Community Driven Community Solar (CDCS)
On June 2, 2025, the 90-day CDCS application window will open for the 2025-26 Program Year. Upon closing of the 90-day application window on September 2, 2025, projects will be reviewed and scored based on the scoring criteria as outlined in Appendix F of the Program Guidebook, with projects selected from the application pool in the order of highest to lowest score until the block capacity is fully allocated. A minimum score of 6 points must be achieved to be eligible for a REC contract in the CDCS category. Random selection will be utilized as a tiebreaker only for equally scored projects to fill available capacity, if any.
For the 2025-26 Program Year, capacity available for the CDCS category is 11 MW for Group A and 25 MW for Group B. Capacity will first be allocated to projects on the 2024-25 CDCS Group A and CDCS Group B Waitlists, and then to projects submitted during the 2025-26 Program Year application window. The waitlists are published on the Block Capacity Dashboard page of the Program website. A minimum score of 10 points must be achieved to be placed on a waitlist.
Traditional Community Solar (TCS)
On June 2, 2025, TCS capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year will open. The Agency will begin accepting TCS applications on the first day of the Program Year with that “first day” application window ending at 11:59:59 p.m. CPT on June 2, 2025. For the 2025-26 Program Year, capacity available for the TCS category is 64 MW for Group A and 149 MW for Group B. Capacity will first be allocated to projects on the 2024-25 TCS Group A and TCS Group B Waitlists, and then to projects submitted on the first day of the Program Year. The waitlists are published on the Block Capacity Dashboard page of the Program website.
Since there is a limited amount of capacity available in the Program for the development of TCS projects, the Agency has developed a scoring mechanism for if/when the annual block of capacity is exceeded on the first day of the Program Year. This scoring mechanism is outlined in Appendix E of the Program Guidebook.
A 20% developer cap for any affiliated family of project developers for this TCS capacity will apply. Waitlisted projects carried over from the prior Program Year are included in determining whether the developer cap has been met, with the capacity from previously waitlisted projects considered on the first day of the new Program Year. If further ordering is required across first-day submitted projects (for instance, ordering of projects featuring the same score where projects receiving that score span across selected and unselected capacity within that block), the Agency proposes only then to utilize a random selection process to create a rank-order within those equivalently-scored projects. The 20% developer cap will be applied during this event separately for Group A and Group B. Approved Vendors can swap projects that were selected with projects that were waitlisted via the random selection process within the same Group, as long as they have same score and are the same size and were submitted on the same day. Project substitution will not be permitted outside of this allowance.
Should first day project applications not exceed category capacity, then all applicant projects otherwise qualifying shall be deemed acceptable and may qualify for a REC Delivery Contract. Should category capacity fill later in the Program year, then from that point forward, only projects meeting the scoring threshold of 5 points may be considered for an eligible spot on the waitlist for the TCS category.
Waitlist Selection Procedure
Once a project is selected off the waitlist, it will receive the REC pricing associated with the block of capacity for the Group/category combination it will utilize, and the Approved Vendor will be given 10 business days to accept or decline the selection. If it 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 filled (again, subject to available capacity).
For projects subject to a developer cap, projects will be subject to the cap by the date/time that they are submitted to the Program, meaning there is no swapping permitted to reorder projects to fit into the 20% allowance. The first project that goes above the 20% cap will have the opportunity to be resized to fit within developer cap. Waitlisted projects carried over from the prior Program Year are included in determining whether the developer cap has been met, with the capacity from previously waitlisted projects considered on the first day of the new Program Year.
Please note: TCS Built Environment 1.D – Commitment to utilize agrivoltaics or dual-use solar. A definition of dual-use solar has been added to the footnotes: “Dual-use solar involves the co-location of electricity generation and non-energy use on the same land at the same time— that is, generating electricity on the land while also using the land for another purpose. This may include floating photovoltaics, also sometimes known as “floating solar” or “solar-over-water.” The Agency will consider these on a case-by-case basis.”
Please note: TCS Siting Criteria 2.C – Sited in a county (or a township within Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry or Will County) that does not currently have a community solar project that was approved by the ICC for a REC contract under the Adjustable Block Program at the time of application. The footnote for this criterion now reads: “Multiple projects in a given county or township that does not presently feature a community solar project under contract may receive points in this category for the current Program Year. Project application reports will be used to verify this information”
TCS Application Review and Scoring Timeline
Please note this schedule is tentative and will be dependent on both the quality and quantity of applications received.
- Application Review Period
- Applications undergo initial review by Program Administrator – Approximately four weeks
- Application Cure Period
- Approved Vendors cure deficiencies identified by Program Administrator – Approximately two weeks
- Application Scoring Period
- Program Administrator begins scoring process for all relevant applications (those submitted without deficiencies and those that successfully cure deficiencies during the two-week cure period) – Approximately three weeks
- Scoring Cure Period
- Approved Vendors are offered a chance to review initial score and dispute and resolve any discrepancies – Approximately two weeks final scores will be posted publicly after the scoring cure period closes.
Final scores will be posted publicly after the scoring cure period closes.
Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
[email protected]
