The Illinois Shines 2026-27 Program Year successfully opened yesterday, June 1, 2026. A 2026-27 Program Year opening announcement provided stakeholders with key documents, updates and resources. The IPA and Program Administrator announce the following updates on block capacity and next steps for Traditional Community Solar and Community-Driven Community Solar. We thank stakeholders for their collaboration toward a successful day of Program activity.
Block Capacity Updates
On May 28, 2026, the Program provided detail on the final 2026-27 Program Year capacity following the reallocation of uncontracted capacity and the awarding of capacity to waitlisted projects. Please see the announcement for full details on capacity reallocation and final total capacity for each project category.
The table below provides updated capacity and waitlist details for each project category, following Part I application batching (including size) on June 1, 2026.
| Group | Project Category | Tier (Public Schools Only) | Size kW (Public Schools Only) | 2026-27 Program Year opening available capacity (MW) | Part I Applications batched on June 1, 2026 | MW batched on June 1, 2026 | Available Capacity after June 1, 2026 (MW) | Waitlisted projects (MW) |
| N/A | Small DG | 236.71 | 0.00 | |||||
| N/A | Large DG | 236.71 | ||||||
| Group A | TCS | 103.52 | 23 | 51.36 | 52.17 | 0 | ||
| CDCS | 19.25 | 0 | 0.00 | 19.25 | 0 | |||
| EEC CS | 55.88 | 0 | 0.00 | 55.88 | 0 | |||
| EEC DG | 18.63 | 0 | 0.00 | 18.63 | 0 | |||
| Group B | TCS | 241.54 | 20 | 59.68 | 181.86 | 0 | ||
| CDCS | 44.92 | 0 | 0.00 | 44.92 | 0 | |||
| EEC CS | 130.39 | 0 | 0.00 | 130.39 | 0 | |||
| EEC DG | 43.46 | 0 | 0.00 | 43.46 | 0 | |||
| N/A | Public Schools (CS) | 1,2, EJC | <250 | 6.67 | 0 | 0.00 | 6.67 | 0 |
| 250 – 1000 | 13.35 | 0 | 0.00 | 13.35 | 0 | |||
| 1000 – 5000 | 6.67 | 0 | 0.00 | 6.67 | 0 | |||
| 3, 4 | <250 | 2.86 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.86 | 0 | ||
| 250 – 1000 | 5.72 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.72 | 0 | |||
| 1000 – 5000 | 2.86 | 0 | 0.00 | 2.86 | 0 | |||
| N/A | Public Schools (DG) | 1,2, EJC | <250 | 20.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 20.02 | 0 |
| 250 – 1000 | 40.04 | 0 | 0.00 | 40.04 | 0 | |||
| 1000 – 5000 | 20.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 20.02 | 0 | |||
| 3, 4 | <250 | 8.58 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.58 | 0 | ||
| 250 – 1000 | 17.15 | 0 | 0.00 | 17.15 | 0 | |||
| 1000 – 5000 | 8.57 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.57 | 0 |
Traditional Community Solar (Group A and Group B) – Next Steps
As detailed above, the available 2026-27 block capacity allocation was not exceeded for either Traditional Community Solar Group A or B on the first day of the Program Year. Per Section 1.E of the Program Guidebook, if project applications batched on the “first day” do not exceed category capacity, then all applicant projects otherwise qualifying shall be deemed acceptable and may qualify for a REC Delivery Contract. Should category capacity fill later in the Program year, then from that point forward, only projects meeting this scoring threshold of 5 points may be considered for an eligible spot on the waitlist for the Traditional Community Solar category.
Community-Driven Community Solar (Group A and Group B) – Next Steps
As noted in Section 1.E. of the Program Guidebook, each Program Year there will be a 90-day application window for Community-Driven Community Solar projects to be submitted prior to any project selection. Upon closing of the 90-day application window, projects will be reviewed and scored based on the scoring criteria as outlined in Appendix F of the Program Guidebook, with projects selected from the application pool in the order of highest to lowest score until the available block capacity is fully allocated. A minimum score of 6 points must be achieved to be eligible for a REC contract in the CDCS category. After project selection for any given Program Year, projects that have a minimum score of 10 points will be placed on a waitlist for when capacity becomes available, which may be the following Program Year.
Thank you!
Illinois Shines Program
[email protected]