Report will not result in disciplinary action but may negatively affect an organization’s request for an MES waiver.

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
MES@illinoisshines.com

]]> Program Pause, Re-Open, and Capacity and Waitlist Updates, November REC Invoicing, Annual Report Next Steps https://illinoisshines.com/program-pause-re-open-and-capacity-and-waitlist-updates-november-rec-invoicing-annual-report-next-steps/ Fri, 31 Oct 2025 20:45:05 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15832 The IPA announces new information related to the Illinois Shines program. This announcement includes: Coming Up in Illinois Shines, Stakeholder Support, Program News, and Reference and Reminders. The full announcement is available here. Topics include the following:

Coming up in Illinois Shines

  • Key Dates
  • Deadlines

Stakeholder Support

  • Program Administrator Office Hours
  • Application Tips and Tricks

Program News

  • New! Program Pause, Re-Open, and Capacity and Waitlist Updates
  • New! November REC Invoicing Opens
  • New! Annual Report Next Steps
  • New! IPA Racial Disparity and Availability Study Consultant to Host Informational Meeting
  • New! November 2025 Consumer Protection Working Group
  • New! New to the Program Website
  • IPA Files 2026 Long-Term Plan with the ICC
  • IPA Launches Stranded Customer REC Adder
  • Program Administrator to Host Illinois Shines Customer Focus Groups
  • Program Calculates Estimated Lifetime CO2 Offset by Energized Illinois Shines Projects
  • Community-Driven Community Solar Application Review and Scoring Schedule

Reference and Reminders

  • Re-Batching for ICC Meetings
  • Portal Maintenance and Releases
  • Application Processing Tables and Update
  • Stakeholder Feedback

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> Illinois Shines Updates Following 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening, Program Guidebook Addendum, Process and Details of Capacity Expansion https://illinoisshines.com/illinois-shines-updates-following-2024-long-term-plan-re-opening-program-guidebook-addendum-process-and-details-of-capacity-expansion/ Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:46:43 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15829 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening

On October 16, 2025, the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) issued an Order approving the Administrative Law Judge’s Proposed Order, with modifications, on the reopening of the 2024 Long-Term Plan. The Order is available in Docket 23-0714. The Agency will file a modified 2024 Long-Term Plan that conforms with the Order, no later than today, October 31, 2025.

Changes from the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening impacting the Illinois Shines program include:

Program Year 2025-26 Program Guidebook Addendum

The Program published a Program Guidebook Addendum to detail changes resulting from the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening. All Program requirements set forth in the 2025-26 Program Guidebook will continue, with considerations described in the Program Guidebook Addendum, including temporary Program Portal closures, block structure updates, developer cap notes, and processes relating to Traditional Community Solar (“TCS”), Community-Driven Community Solar (“CDCS”), Public Schools, and Equity Eligible Contractor (“EEC”) categories and capacity.

Process and Details of Capacity Expansion for the 2025-26 Program Year Resulting From 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening

To expand the capacity of the 2025-26 Program Year by 100%, except for the EEC Category, which was expanded by 64 MW for Group A and 169 MW for Group B, the Program paused for one business day, from October 30, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT through October 31, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT, to undertake data and reporting updates to expand program capacity, including updates to the Program website and the Program Portal, and allocation of capacity to waitlisted applications. Please see this announcement for details of the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening and Program Pause for New Capacity.

This memo details the steps the Program has taken to conform to the ICC’s Order and allocate capacity to eligible waitlisted applications. The table that follows summarizes the results of the allocations and the amount of capacity that was available at Program Re-Opening on October 31, 2025.

  1. Capacity was allocated to all eligible, waitlisted TCS Group B projects. The expanded 20% developer cap (59.60 MW) was applied during this time. After the waitlist allocations, no projects remained on the waitlist, and 28.45 MW of capacity are still unallocated. If this available capacity is exhausted on October 31, the first day of program reopening, then the ‘first day’ scoring mechanism will be triggered. Additional details about this scoring mechanism can be found in Appendix E of the Program Guidebook. Please note that there are projects totaling 16.99 MW that were submitted prior to the re-opening and are still currently in the scoring process.
  2. Capacity totaling 68.88 MW was allocated to projects from the TCS Group A waitlist. The expanded 20% developer cap (25.60 MW) was applied during this time. After the expanded capacity was allocated, there were still projects remaining on the TCS Group A waitlist.
  3. Projects totaling 46.022 MW were selected off the EEC Group A waitlist. The expanded 20% developer cap (24.54 MW) was applied during this time. After waitlist allocations, there were still projects remaining on the EEC Group A waitlist.
  4. No projects were selected from the CDCS waitlists prior to program reopening. CDCS project selection for the 2025-26 Program Year will take place in early December.

Waitlist Selection Procedures

Projects selected from each category’s applicable waitlist will receive the REC pricing associated with the block of capacity for the Group/category combination it will utilize, and the Approved Vendor (“AV”) will be given 10 business days from selection notification to accept or decline the selection. If the AV declines, the next project(s) on the waitlist (subject to available capacity) would be selected along the same terms (10 business days to accept or decline) with this process repeated as necessary until the available capacity is exhausted.

Next Steps

Projects selected from the waitlists will be submitted to the next eligible ICC meeting for approval for REC contracts. The first eligible ICC meeting for this project selection is December 4, 2025.

Please note: The Agency has temporarily paused the enforcement of the two withhold limit from ICC meetings. This pause will be in effect until the Agency determines this pause is no longer necessary. AVs that do not wish to take advantage of these additional withholdings may send projects to the ICC during the re-batching window.

The following table summarizes the results of the aforementioned capacity expansion, the capacity allocation to existing waitlists, and the amount of capacity that was available at Program reopening on October 31, 2025.

BlockGroupCategoryTier (Public Schools only)Size kW (Public Schools only)2025-26 Program Year uncontracted capacity prior to program pause (MW)Capacity added due to expansionAllocations made to existing waitlists (MW)Program reopening unallocated capacity after waitlist allocation (MW)
CEJACategoryGroup Tier   Uncontracted capacity + expansion capacity – waitlist
Small DGN/ADG  74.73142.000.00216.73
Large DGN/ADG  109.04142.000.00251.04
TCSA (30%)CS  0.0064.0068.880.00
TCSB (70%)CS  0.00149.00117.5228.45
CDCSA (30%)CS  11.0011.000.0022.00
CDCSB (70%)CS  25.0025.000.0050.00
EECA (30%)CS (75%)  0.0048.0046.021.98
DG (25%)  11.1616.000.0027.16
B (70%)CS (75%)  41.42126.750.00168.17
DG (25%)  27.9842.250.0070.23
Public SchoolsN/ACS (25%)Tier 1, 2, and EJC (70%)<250 kW(25%)6.194.68010.87
250 – 1000(50%)12.389.3621.74
1000-5000(25%)2.894.687.57
Tier 3, 4(30%)<250 kW(25%)2.652.014.66
250 – 1000(50%)5.314.019.32
1000-5000(25%)2.652.014.66
DG (75%)Tier 1, 2, and EJC (70%)<250 kW(25%)18.5714.04032.61
250 – 100050%)36.1928.0964.28
1000-5000(25%)18.5714.0432.61
Tier 3, 4(30%)<250 kW(25%)7.966.0213.98
250 – 1000(50%)15.3112.0427.35
1000-5000(25%)7.966.0213.98

The following table details the 20% developer cap for TCS and EEC categories updated upon Program reopening on October 31, 2025.

TCS Group A new developer cap (MW) TCS Group B new developer cap (MW) EEC Group A new developer cap (MW) EEC Group B new developer cap (MW)
25.6059.6024.5461.11

For available Office Hours support, please see the most recent Program announcements. For assistance at any time, please contact the Program Administrator at admin@IllinoisShines.com or (877) 783-1820.

Thank you!    
Illinois Shines Program    
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> Reminder: Program Pause for New Capacity https://illinoisshines.com/reminder-program-pause-for-new-capacity/ Wed, 29 Oct 2025 15:42:00 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15813 Per the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening, capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year will expand by 100% except for the EEC Category, which will be expanded by 64 MW for Group A and 169 MW for Group B. In order to expand the capacity, the Program will pause for one business day, from October 30, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT through October 31, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT, to undertake data and reporting updates, including updates to the Program website, Portal, and allocation of capacity to waitlisted applications.

During the Program pause:

  • All Disclosure Form functionality, including the ability to create and submit Disclosure Forms and obtain signatures, will be available.
  • Access to project applications and batches will be unavailable in the Illinois Shines Portal.
  • The ability for Approved Vendors to create, revise, submit, and batch project applications will be paused within the Portal.
  • Project data may be exported from the Application Dashboard prior to the pause.

For more information on the Program pause, please refer to this announcement.

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> Program Pause for New Capacity, IPA Files 2026 Long-Term Plan with the ICC, IPA Launches Stranded Customer REC Adder https://illinoisshines.com/program-pause-for-new-capacity-ipa-files-2026-long-term-plan-with-the-icc-ipa-launches-stranded-customer-rec-adder/ Fri, 24 Oct 2025 20:25:19 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15794 The IPA announces new information related to the Illinois Shines program. This announcement includes: Coming Up in Illinois Shines, Stakeholder Support, Program News, and Reference and Reminders. The full announcement is available here. Topics include the following:

Coming up in Illinois Shines

  • Key Dates
  • Deadlines

Stakeholder Support

  • Program Administrator Office Hours
  • Application Tips and Tricks

Program News

  • New! Program Pause for New Capacity
  • New! IPA Files 2026 Long-Term Plan with the ICC
  • New! IPA Launches Stranded Customer REC Adder
  • New! ICC Re-Opens 2024 Long-Term Plan
  • New! Program Administrator to Host Illinois Shines Customer Focus Groups
  • New! New to the Program Website
  • Program Calculates Estimated Lifetime CO2 Offset by Energized Illinois Shines Projects
  • Community Power Accelerator
  • Reminder: Upcoming Designee Renewal
  • New Homeowner Handouts
  • IPA Announces Certificates for Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs) and Availability of EEP Resumes
  • Community-Driven Community Solar Application Review and Scoring Schedule
  • Part II Verification Cut Off for October
  • Draft 2026 Long-Term Plan Public Comments Posted
  • Navigating H.R.1: Resources for Residential and Commercial Projects
  • Annual Report Cure Period

Reference and Reminders

  • Re-Batching for ICC Meetings
  • Portal Maintenance and Releases
  • Application Processing Tables and Update
  • Stakeholder Feedback

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> Final Order on 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening and Program Pause for New Capacity https://illinoisshines.com/final-order-on-2024-long-term-plan-re-opening-and-program-pause-for-new-capacity/ Thu, 23 Oct 2025 20:54:32 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15791 On October 16, 2025, the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) issued an Order approving the Administrative Law Judge’s Proposed Order, with modifications, on the re-opening of the 2024 Long-Term Plan. The Order is available in Docket 23-0714. The Agency will publish an updated 2024 Long-Term Plan that conforms with the Order, no later than October 31, 2025.

Changes from the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-opening impacting the Illinois Shines program include:

  • Expanding the 2025-26 Program Year capacity by 100% except for the EEC Category, which will be expanded by 64 MW for Group A and 169 MW for Group B
  • Imposing an interim reallocation of 50% of remaining unused capacity on April 1, 2026, to distribute among waitlisted projects as the waitlist exists on April 1, 2026

To expand the capacity of the 2025-26 Program Year, the Program will pause for one business day, from October 30, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT through October 31, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT, to undertake data and reporting updates to expand program capacity, including updates to the Program website and the Program Portal and allocation of capacity to waitlisted applications. During the Program pause:

  • All Disclosure Form functionality, including the ability to create and submit Disclosure Forms and obtain signatures, will be available.
  • Access to project applications and batches will be unavailable in the Illinois Shines Portal.
  • The ability for Approved Vendors to create, revise, submit, and batch project applications will be paused within the Portal.
  • Project data may be exported from the Application Dashboard prior to the pause. To export data, navigate to Menu: Project Applications -> View. Then apply your preferred Search Filters in the column headings. When you’re ready to export, select the “Export Project Data” button at the top of the page.

Developer caps currently in effect will continue to apply after capacity is added. All Program requirements remain in place as set forth in the 2024 Long-Term Plan, with the following considerations:

  • Traditional Community Solar – After capacity allocation to waitlisted projects, if remaining capacity is available, the day after the Program pause, October 31, 2025, will be treated as the “first day” of the Program Year as set out in Section 7.4.3 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan.
  • Community-Driven Community Solar – Projects submitted during the 90-day CDCS application window for the 2025-26 Program Year are still in the scoring process period. After the scoring process and project selection, if remaining capacity is available, the Program plans to open a second 45-day application window for CDCS project submission on January 16, 2026.

Prior to the interim reallocation on April 1, 2026, the Program will pause for two business days to determine the amount of unused capacity and to redistribute it in accordance with the prioritization for year-end reallocation set out in Section 7.3.4 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, with the exception of the 25% rollover of unallocated Public Schools capacity.

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> IPA Launches the Stranded Customer REC Adder https://illinoisshines.com/ipa-launches-the-stranded-customer-rec-adder/ Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:56:44 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15790 Stranded customers are Illinois Shines or Illinois Solar for All customers who have signed a contract with an Approved Vendor (“AV”) (and/or sometimes a Designee) that goes out of business or is prevented from moving forward with the project for other reasons, such as disciplinary action. In response to AV and Designee feedback that assisting stranded customers can be challenging and risky, the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) is implementing an economic incentive for AVs that assist stranded customers in the form of a “REC adder”— that is, an increased price in the REC Contract for RECs generated by projects that were stranded and then “unstranded.”

On September 3, 2025, the IPA issued a Rationale Document outlining its final decisions on the policy and explaining whether and how stakeholder feedback was incorporated. The IPA, alongside its Program Administrators, also developed a chart outlining the REC adder value in US dollars available per category of stranded customer, based on the circumstances under which customers were stranded. These documents can be found on the Consumer Protection Initiatives page.

The Stranded Customer REC Adder has been launched and is available to AVs.

  • The REC Adder must be requested by the customer’s new AV or the original AV (if the Designee is unstranding the customer), administratively approved by the Program Administrator, and approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
    • The AV must submit a Stranded Customer REC Adder AV Request Form that identifies the customer, relevant information, and the category and the appropriate REC adder value.
    • AVs can appeal the Program Administrator’s denial of a REC Adder to the IPA.
    • An AV is not required to be on the Stranded Customer Shortlist to be eligible to receive the REC Adder.
  • Application of the Stranded Customer REC Adder is available to projects that pre-date the 2024 Long-Term Plan and for projects for which the incentive payments have already been made.

FAQs have been added to both customer-facing and vendor-facing pages. For more information, please visit the Program website.

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> IPA Files 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Plan Procurement with the ICC https://illinoisshines.com/ipa-files-2026-long-term-renewable-resources-plan-procurement-with-the-icc/ Tue, 21 Oct 2025 22:11:27 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15780 On October 20, 2025, the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) filed the 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) in Docket 25-0945, which included:

The 2026 Long-Term Plan details goals and strategies for the IPA’s renewable energy programs and procurements, including program capacity and renewable energy credit pricing for the Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All programs over the 2026-27 and 2027-28 Program Years.

Please keep in mind that the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan is not finalized upon filing and anything contained within the Plan should be considered preliminary. Stakeholders can engage with the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan in ICC Docket 25-0945 following the ICC’s rules of practice. The Agency expects a final order from the ICC regarding any contested issues in the Plan no later than February 17, 2026. The Agency will then publish a final 2026 Long-Term Plan in compliance with that final order, 45 days before it takes effect, marking the conclusion of this process.

Changes proposed in the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan that impact Illinois Shines include, but are not limited to:

  • Increased Program size to 1,000 MW for 2026-27 Program Year and 800 MW for 2027-28 Program Year
  • Updated the annual Program Block Capacity for 2026-27 and 2027-28 Program Years to allow for increases in the Equity Eligible Contractor category
  • Provided updates on the REC Pricing Model and proposed REC prices for the 2026-27 Program Year
  • Incorporated $20 REC Adder for customer-owned Small DG projects receiving 2026-27 Program Year capacity 
  • Removed the price adjustment cap for changes to REC prices for waitlisted projects
  • Updated the priority list for the reallocation of uncontracted capacity at the close of a program year
  • Removed the rollover of 25% of uncontracted capacity from the Public Schools category from the reallocation of uncontracted capacity process
  • Introduced a mechanism to track capacity from projects, that were under contract but were withdrawn or removed while allocated to a previous Program Year’s capacity, and to redistribute that capacity through the established reallocation of uncontracted capacity process
  • Revised the Traditional Community Solar and Community-Driven Community Solar Scoring Guidelines
  • Established a reduced initial batch requirement for Small and Emerging Business Approved Vendors 
  • Created an “opt-in” batching mechanism for Community Solar projects
  • Increased the amount of time permitted for development of Community Solar projects from 24 months to 36 months
  • Planned for a refreshed Master REC Contract, which will include a mechanism to remove and resubmit projects submitted with incorrect capacity factors
  • Defined “Abandoned Contracts” and proposed relief to be provided to Approved Vendors upon the occurrence of an Abandoned Contract

PLEASE NOTE – Chapter 7 of the Long-Term Plan covers the Illinois Shines program, but Chapter 9 – Consumer Protection and Chapter 10 – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion both contain requirements and proposals that impact Illinois Shines participants. In order to understand the full scope of changes to the Illinois Shines program, all three chapters should be reviewed in full.

Please find the 2026 Long-Term Plan’s Petition and Appendices to the Plan on the Agency’s website.


Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> Community Power Accelerator, Upcoming Designee Renewal, Part II Verification for October https://illinoisshines.com/community-power-accelerator-upcoming-designee-renewal-part-ii-verification-for-october/ Fri, 17 Oct 2025 20:19:53 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15769 The IPA announces new information related to the Illinois Shines program. This announcement includes: Coming Up in Illinois Shines, Stakeholder Support, Program News, and Reference and Reminders. The full announcement is available here. Topics include the following:

Coming up in Illinois Shines

  • Key Dates
  • Deadlines

Stakeholder Support

  • Program Administrator Office Hours
  • Application Tips and Tricks

Program News

  • New! Program Calculates Estimated Lifetime CO2 Offset by Energized Illinois Shines Projects
  • New! New to the Program Website
  • Community Power Accelerator
  • Reminder: Upcoming Designee Renewal
  • New Homeowner Handouts
  • IPA Announces Certificates for Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs) and Availability of EEP Resumes
  • Community-Driven Community Solar Application Review and Scoring Schedule
  • Updated Prevailing Wage Hub
  • Designee Company Information Form
  • Part II Verification Cut Off for October
  • Draft 2026 Long-Term Plan Public Comments Posted
  • Navigating H.R.1: Resources for Residential and Commercial Projects
  • Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Re-Opens 2024 Long-Term Plan
  • Annual Report Cure Period

Reference and Reminders

  • Re-Batching for ICC Meetings
  • Portal Maintenance and Releases
  • Application Processing Tables and Update
  • Stakeholder Feedback


Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]> New Homeowner Handouts, IPA Announces Certificates for Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs) and Availability of EEP Resumes, Upcoming Designee Renewal https://illinoisshines.com/new-homeowner-handouts-ipa-announces-certificates-for-equity-eligible-persons-eeps-and-availability-of-eep-resumes-upcoming-designee-renewal/ Fri, 10 Oct 2025 16:45:44 +0000 https://illinoisshines.com/?p=15711 The IPA announces new information related to the Illinois Shines program. This announcement includes: Coming Up in Illinois Shines, Stakeholder Support, Program News, and Reference and Reminders. The full announcement is available here. Topics include the following:

Coming up in Illinois Shines

  • Deadlines

Stakeholder Support

  • Program Holiday Working Hours
  • Application Tips and Tricks

Program News

  • New! New Homeowner Handouts
  • New! IPA Announces Certificates for Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs) and Availability of EEP Resumes
  • New! Upcoming Designee Renewal
  • New! New to Program Website
  • Community-Driven Community Solar Application Review and Scoring Schedule
  • Updated Prevailing Wage Hub
  • Designee Company Information Form
  • Part II Verification Cut Off for October
  • Community Power Accelerator
  • Draft 2026 Long-Term Plan Public Comments Posted
  • October REC Invoicing Opened October 1
  • Find a Community Solar Project
  • Navigating H.R.1: Resources for Residential and Commercial Projects
  • Relevant Forms for Change of AVs
  • Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Re-Opens 2024 Long-Term Plan
  • Annual Report Cure Period

Reference and Reminders

  • Re-Batching for ICC Meetings
  • Portal Maintenance and Releases
  • Application Processing Tables and Update
  • Stakeholder Feedback

Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
admin@IllinoisShines.com

]]>