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
- Program Guidebook – May 31, 2023 version – updated to conform with the ICC’s Order on Rehearing dated May 4, 2023 (Docket 22-0231) and to correct typographical errors
- Consumer Protection Handbook – published April 17, 2023 – effective June 1, 2023
- Contract Requirements effective June 1, 2023 – Distributed Generation and Community Solar
- Program Year 2023-2024 REC Prices (link to spreadsheet)
- REC Payments Calculator (link to Excel tool at Resources page)
- Updated Distributed Generation and Community Solar Program brochures and Guide to Going Solar flyer/timeline at IllinoisShines.com
New Disclosure Forms (“Version 2”) Resources
- New Disclosure Form samples (see the Disclosure Forms section of the Resources page)
- Community Solar DF templates for API (see the Disclosure Forms section of the Resources page)
- Portal Help Guides (PDF and video walkthroughs)
- New consumer-oriented Disclosure Form “Deep Dive” tool at IllinoisShines.com
- New Disclosure Forms webinar – May 18, 2023 – recording, presentation slides, Q&A
Other Program Requirements and Resources
- Program Year 2023-2024 webinar – May 25, 2023 – recording, presentation slides, Q&A
- 2023 Annual Report and Delivery Year REC Evaluation webinar – May 8, 2023 – recording and presentation slides
- Minimum Equity Standard (MES) resources including:
- Guide to the Equity Accountability System and Illinois Shines
- MES Compliance Plan submission form
- MES Compliance Plan sample questions
- MES Waiver Request
- MES Frequently Asked Questions (last edited May 25, 2023)
- Links to October 4, 2022, November 15, 2022, and March 13, 2023 Equity Accountability System and Minimum Equity Standard webinar recordings and presentation slides at the Program’s Equity Accountability System page
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 of | Submission to App Review (calendar days) | ||
Projected | Actual | Projected | Actual | |||||
Week Of | 4 | |||||||
3/13/2023 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12/19/2022 | 84 |
3/20/2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 12/19/2022 | 91 |
3/27/2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12/19/2022 | 98 |
4/3/2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2/6/2023 | 56 |
4/10/2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2/6/2023 | 63 |
4/17/2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2/13/2023 | 63 |
4/24/2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3/15/2023 | 40 |
5/1/2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3/13/2023 | 49 |
5/8/2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3/20/2023 | 49 |
5/15/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 2 | N/A | 4 | 3/20/2023 | 56 |
5/22/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 2 | N/A | 4 | 4/3/2023 | 49 |
5/29/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 2 | N/A | 4 | 5/1/2023 | 28 |
6/5/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 3 | N/A | 3 | 5/15/2023 | 21 |
6/12/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 3 | N/A | 2 | 6/5/2023 | 7 |
6/19/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 3 | N/A | 1 | 6/12/2023 | 7 |
6/26/2023 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 3 | N/A | N/A | 6/19/2023 | 7 |
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.
Criteria | 1 Point | 2 Points | 3 Points | 4 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% ownership | 60% ownership | 70% ownership | 80% 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.
| 20% of REC contract value | 25% of REC contract value | 30% of REC contract value | More 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.
| 3 or fewer community members or organizations engaged in Moderate project organization and development | 3 or fewer community members or organizations engaged in Substantial project organization and development | 4 or more community members or organizations engaged in Moderate project organization and development | 4 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.
| 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 management | Extensive 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.