If I subscribe to a community solar project, what exactly am I getting in exchange for my subscription payments?

  • You must first enroll in virtual net metering in relation to your subscription share of the community solar system. (Your community solar provider will facilitate that enrollment for you.) Under virtual net metering, if you are subscribed to 1% of a community solar system, you will be credited on your monthly utility bill for 1% of a recent month’s production (in kilowatt-hours) from the community solar system.  Production will fluctuate slightly from month to month and seasonally.
  • The monetary value of this net metering credit is based on the energy supply charge that you regularly pay – either a default supply rate to your utility or a custom supply rate that you pay to an alternative retail electric supplier. In other words, the credit equals the recent month’s community solar production share in kilowatt-hours, multiplied by the energy supply rate.
  • In addition to the monetary value of net metering, you are getting the knowledge that you are contributing to the development of new solar power generation in Illinois, helping the growth of cleaner electricity production in our state.