Portal Login

Other Opportunities

Upcoming Opportunities

Overview of Financial Resources for Small Businesses Webinar Series

  • Multiple dates and times

The Office Economic Equity & Empowerment invites entities for an online conversation and the latest updates on financial resources, federal, state, and local government programs, as well as other opportunities. Participants will be able to ask Business Development Managers questions about their business in both English and Spanish. Topics discussed will include access to financial capital, such as grants and loans, and an overview of business services presented by the Illinois Secretary of State. Register with this link. Multiple webinar dates are available. Additionally, please see this document for a complete list of funding opportunities and resources.

Community Power Accelerator

The U.S. Department of Energy created the Community Power Accelerator to connect community-serving distributed solar projects and developers (including community-based organizations) with philanthropists, lenders, and investors in an online ecosystem to drive more local, affordable energy. The Accelerator offers four key free services including a platform to connect developers and capital providers, free training courses, technical assistance, and a credit-ready checklist.

Every distributed solar project on the Community Power Accelerator is designed to achieve one or more of the following: Solar access and consumer choice; affordability and household savings; reliability, resilience, and security; local economic development; or solar workforce and entrepreneurship.

How do you join?

The process is simple!

  1. Sign up at communitypower.energy.gov
  2.  Create your organization’s profile
  3.  Connect with other developers and capital providers!
Sign up

If you have any questions or would like to connect with a member of the Community Power Accelerator’s team, please contact [email protected].

Elective Pay

House Resolution 1 (“H.R.1”), signed into law on July 4, 2025, introduces significant changes to clean energy tax credits made available under the Inflation Reduction Act, including those that can be claimed via Elective Pay (Find out more information on H.R.1 here). The Illinois Power Agency (IPA) is interested in ensuring that entities across Illinois leverage federal tax credits for their solar and other clean energy projects, including by using Elective Pay to reimburse a portion (often at least 30%) of project costs. To further that goal, the IPA will be conducting outreach and providing education and technical assistance on this new opportunity for tax-exempt entities, including webinars for Elective Pay-eligible entities and Approved Vendors to provide detailed information on qualification, compliance, and filing. If you are an eligible entity or Approved Vendor (AV) interested in IPA’s resources on Elective Pay, please contact the IPA. Additional information is available at the IPA website’s Elective Pay page.

  • December 3 Webinar for Tax-Exempt EntitiesOn December 3, 2025, IPA held a webinar on Elective Pay and municipalities, public school districts, nonprofits, and other tax-exempt organizations that have placed a clean energy project in service in the approximately the last year, or will soon do so, were encouraged to attend. The recording and presentation slides may be accessed here.
  • December 17 Webinar for AVs Working with Tax-Exempt EntitiesOn December 17, 2025, IPA held a second webinar on Elective Pay designed for AVs working with municipalities, public school districts, nonprofits, and other tax-exempt organizations that have placed a clean energy project in service in the last year or so, or will soon do so. The recording and presentation slides may be accessed here. 
  • March and April 2026 Information Sessions and Technical Assistance on Solar Tax Credit Opportunity for Tax Exempt Entities
    To ensure that tax-exempt entities have the resources they need to make use of Elective Pay, the IPA hosted a series of in-person information sessions to share information, answer questions, and offer assistance.

    ·   Collinsville, IL – March 30, 2026·   Springfield, IL – March 30, 2026·   Peoria, IL – March 31, 2026 ·   Moline, IL – March 31, 2026 ·   Ottawa, IL – April 1, 2026·   Barrington, IL – April 2, 2026·   Evanston, IL – April 3, 2026
    • These events are specifically for tax-exempt entities eligible to make use of Elective Pay (e.g., local governments, public school districts, non-profits, houses of worship, etc.) and IPA Approved Vendors. Specific details regarding time and location of each event will be provided following registration confirmation.
It is still possible for Elective Pay-eligible entities to claim these tax credits for projects recently placed into service, and for projects still in the planning or construction phases.
Urgent deadlines may apply, including:
  • Deadline to file a tax return and claim the tax credit (or request a 6-month extension): 4.5 months following the end of an entity’s tax year in which they placed an eligible project into service
  • December 31, 2025: entities must ensure their projects have met “beginning of construction” milestones in order to avoid more onerous sourcing requirements that begin 1/1/26
  • July 4, 2026: solar projects beginning construction on 7/5/26 or later must be placed in service by 12/31/2027

Visit ipa.illinois.gov for more information.