On October 20, 2025, the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) filed the 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (“ICC”) in Docket 25-0945, which included:
The 2026 Long-Term Plan details goals and strategies for the IPA’s renewable energy programs and procurements, including program capacity and renewable energy credit pricing for the Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All programs over the 2026-27 and 2027-28 Program Years.
Please keep in mind that the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan is not finalized upon filing and anything contained within the Plan should be considered preliminary. Stakeholders can engage with the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan in ICC Docket 25-0945 following the ICC’s rules of practice. The Agency expects a final order from the ICC regarding any contested issues in the Plan no later than February 17, 2026. The Agency will then publish a final 2026 Long-Term Plan in compliance with that final order, 45 days before it takes effect, marking the conclusion of this process.
Changes proposed in the filed 2026 Long-Term Plan that impact Illinois Shines include, but are not limited to:
- Increased Program size to 1,000 MW for 2026-27 Program Year and 800 MW for 2027-28 Program Year
- Updated the annual Program Block Capacity for 2026-27 and 2027-28 Program Years to allow for increases in the Equity Eligible Contractor category
- Provided updates on the REC Pricing Model and proposed REC prices for the 2026-27 Program Year
- Incorporated $20 REC Adder for customer-owned Small DG projects receiving 2026-27 Program Year capacity
- Removed the price adjustment cap for changes to REC prices for waitlisted projects
- Updated the priority list for the reallocation of uncontracted capacity at the close of a program year
- Removed the rollover of 25% of uncontracted capacity from the Public Schools category from the reallocation of uncontracted capacity process
- Introduced a mechanism to track capacity from projects, that were under contract but were withdrawn or removed while allocated to a previous Program Year’s capacity, and to redistribute that capacity through the established reallocation of uncontracted capacity process
- Revised the Traditional Community Solar and Community-Driven Community Solar Scoring Guidelines
- Established a reduced initial batch requirement for Small and Emerging Business Approved Vendors
- Created an “opt-in” batching mechanism for Community Solar projects
- Increased the amount of time permitted for development of Community Solar projects from 24 months to 36 months
- Planned for a refreshed Master REC Contract, which will include a mechanism to remove and resubmit projects submitted with incorrect capacity factors
- Defined “Abandoned Contracts” and proposed relief to be provided to Approved Vendors upon the occurrence of an Abandoned Contract
PLEASE NOTE – Chapter 7 of the Long-Term Plan covers the Illinois Shines program, but Chapter 9 – Consumer Protection and Chapter 10 – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion both contain requirements and proposals that impact Illinois Shines participants. In order to understand the full scope of changes to the Illinois Shines program, all three chapters should be reviewed in full.
Please find the 2026 Long-Term Plan’s Petition and Appendices to the Plan on the Agency’s website.
Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
[email protected]