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Solar Restitution Program

On May 6, 2025, the Illinois Power Agency and its Program Administrators launched the Solar Restitution Program (“SRP”). The SRP, which is designed to provide economic assistance to customers who have been harmed through their participation in Illinois Shines or Illinois Solar for All, was first outlined in the 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan and further developed through a stakeholder feedback process in the Fall of 2024. A Solar Restitution Program Rationale Document was published on April 28, 2025.

While most customers have a positive experience in connection with the Agency’s programs, there are unfortunately still entities that cause economic harm to customers, and the SRP is a new tool that allows the Agency and Program Administrator to help provide financial restitution to customers who have experienced such harm in certain circumstances.

The Solar Restitution Program will be implemented using a “phased” approach. Under Phase I, which launched on May 6, 2025, the Solar Restitution Program is available to (a) small Distributed Generation (“DG”) customers who were promised a lump-sum pass-through payment, but the Approved Vendor kept the payment and did not make any portion of the promised payment; AND (b) large DG customers where the Approved Vendor received – but failed to pass through – one or more promised payments to the customer. On June 1, 2026, the IPA launched Phase II of the SRP, which expands restitution eligibility to customers who were promised pass-through payments but only received a portion of those payments.

Customer Eligibility

Solar Restitution Program Claimants must meet specific criteria, and the Program Administrator and IPA will determine who is eligible for restitution.

For a customer to potentially be eligible for compensation under Phase I or II, the following requirements must be met:

  • The customer submitted a complaint to the Program Administrator and the complaint was submitted within two years of the date of the customer’s harm or the launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm (whichever is later);
  • The customer cooperated with the Illinois Shines complaint investigation process;
  • The Program Administrator verified the customer was promised a lump sum pass-through payment, the AV received the incentive payment from the utility, but the AV did not deliver some or all of the pass-through payment to the customer;
  • The Program Administrator closed the complaint given the AV’s unwillingness to pay the customer the promised share of the pass-through incentive payment, and there is no reasonable likelihood that the AV will pay the customer the promised pass-through amount; and
  • The customer submitted a restitution claim within six months of the complaint being closed (or from the date of the launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm, whichever is later).

A customer is not eligible if:

    • The customer did not file a complaint with the Program Administrator first and/or they filed a complaint, but the complaint has not been closed;
    • The customer did not file a complaint within two years of the Date of Harm or two years of the launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm (whichever is later)
    • The customer did not file a claim within six months of the complaint being closed or six months of the  launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm (whichever is later);
    • The customer was a 5% or greater owner or high-level management of the entity that caused the harm;
    • The customer has already received full compensation for their missed incentive payment from the Approved Vendor, Designee, or other entity involved in the transaction (customers who received partial payments may be eligible for restitution in future phases of the Solar Restitution Program); and
    • The customer did not return the required signed attestation/assignment of rights form.

Restitution Payments

Restitution payments will not be available to customers who are harmed by entities that are not registered Approved Vendors or Designees in the Illinois Shines or Illinois Solar for All programs, regardless of whether the entity’s marketing claims referenced the incentive programs.

A cap (maximum payment amounts) of $30,000 per solar project will be applied to individual restitution claims for customers whose solar project is 25 kW or smaller and a cap of $50,000 will be applied per solar project for customers whose solar project is larger than 25 kW. All claims for incomplete pass-through payments against a single Approved Vendor will be paid out to customers in full until a claims cap of $3,000,000 is reached.

Claim steps:

1.

File a complaint with the Program Administrator and cooperate fully. 

2.

Wait for your complaint to be investigated and closed. 

3.

Submit an online SRP Claim Form (English or Spanish) or, if you are unable to complete the form yourself online, the Program Administrator may complete the form for you over the phone (please call (877) 783-1820 for assistance). 

4.

If you don’t complete the form yourself online, you will then be required to sign and return the assignment of rights form within 30 days from claim submission. 

Frequently Asked Questions (May 2026):

The Solar Restitution Program (SRP) is an initiative in the Illinois Shines and Illinois Solar for All programs to provide financial compensation to customers who suffered harm through their participation in the programs. In Phases I and II, restitution will be available for customers who were promised, but didn’t receive, some or all of their pass-through incentive by a Program Approved Vendor (AV). The Illinois Power Agency developed this initiative with the Program Administrator of the Illinois Shines program.

A customer is eligible to receive funds from the SRP if the customer meets the following criteria:

  • The customer submitted a complaint to the Program Administrator and the complaint was submitted within two years of the date of the customer’s harm or the launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm (whichever is later).
  • The customer cooperated with the Illinois Shines complaint investigation process.
  • The Program Administrator verified the customer was promised a lump sum pass-through payment, the AV received the incentive payment from the utility, but the AV did not deliver some or all of the pass-through payment to the customer.
  • The Program Administrator closed the complaint given the AV’s unwillingness to pay the customer the promised share of the pass-through incentive payment, and there is no reasonable likelihood that the AV will pay the customer the promised pass-through amount.
  • The customer submitted a restitution claim within six months of the complaint being closed (or from the date of the launch of the SRP phase relevant to the customer’s harm, whichever is later).

The “date of harm” is the date that the customer reasonably should have known that the Approved Vendor had failed to timely pass through their promised REC incentive payment. The Program Administrator calculates this date as 90 days from the date the Approved Vendor invoiced the utility for the customer’s REC incentive payment.

Customers are not eligible if:

  • They did not file a complaint with the Program Administrator first and/or they filed a complaint but the complaint has not been closed.
  • They missed the complaint or claim filing deadlines (deadlines are explained in the following FAQ).
  • They were a 5% or greater owner or high-level management of the entity that caused the harm.
  • They have already received full compensation for their missed incentive payment from the Approved Vendor, Designee, or other entity involved in the transaction.
  • They did not return the required signed attestation/assignment of rights form.
  • Complaint: Within two years of the harm or the launch of the SRP Phase relevant to your type of harm (whichever is later).
  • Claim: Within six months of the complaint being closed or the launch of the SRP Phase relevant to your type of harm (whichever is later).
  • Assignment of rights form: Within 30 days of submission (if not completed at the time of claim submission).
  • Project Caps
  • Up to $30,000 per individual project for projects that are 25 kW or smaller
  • Up to $50,000 per individual project for projects that are larger than 25 kW

In addition, if the total amount that is paid out in restitution claims against a single Approved Vendor exceeds $3,000,000, Phase I and II claims against that Approved Vendor will no longer be approved.

You must:

  1. File a complaint with the Program Administrator and cooperate fully.
  2. Wait for your complaint to be investigated and closed.
  3. Submit an online SRP Claim Form (English or Spanish) or, if you are unable to complete the form yourself online, the Program Administrator may complete the form for you over the phone.
  4. If you don’t complete the form yourself online, you will then be required to sign and return the assignment of rights form within 30 days from claim submission.

You can file a complaint on our website here.  Or, if you are unable to file a complaint online, you can call the Program Administrator at (877) 783-1820, and they can assist you in filing a complaint.

The Program Administrator investigates your complaint and, if we confirm you were not paid some or all of your promised REC incentive amount and your Approved Vendor is not willing or able to pay your promised amount, we will close your complaint and then you will be eligible to file a claim for Solar Restitution.

You can fill out the online SRP Claim Form here (English or Spanish).

The assignment of rights is a form where a customer agrees that, if they receive a solar restitution award and later their Approved Vendor pays them part – or all – of their promised REC payment, the customer will repay the Solar Restitution Program their claim award amount to prevent overpayment.

The Program Administrator will investigate your claim to determine eligibility and claim award amount. The Program Administrator will reach out if it requires any additional information from you. The Program Administrator uses a filing window procedure to accept claims against a single Approved Vendor. If two or more customers from the same Approved Vendor file claims within 30 days, then the filing period for additional claimants will extend from 30 days to 90 days. While the Program Administrator will investigate claims filed throughout that 90-day period, it may not finalize any awards until after that 90-day period is complete.

A filing period refers to the specific timeframe within which a claim must be submitted to be considered valid and eligible for restitution (as funds allow).

An Approved Vendor cap, or AV cap, refers to the maximum dollar amount or limit that can be awarded to all customers for harm caused by a specific Approved Vendor under the Illinois Shines program. The AV cap amount for Phase I and II claims is $3,000,000.

A waiting period is the amount of time that must pass after a claim is submitted before the determination of any potential payout can be reached and claim payouts can be awarded.

Please refer to chart “Approved Vendor Cap and Claim Prioritization” for further information related to waiting periods and potential claim payout timeframes.

Claimants will have 30 calendar days to respond to the Program Administrator’s request for additional information. If the requested information is not provided within that timeframe, the claim will be closed.

The claimant may still reopen their claim in the future; however, they will lose their current position in line, and their eligibility for restitution funds will depend on whether any funds are still available.

You will be notified via email with the reason(s) and any next steps, which may include starting the process with filing a complaint, re-filing a claim after your complaint is closed, resubmitting missing information, or waiting for future program expansions.

Yes. Ineligible customers will be provided with appeal instructions from the Program Administrator when they receive their denial notice.

The Program Administrator can assist you in completing the claim form. If they do, you must still sign and return the assignment of rights form separately.

During Phase I of the SRP, customers who had received a portion of their pass-through payment(s) from their AV were not eligible for restitution. In Phase II, which was launched in May 2026, customers who received partial payments from their AV are now eligible for restitution. If you submitted a claim in Phase I and your claim was found to be fully or partially ineligible for restitution because you received some of your pass-through payment from the AV, you will automatically be considered for additional restitution under Phase II. There is no need to submit a new restitution claim, and the Program Administrator will reach out to you directly with additional information. However, if you have any questions, feel free to contact the Program Administrator at [email protected].

If you have not previously submitted a restitution claim, but you believe you may be eligible under Phase II, please follow the steps for submitting a claim found in other sections of this webpage.

At this time, the management fee is not eligible for restitution, as this fee was included in your original agreement and contract with Revolution.

The Program Administrator and Illinois Power Agency intend to expand the program to capture additional types of harm. Consumers may track any changes to the program on the Illinois Shines program website.