Following the Order on the 2024 Long-Term Plan Re-Opening, a brief Program pause occurred to undertake data and reporting updates, and to allocate capacity to waitlisted applications. The pause concluded on October 31, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. CPT. The Portal and Program website were updated to reflect the Order’s instruction to expand capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year by 100%, except for the EEC Category, and allocate capacity among eligible waitlisted projects. A 2025-26 Program Year re-opening announcement provided stakeholders with key documents, updates and resources.
Block Capacity Updates
The following table summarizes the results of the capacity expansion, the capacity allocation to existing waitlists, and the amount of capacity that was available at Program reopening on October 31, 2025.
| Block | Group | Category | Tier (Public Schools only) | Size kW (Public Schools only) | 2025-26 Program Year uncontracted capacity prior to program pause (MW) | Capacity added due to expansion | Allocations made to existing waitlists (MW) | Program reopening unallocated capacity after waitlist allocation (MW) |
| CEJACategory | Group | Tier | Uncontracted capacity + expansion capacity – waitlist | |||||
| Small DG | N/A | DG | 74.73 | 142.00 | 0.00 | 216.73 | ||
| Large DG | N/A | DG | 109.04 | 142.00 | 0.00 | 251.04 | ||
| TCS | A (30%) | CS | 0.00 | 64.00 | 68.88 | 0.00 | ||
| TCS | B (70%) | CS | 0.00 | 149.00 | 117.34 | 31.66* | ||
| CDCS | A (30%) | CS | 11.00 | 11.00 | 0.00 | 22.00** | ||
| CDCS | B (70%) | CS | 25.00 | 25.00 | 0.00 | 50.00** | ||
| EEC | A (30%) | CS (75%) | 0.00 | 48.00 | 46.02 | 1.98 | ||
| DG (25%) | 11.16 | 16.00 | 0.00 | 27.16 | ||||
| B (70%) | CS (75%) | 41.42 | 126.75 | 0.00 | 168.17 | |||
| DG (25%) | 27.98 | 42.25 | 0.00 | 70.23 | ||||
| Public Schools | N/A | CS (25%) | Tier 1, 2, and EJC (70%) | <250 kW (25%) | 6.19 | 4.68 | 0 | 10.87 |
| 250 – 1000 (50%) | 12.38 | 9.36 | 21.74 | |||||
| 1000-5000 (25%) | 2.89 | 4.68 | 7.57 | |||||
| Tier 3, 4(30%) | <250 kW (25%) | 2.65 | 2.01 | 4.66 | ||||
| 250 – 1000 (50%) | 5.31 | 4.01 | 9.32 | |||||
| 1000-5000 (25%) | 2.65 | 2.01 | 4.66 | |||||
| DG (75%) | Tier 1, 2, and EJC (70%) | <250 kW (25%) | 18.57 | 14.04 | 0 | 32.61 | ||
| 250 – 1000 (50%) | 36.19 | 38.04 | 64.28 | |||||
| 1000-5000 (25%) | 18.57 | 14.04 | 32.61 | |||||
| Tier 3, 4(30%) | <250 kW (25%) | 7.96 | 6.02 | 13.98 | ||||
| 250 – 1000 (50%) | 15.31 | 12.04 | 27.35 | |||||
| 1000-5000 (25%) | 7.96 | 6.02 | 13.98 |
* Includes 25.49 MW of projects submitted prior to 10/31 that are currently in the application review/scoring process and 6.17 MW of available capacity for newly submitted applications
**Includes projects submitted prior to 10/31 that are currently in the application review/scoring process
The following table details the 20% developer cap for TCS and EEC categories updated upon Program reopening on October 31, 2025.
| TCS Group A new developer cap (MW) | TCS Group B new developer cap (MW) | EEC Group A new developer cap (MW) | EEC Group B new developer cap (MW) |
| 25.60 | 59.60 | 24.54 | 61.11 |
EEC CS (Group A) – Next Steps
On October 31, 2025, capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year was re-allocated following re-opening. Capacity was initially allocated to projects on the 2025-26 Program Year EEC CS Group A waitlist, leaving 0 MW of capacity available for Group A. The expanded 20% developer cap was applied during this time. Projects selected from the waitlists will be submitted to the next eligible ICC meeting for approval for REC contracts. The first eligible ICC meeting for this project selection is December 4, 2025.
Community-Driven Community Solar (Group A and Group B) – Next Steps
The 2025-26 Program Year 90-day application window for Community-Driven Community Solar projects closed on September 2, 2025, and all project applications are under review by the Program Administrator.
The Program will open an additional 45-day application window on January 16, 2026, regardless of capacity availability as of that date. All projects submitted to the category during this window will be reviewed and scored based on the scoring criteria outlined in Appendix F. This application window will utilize the existing processes described in Section 1.E of the Program Guidebook, including the minimum scoring criteria for capacity allocation and waitlisting and the random selection mechanism.
Traditional Community Solar (Group A and Group B) – Next Steps
On October 31, 2025, capacity for the 2025-26 Program Year was re-allocated following re-opening. Capacity was initially allocated to projects on the 2025-26 Program Year waitlists, leaving 0 MW of capacity available for Group A and 6.17 MW available for Group B for newly submitted applications. The expanded 20% developer cap was applied during this time. Projects selected from the waitlists will be submitted to the next eligible ICC meeting for approval for REC contracts. The first eligible ICC meeting for this project selection is December 4, 2025.
At 11:59 pm CPT, October 31, 2025, the first day of application submissions for Program Year 2025-26 re-opening ended, and a total of 39.97 MW of capacity was submitted: 9.95 MW submitted to Group A and 30.02 MW submitted to Group B.
As detailed above, the block capacity allocation has been exceeded for both Traditional Community Solar Groups A and B, as per Section 1.E. of the Program Guidebook, a “First Day” Scoring process has been triggered, as specified in the current Program Guidebook (published May 5, 2025), including the following next steps:
- Application Review Period – Initial review by Program Administrator: Approximately 4 weeks
- Application Cure Period – AVs cure deficiencies identified by Program Administrator: Approximately 2 weeks
- Application Scoring Period – Program Administrator begins scoring process for all relevant applications (those submitted without deficiencies and those that successfully cure deficiencies during the 2-week cure period): Approximately 3 weeks
- Scoring Cure Period – AVs review initial scores and dispute and resolve any discrepancies: Approximately 2 weeks
Final scores and project selection will be posted after the Scoring Cure Period. A minimum score of 5 points must be achieved to be placed on a waitlist. Please note that this schedule is tentative and will be dependent on both the quality and quantity of applications received. As a reminder, payment for submitted batches must be made within 10 days of batch submittal.
Following the full application review and scoring process, including cure periods, and the resolution of scoring appeals, if any, Traditional Community Solar scores will be posted. At that time, the Agency will announce if a random selection process is necessary to break ties between projects that received the same scores and where those scores would impact project selection, or waitlist placement. Please see last week’s announcement for further details on the waitlist and application process.
Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
[email protected]