As mentioned above, the EEC CS Group A subcategory block closed on Day 1 of the Program Year, June 2, 2025, after going through the soft close process. The soft close period was both initiated and concluded on Day 1 of the Program Year. As a reminder, the soft close period allows a block to remain open for seven calendar days or until the next project application submitted would exceed the soft close capacity amount of 10 megawatts (MW).
Prior to the 2024-25 Program Year opening, capacity was allocated to eligible waitlisted projects. EEC CS Group A had a final 2024-25 block size of 46.52 MW and a waitlist totaling 101.69 MW. After allocating up to 46.52 MW of capacity towards the waitlist prior to the new Program Year opening, a waitlist still remained. This triggered the soft close period to begin, as the block had effectively been exhausted of capacity. The soft close capacity amount for EEC CS Group A was 7.5 MW, which was 75% of the 10 MW of soft close capacity allotted to the EEC Group A category as a whole.
After allocating the 7.5 MW soft close capacity to waitlisted projects, a waitlist still remained. In other words, soft close capacity was immediately exhausted by the waitlist. This signaled the end of soft close and the official designation of the block being closed. For more information about the soft close process, please reference Section 1.G. of the Program Guidebook.
The Group A EEC Community Solar block is now closed, and a project waitlist for this subcategory will be added to the Program website at https://illinoisshines.com/block-capacity-dashboard/. At this time, new capacity for this Group/category is planned for the 2026-27 Program Year and is expected to be available on June 1, 2026.