Welcome to Illinois Shines Program Year 2023-2024

< Back to Vendor Updates

On behalf of the Illinois Shines program, the Illinois Power Agency and Program Administrator welcome stakeholders to Program Year 2023-2024. This Program Year includes new capacity for project categories to continue the expansion of solar development in Illinois, and brings new requirements, updated Program documents, new REC prices, stakeholder resources, and more.

This message is designed as a quick reference tool to link stakeholders to some of the many critical and updated Illinois Shines resources newly available for Program Year 2023-2024, as well as final block sizes and things to know while using the portal to create new Disclosure Forms. Resources can be found at the Program website’s Resources page, Program Year Updates page, or elsewhere at www.IllinoisABP.com.

Updated Program Documents

 New Disclosure Forms (“Version 2”) Resources

Other Program Requirements and Resources

Final Block Sizes Included Reallocated Capacity from the 2022-23 Program Year

Part I

Public School
New Applications Submitted Applications Batched and Paid New Applications Reviewed Projected End of Week Queue*Reviewing Apps Submitted to PA Week ofSubmission to App Review (calendar days)
Projected ActualProjected Actual
Week Of4
3/13/202301100512/19/202284
3/20/202300001412/19/202291
3/27/202300010412/19/202298
4/3/20231000222/6/202356
4/10/20232001032/6/202363
4/17/20231000122/13/202363
4/24/20232000043/15/202340
5/1/20232001043/13/202349
5/8/20232002043/20/202349
5/15/20232N/AN/A2N/A43/20/202356
5/22/20232N/AN/A2N/A44/3/202349
5/29/20232N/AN/A2N/A45/1/202328
6/5/20232N/AN/A3N/A35/15/202321
6/12/20232N/AN/A3N/A26/5/20237
6/19/20232N/AN/A3N/A16/12/20237
6/26/20232N/AN/A3N/AN/A6/19/20237

The block capacity dashboard on the Program website will not reflect the new block sizes until later this afternoon. Thank you for your patience.

Updates on Known Bugs in V2 Disclosure Forms

The new Disclosure Forms have been significantly revised, and incorporate many dynamic elements—this required significant redevelopment of the Portal and automated Disclosure Form generation methods. There are a few known issues with the new Disclosure Forms that will be resolved over the next several days. These are described below, along with related guidance to Approved Vendors/Designees.

The Program Administrator has done extensive testing of the Disclosure Forms, but all Approved Vendors and Designees are still encouraged to carefully review generated Disclosure Forms for any errors or miscalculations. If you experience any other issues when generating Disclosure Forms, please reach out as soon as possible to [email protected]. Please provide as much documentation (screenshots, DF ID number) as possible so that the Program Administrator can identify and help address the issue.

The Program Administrator will work diligently to remedy all issues outlined here as soon as possible and will keep AVs and Designees updated on the status of these issues.

If you have a business model or solar offer that cannot be accommodated by the options and fields in the current Disclosure Forms, or if you plan to develop a new offer that does not fit the Disclosure Form content, please reach out to the Program Administrator for guidance.

Criteria1 Point2 Points3 Points4 Points
A. Community ownership or community wealth-building through having a minimum of 50% of the ownership of the project held by community residents or non-profit organizations which directly serve the community where the project is located. This would include having members of the community being able to participate in decisions regarding the governance, operation, maintenance, and upgrades of and to the project; and members of that community benefiting from the project through subscriptions to the project.50% ownership60% ownership70% ownership80% and up ownership
B. Additional direct and indirect benefits, beyond project participation as a subscriber, including, but not limited to, economic, environmental, social, cultural, and physical benefits. The application must quantify the value of these benefits and they must represent at least 20% of the REC contract value.
  • Direct benefits can include, but are not limited to, financial benefits for the owner(s) and subscribers, such as bill savings, revenues from project ownership, tax credits, and the financial value of the project, as well as job creation, direct income, and increased economic activity in the defined geographic community.

  • Indirect benefits can include, but are not limited to, demonstration of environmental, educational, and cultural benefits.
20% of REC contract value25% of REC contract value30% of REC contract valueMore than 35% of REC contract value
C. Meaningful involvement in project organization and development by community members, non-profit organizations, or public entities located in or serving the community.
  • Meaningful involvement in project organization as used herein can mean, but is not limited to, a process that consists of public input, participation and engagement in the program design process, including workshops, webinars, and public comment periods all of which afford stakeholders (those who have an interest or stake in an issue, such as individuals, interest groups, and communities) the opportunity to influence decisions that impact their community.
3 or fewer community members or organizations engaged in Moderate project organization and development3 or fewer community members or organizations engaged in Substantial project organization and development4 or more community members or organizations engaged in Moderate project organization and development4 or more community members or organizations engaged in Substantial project organization and development
D. Engagement in project operations and management by nonprofit organizations, public entities, or community members.
  • • Engagement as used herein can mean, but is not limited to, continuous community participation and consultation as projects are built, operated, and maintained in a way that affords opportunities for the community to weigh in on and make decisions regarding the project.
Minimal community members’ or organizations’ involvement or plans for involvement in project operations and management. Moderate community members’ or organizations’ involvement or plans for involvement in project operations and management.Substantial community members’ or organizations’ involvement or plans for involvement in project operations and managementExtensive or more community members’ or organizations’ involvement or plans for involvement in project operations and management
E. Whether the project is developed in response to a site-specific RFP developed by community members, or a non-profit organization or public entity located in or serving the community.---Was indeed developed in response to site-specific RFP

For available Office Hours support, please see the most recent weekly Program announcement. For assistance at any time, please contact the Program Administrator at [email protected] or (877) 783-1820.