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AVs and Designees Assisting Stranded Customers

Thank you for your interest in assisting Illinois Shines stranded customers.​

To better assist stranded customers with identifying companies able and willing to assist them, the Program Administrator has compiled a shortlist of Approved Vendors and Designees interested in serving stranded customers. These entities must meet several eligibility requirements that are outlined below. Approved Vendors that apply are expected to have expert knowledge in navigating Illinois Shines application submissions. All entities that apply are expected to have a good record with the Program, and have the bandwidth to support these customers. There are a variety of procedural hurdles attached to applications and projects in stranded status. Approved Vendor and Designees that apply to be on the list must have the staffing availability to navigate non-standard application processes to ensure an optimal customer experience.

What is a stranded customer shortlist entity?​

Selected entities are the first entities that the Program Administrator directs stranded customers to when they require assistance.​

These entities must meet specific eligibility requirements to appear on the shortlist. Please see the eligibility requirements outlined below.

Click here to apply

Stranded Customer Shortlist Eligibility Requirements​

  • Must be a registered Approved Vendor and/or Designee through the Illinois Shines Program.
  • Must not be currently suspended nor have been suspended or received any warning letters in the past 6 months. The IPA and the Program Administrator have the discretion to exclude a company based on ongoing investigations of Consumer Protections issues.
  • Must have demonstrated a history of responsiveness to the Program Administrator and customers.
  • If applying as an Approved Vendor, must have successfully completed a minimum of 20 Illinois Shines program applications, from signing Disclosure Forms to REC invoicing.
  • If applying as a maintenance/repair/installer, must have successfully worked on 20 Illinois Shines projects.
  • If applying as a maintenance/repair/installer, must have a certified ICC Distributed Generation installer on staff.

Apply to Appear on the Stranded Customer Shortlist

Upon reviewing the eligibility requirements, if you are interested in serving stranded customers, click here to apply.​

The Program Administrator will review submissions as they are received. Approved Vendor and Designees that are selected for the list will be notified via email. The list is posted on the Illinois Shines Program Stranded Customer Resource page, in the stranded customer resources section. The Program Administrator may update the list to add new Approved Vendor and Designees, or to remove Approved Vendor/Designees if they no longer meet the eligibility requirements.​

Approved Vendors and Designees on the list will not be required to take on every customer who reaches out to them, but should generally have interest and capacity to take on some stranded customers. Additionally, the Program Administrator requests that shortlist entities fill out an internal tracker of the stranded customers it has assisted on a biweekly basis. This allows the Program Administrator greater visibility on the status of stranded customer projects so we can ensure they are receiving the assistance needed for their project.

Stranded Customer REC Adder

The Stranded Customer REC Adder provides an economic incentive for Approved Vendors that assist stranded customers. The Adder is an increased price in the REC Contract for RECs generated by stranded projects that were subsequently “unstranded” when a new AV takes over the project (through the AV switch or REC Contract assignment process), or the customer contracts with a new Designee to install or complete installation of the project. The REC Adder must be requested by the customer’s original AV (if only the Designee is unstranding the customer) or new AV. The Adder is administratively approved after the Program Administrator reviews and approves the REC Adder Request form, and the REC Adder is then subsequently approved by the ICC. The requested REC Adder value must correspond to the status of the application/project as described in the Categories of Stranded Customers and Considerations for REC Adder Pricing and should include all information in support of the REC Adder request, including documentation of the customer’s consent to the AV requesting the Adder for their project. AVs can appeal to the IPA the Program Administrator’s denial of a REC Adder.

With the 2025 roll out and execution of the Master REC Agreement contract amendment applicable to each REC contract in the Program through the 2024 REC contracts, the application of the Stranded Customer REC Adder is available to projects that pre-date the 2024 Long-Term Plan and for projects for which the incentive payments have already been made. An AV is not required to be on the Stranded Customer Shortlist (AVs that previously expressed an interest to serve stranded customers and met eligibility requirements) to be eligible to receive the REC Adder.

Stranded Customer REC Adder AV Request Form

Stranded Customer FAQs for Approved Vendors and/or Designees​

To be included on the stranded customer shortlist, you must meet heightened eligibility requirements given that many stranded customers have already had a poor customer experience.  These eligibility requirements* are: 

  • Must be an active registered Approved Vendor or Designee within the Program; 
  • Must not be currently suspended, been suspended previously, or have received a Warning Letter in the past six months; 
  • Entities looking to appear on the shortlist as an Approved Vendor must have completed at least 20 Illinois Shines projects to completion, through to Part II Verification and REC invoicing; 
  • Entities looking to appear on the shortlist as an installer Designee must have worked on the installer on at least 20 Illinois Shines projects; and 
  • Entities looking to appear on the shortlist as an installer Designee must have a certified electrician on staff.

* The Program Administrator has the discretion to deny a vendor’s application to appear on the shortlist for any other Consumer Protection concern or investigation. 

To apply to appear on the stranded customer shortlist, fill out the application form here.  

 For further information, please see this Program announcement.   

While we understand that shortlist entities may not be able to assist all stranded customers that request assistance, we request that shortlist entities remain responsive to the stranded customers that reach out. Shortlist entities will also be requested to update a shared tracker on a biweekly basis so that the Program Administrator can monitor how stranded customers are moving through the process of becoming “unstranded.” 

Yes. Entities are reminded to fully comply with all marketing guidelines outlined in the Consumer Protection Handbook. For questions about marketing activities, contact the Program Administrator at [email protected].

Yes. All stranded customers will need a new Disclosure Form that reflects current and accurate project information. You must present this Disclosure Form to the customer, prior to the customer signing the new Approved Vendor contract, and allow the customer to review and ask questions about the Disclosure Form.  

If the only change on the Disclosure Form is the name of the Approved Vendor or Designee, and all other terms on the original Disclosure Form from the prior Approved Vendor or Designee are staying exactly the same, you do not need to acquire the customer’s signature. However, you must share a copy of this new Disclosure Form with the customer. 

Approved Vendors submitting project applications on behalf of stranded customers must make reasonable efforts to obtain relevant demographic and geographic data from the original Approved Vendor and/or Designee(s) that constructed and installed the project. For workforce demographic data that would otherwise be unattainable for an entity assisting a stranded customer, you may request a waiver from the Program Administrator that is specifically for Approved Vendors that are submitting project applications on behalf of stranded customers. 

This form can be used in two situations: (a) when the Approved Vendor submitting the Part II project application was not the designated Approved Vendor for the project during the  construction and installation of the project, and/or (b) when the Approved Vendor submitting the Part II project application was the Approved Vendor for the project during the construction and installation of the project but the Installer Designee who installed the project is no longer in business and/or has withdrawn from the Program.  

To request the waiver request form, please reach out to [email protected].  

The Program Administrator may be able to assist in acquiring the signature of an entity when facilitating an Approved Vendor Switch or Assignment if that entity has gone out of business or been suspended. 

To request assistance, please reach out to [email protected].  

The specific assistance needed by a stranded customer is dependent on their application status and/or installation status. Some stranded customers may require project repairs, or need their installation completed. Others may need help submitting or completing a project application. 

If you are an Approved Vendor working to take over the application of a stranded customer, note that all customers, regardless of application status, require a new Disclosure Form. If the only information that is changing from the customer’s previous Disclosure Form is the name of the Approved Vendor or Designee, a new signature is not required; however, the customer must still be presented with the new Disclosure Form. During the application submission, please submit the new Disclosure Form as an additional document and note in the overview comments that the application is for a stranded customer.  

  • For projects where an application was never started, you may submit the application as you would for any non-stranded customer.  
  • For projects that  have had an application started, but the project is not yet ICC approved, you may pursue an Approved Vendor Switch, which is outlined on page 84 of the 2025 Program Guidebook under “Change of Approved Vendors.”  
  • To assist with an application that is ICC approved and therefore batched with other projects, you may pursue an Approved Vendor Assignment, which is outlined on page 104 of the 2025 Program Guidebook.
     

Please note that at this time, the Program Administrator may be unable to individually reassign projects that are batched, depending on your current Approved Vendor, as they have been assigned the same REC contract. The Program Administrator is developing a process for unbatching projects, but due to the complexity of this process, we expect implementation will occur in the coming months. Assignment to a new AV is currently available for projects that are batched alone. We will reach out to applicable customers when their project is ready to undergo this process. 

Additionally, if you require information about a customer’s application such as application status or a copy of their previous Disclosure Form, you may reach out to [email protected] for such information. Please note that we do not provide customer application information without the consent of the customer, so please CC the customer to the email so they may provide their consent to release this information. 

For customers who have never worked with an Approved Vendor, please see the system eligibility requirements in Section 4 of the Program Guidebook for further guidance. If the system is eligible you may proceed with application submittal. Please note per Section 4.B of the 2025 Program Guidebook, “all systems must have a final interconnection approval (or equivalent from rural electric cooperative or municipal electric utility) dated on or after June 1, 2017.” If an application was never started for a stranded customer, you may begin submission of the application.

REC Adder FAQs

The Stranded Customer REC (Renewable Energy Credit) Adder was developed in order to incentivize Approved Vendors to assist Illinois Shines stranded customers. A stranded customer is an Illinois Shines distributed generation customer that has already signed a contract with a solar company, and then the Approved Vendor (and/or sometimes the Designee) goes out of business or is prevented from moving forward with the project for other reasons, such as restrictive disciplinary action. Please see the Categories of Stranded Customers and Considerations for REC Adder Pricing for more information.

It may be difficult for the stranded customer to find a new Approved Vendor (and/or Designee) to take on their project, as there are often complications and risks associated with assisting a stranded customer. The Agency is therefore developing an economic incentive for Approved Vendors that assist stranded customers in the form of a “REC Adder”— that is, an increased price in the REC Contract for RECs generated by projects that were stranded and then “unstranded.” 

No. Only Approved Vendors may apply for and receive the REC Adder, as it will be an adjustment to the REC Price used to calculate the incentive payment made by the utility to the Approved Vendor. The REC Adder amount varies depending on the stranded customer situation and the risk incurred by the Approved Vendor taking on the project. In a situation where the previous Designee becomes unavailable, the new Approved Vendor will be able to apply for the REC Adder but the Approved Vendor and Designee will need to reach their own agreement on whether all, part, or none of the REC Adder will be passed by the Approved Vendor to the Designee. 

 Please see the Categories of Stranded Customers and Considerations for REC Adder Pricing for more information.

Each REC Adder request must only be for one individual project. To request a REC Adder for a customer, please see the Microsoft Form linked above. The form will ask for multiple pieces of project information including application ID (if applicable), site address, the identity of the stranding entity, and how the customer was stranded. In the form, you will be asked to request a specific REC Adder value of low, medium, high, or very high. 

The REC Adder request also requires demonstration of customer consent to the Program Administrator communicating with the AV on the details of the project (i.e. AV-customer contract, Disclosure Form, or other document demonstrating customer consent). 

Please email this demonstration of customer consent and any other supporting documentation (if applicable) to [email protected] 

To determine the REC Adder request value, please review the Categories of Stranded Customers and Considerations for REC Adder Pricing document. Compare this document to the information known about your stranded customer’s situation and determine the applicable category your stranded customer best fits.  

Please note that the Categories of Stranded Customers document includes two different tables that apply to two types of Approved Vendor business models. The first model, the “Aggregator Model,” is used when the customer contracts with a Designee for their solar project and has a separate contract with their Approved Vendor regarding the RECs produced by their system and Illinois Shines application management. The second model is used when the customer’s Approved Vendor manages both the installation and the sale of RECs. Please reference the applicable table for your stranded customer when determining the applicable REC Adder amount that will be requested for the project. 

If a project is eligible for two different REC Adder values, the higher value will apply (they will not be combined). 

After the REC Adder request is administratively approved by the Illinois Shines Program Administrator, it will need to be approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). If applicable, the Program Administrator will first need to unbatch the project(s), which will require the contracting utility and the original AV to execute new Product Orders. While this process is ongoing, the Program Administrator will request ICC approval of the Stranded Customer REC Adder amount. If approved, the Program Administrator will generate revised contracts that reflect the REC Adder. In most cases, an assignment will occur at the same time. The Program Administrator will generate the necessary Master REC Contract (if applicable) and Product Orders for each batch that contains an ICC approved Adder.  Additionally, please note that additional collateral will not be required based on the higher REC price.  

Once the assignment process is complete, the Program Administrator will generate revised Schedule Bs that reflect both the assignment and the REC Adder, allowing for invoicing of the REC Adder.  

If the project has not yet been applied to the Program, the submitting Approved Vendor must check a box in the Illinois Shines portal during Part I submission indicating that it has been approved for a REC Adder. Please also note that the implementation of the REC Adder requires the coordination of multiple parties. There may be delays in applying the REC Adder to the project’s REC contract, especially for projects which were previously ICC approved. If you have any questions about the timeline, please reach out to [email protected].

If the project has already invoiced (partially or fully), and the project is being assigned to a new AV, it is eligible for a Stranded Customer REC Adder True-Up Adjustment (True-Up). The True-Up is defined as, “the multiplicative product of (i) Stranded Customer REC Adder and (ii) number of RECs associated with prior payments, which shall be no greater than the Designated System Contract Maximum REC Quantity.” At the end of each month, as the Program Administrator calculates invoice amounts for the upcoming invoice period, any revised Schedule Bs that include new, approved Stranded Customer REC Adders True-Up will be included in the invoice. Any future payments will invoice using the new Contract Price (which includes the REC Adder). Please note that, if the project is not being assigned to a new Approved Vendor, the True-Up will not apply; it will only be eligible for the REC Adder to apply to future payments.

If a project has additional payments due because it is eligible for a True-Up Adjustment, a new line will be included in the invoice to pay the “Stranded Customer REC Adder True-Up.” A True-Up is a one-time payment adjustment. For any scheduled payments that have not yet been made, (i.e. Large DG), the invoice will include the Adder in the Contract Price (i.e. no True-Up amounts included).

  • Small DG projects would be reflected on the invoice as follows:  
    • If it is a Small DG project that has been fully paid previously, one line would be added to the invoice for 100% of the True-Up 
    • If it is a Small DG project that has not yet been fully paid, the invoice would have one line for 100% of the payment based on Contract Price (Stranded Customer REC Adder + base REC price). 
       
  • Large DG projects would be reflected on the invoice as follows: 
    • If it is a Large DG project that has been fully paid previously, one line would be added to the invoice for 100% of the true-up.  
    • If it is a Large DG project that has been partially paid previously, the invoice would have two lines:  
      • One for 100% of the True-Up; which would be equivalent to the Stranded Customer REC Adder x % of RECs that have been previously paid (including “missed” payments). 
      • One for the standard ratable payment based on Contract Price (Stranded Customer REC Adder + base REC price). 
    • If it is a Large DG project that has not yet been paid previously, the invoice would have one line:  
      • One for the standard ratable payment based on Contract Price (Stranded Customer REC Adder + base REC price). 

If your request for a REC Adder is denied, the Program Administrator will contact both the customer and the Approved Vendor to inform them of this decision. The submitting Approved Vendor can send an appeal to the IPA specifying the evidence that supports the requested REC Adder and provide supporting documentation. The AV must notify the Program Administrator and the customer that it 1) accepts the Program Administrator’s determination; 2) is appealing the PA’s determination; or 3) that it will not take on the project or pursue the assignment.