Notice to Illinois Residents on the Availability of Illinois Shines Incentives for Solar Projects in Central and Southern Illinois
Each Program Year, Illinois Shines is able to provide incentives for a capped amount of solar project capacity for specific project categories. The capacity for Large Distributed Generation (on-site) solar projects—those over 25 kW AC—in Group A has been fully depleted for the Program Year that runs from June 2023 through May 2024. Group A […]
EEC Waitlists
The EEC Group A and B waitlists have been published on the Program website’s and are now available on the Block Capacity Dashboard page. Projects that exceed a given EEC’s developer cap of 36.088 MW are indicated as such and are not eligible for capacity allocation until the 2024-2025 Program Year, regardless of whether additional […]
Update on Certification of EEC AVs and Designees
As announced in the July 21, 2023 announcement, EEPs (Equity-Eligible Persons) that currently serve as the majority-owner of an EEC (Equity Eligible Contractor) AV may not submit additional requests to certify EEC AVs for which they serve as the majority-owner EEP, except for the case of Single-Project AVs. The IPA has received inquiries requesting if […]
Mentorship Pilot Interest Form
The Agency and Program Administrator will launch a Mentorship Pilot program in Fall 2023, with the goal of fostering relationships between market participants and empowering small businesses, Diverse Business Enterprises (DBEs), and Equity Eligible Contractors (EECs) with the tools and training to successfully participate in Illinois Shines. Entities interested in participating in the Mentorship Pilot […]
Clarification on Advance of Capital Requests for EECs
It has come to the Agency’s attention that there is a typographical error on page 97 of the Program Guidebook causing confusion around the availability of Advance of Capital for Equity Eligible Contractors. The Agency would like to clarify that Advance of Capital is only available for projects submitted to the EEC category and is […]
Update on Certification of EECs
The Equity Eligible Contractor category is intended to “advance[e] equity across Illinois by providing access to the clean energy economy for businesses and workers from communities that have been historically excluded from economic opportunities,” and that purpose is best served by ensuring a level playing field across Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs). The IPA has concluded […]
EEC Developer Cap
As noted in Section 7.4.6.3.7 of the Modified 2022 Long-Term Plan, a 20% developer cap will be applied to the EEC category should that category become oversubscribed on Day 1 of the block opening. On Day 1 of category opening on June 1, 2023, the initial review of the applications batched and submitted did not […]
EEC Block Changes – Long-Term Plan Reopening
On May 9, 2023, the Agency made a compliance filing of a modified Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan to conform with the changes stated in the ICC’s Order on Reopening in Docket No. 22-0231. The ICC’s Order modified the EEC category including changes to the EEC block size for the 2022-23 Program year, new EEC […]
EEC Scoring
The Program is reviewing EEC applications in the order received and will begin sharing EEC review and forecast data in upcoming application processing announcements.