Program Updates

As a result of the Modified 2024 Long-Term Plan, the Program will open an additional 45-day Community-Driven Community Solar (“CDCS”) application window on January 16, 2026, regardless of capacity availability as of that date. The application submission deadline for the CDCS 45-day window is March 2, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. CPT.

As set forth in the Long-Term Plan and the Program Guidebook, in Program Year 2025-26, at least 14% of the project workforce for each Approved Vendor and Designee participating in the Illinois Shines program must be composed of Equity Eligible Persons. The Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) applies to all Approved

The IPA announces new information related to the Illinois Shines program. This announcement includes: Coming Up in Illinois Shines, Stakeholder Support, Program News, and Reference and Reminders. The full announcement is available here. Topics include the following: Coming up in Illinois Shines Stakeholder Support Program News Reference and Reminders Thank you!Illinois

On June 2, 2025, the 90-day project application window opened for Community-Driven Community Solar (“CDCS”) for the 2025-2026 Program Year, allowing Approved Vendors (“AVs”) to submit CDCS applications until 11:59 p.m. CPT on September 2, 2025. Capacity available for the CDCS category was 34.07 MW for Group A and 56.99

Elective Pay is a new mechanism that allows tax-exempt entities – such as local government offices, public schools, nonprofits, or houses of worship – who have installed or plan to install a clean energy project to file a tax return and receive a reimbursement for a portion (often at least

As outlined in Section 5 of the Program Guidebook, the Community-Driven Community Solar (“CDCS”) application window closes 90 days after the start of the Program Year. With the Program Year commencing on June 2, 2025, the application submission deadline for Program Year 2025-26 CDCS projects was September 2, 2025. In