Updates Following 2025-26 Program Year Re-Opening: Traditional Community Solar (Group A and Group B) – Next Steps
On October 31, 2025, capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year was re-allocated following re-opening. Capacity was initially allocated to projects on the 2025-26 Program Year waitlists, leaving 0 MW of capacity available for Group A and 6.17 MW available for Group B for newly submitted applications. The expanded 20% developer cap was applied during this time. Projects selected from […]
Final Order on 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening and Program Pause for New Capacity
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, 2025.
Community Power Accelerator
The U.S. Department of Energy and its Community Power Accelerator are helping increase access to the funding and technical expertise necessary to deploy community solar across the country. To explore the services, trainings, and resources available for developers to connect with capital providers visit https://communitypower.energy.gov/. If you have questions about the Accelerator, please reach out to [email protected].
Find a Community Solar Project
The IPA and Program Administrator seek updated Illinois Shines Community Solar project information from developers to populate the Find a Community Solar Project report at the Program website, including project-specific information known to AVs. This report is valuable to potentially interested subscribers, the Agency, other developers, and other stakeholders. On Thursday, September 25, 2025, the Program emailed […]
Results of the 2025-26 Traditional Community Solar (TCS) Random Selection Event
On June 2, 2025, Traditional Community Solar (TCS) for the 2025-26 Program Year opened, allocating 64 MW of capacity to Group A and 149 MW of capacity to Group B. Capacity was initially awarded to projects on the 2024-25 Program Year waitlist leaving 0 MW of capacity available for Group A and Group B for […]
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2025-26 Published and Upcoming Random Selection Event
In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines, the Program Administrator scored all TCS projects submitted on June 2, 2025, that completed Part I application processing. The scores were posted on the Traditional Community Solar page of the Project Category Hub on the Program website. AVs were given until September 4, 2025, to appeal decisions made by the Program Administrator on […]
Community Solar Developer ITC & Tariff Roundtable
The Illinois Finance Authority, in collaboration with the Climate Infrastructure Group, will host an upcoming roundtable discussion as part of the Clean Energy Finance Series in light of recent Federal legislation and uncertainty around the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The event will include a presentation on possible pathways to support projects at risk of missing tax credit deadlines, a Q&A on options […]
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2025-26 Published and Upcoming Random Selection Event
In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines, the Program Administrator scored all TCS projects submitted on June 2, 2025, that completed Part I application processing. The scores were posted on the Traditional Community Solar page of the Project Category Hub on the Program website. AVs were given until September 4, 2025, to appeal decisions made by the Program Administrator on […]
IPA Corrects Group B Traditional Community Solar REC Price Modeling Results
The Illinois Power Agency’s draft 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan contains proposed REC prices for the Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All programs for the 2026-27 Program Year. These REC prices are calculated using the REC Pricing Model spreadsheet, which is included as Appendix E of the draft 2026 Long-Term Plan. An error in the REC […]
Traditional Community Solar Scores for Program Year 2025-26 Published
In accordance with the TCS scoring guidelines, the Program Administrator scored all TCS projects submitted on June 2, 2025, that completed Part I application processing. The scores have been posted on the Traditional Community Solar page of the Project Category Hub on the Program website. AVs may appeal decisions made by the Program Administrator on the scoring of their projects. Appeals must be submitted to [email protected] by […]