*The Low-Income Distributed Generation, Low-Income Community Solar, and Non-Profits/Public Facilities sub-programs are formally known as the Residential Solar, Community Solar, and Non-Profit and Public Facilities sub-programs, respectively.
The 2021-2022 program year’s budget for each Illinois Solar for All sub-program is available.
Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA) is funded through the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), administered Renewable Energy Resources Fund (RERF), and funds from the renewable energy resources budgets of the utilities. Public Act 102-0662 (commonly known as the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA)) increased the ILSFA funding available through utility collections from “5% of the funds available under the plan for the applicable delivery year, or $10,000,000 per delivery year, whichever is greater,” which was approximately $11 million in the 2021-2022 program year, to “up to $50,000,000 per delivery year.”
To ensure that these newly-authorized funds are used to support the current ILSFA 2021-2022 program year, the IPA petitioned the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on January 10, 2022, to reopen Docket No. 19-0995. Docket No. 19-0995 is the proceeding that approved the currently approved Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan and also approved an update to the ILSFA program budget for the 2021-2022 program year. This ILSFA program budget approval reflected the newly authorized funding level beyond the previously approved 2020-2021 program year’s allocations.
On March 3, 2022, the ICC issued an order approving the allocation of the additional funds for the 2021-2022 program year, meaning that $50 million is available from utility funds for projects across all three ILSFA sub-programs.
The Illinois Solar for All: Community Solar and the Illinois Solar for All: Non-Profit and Public Facilities sub-programs went through project selection earlier in the program year and have projects on their respective waitlists.
Illinois Solar for All: Non-Profit and Public Facilities
All Non-Profit and Public Facilities waitlist projects will be funded at their full incentive values with the additional funding now available. Approved Vendor Managers will reach out to Approved Vendors with the next steps for all projects.
Once all waitlisted projects receive funding, $5,120,644 in Utility funding and $12,525 in RERF funding will remain in the Non-Profit and Public Facilities sub-program’s budget. These amounts may change based on waitlisted projects accepting available funding, as the viability of waitlisted projects may have changed in the months since project selection concluded.
The ILSFA Program Administrator will open a rolling submission window for new Non-Profit and Public Facilities projects on March 21, 2022. After review, eligible projects will receive funding and are funded on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted or at the end of the program year on May 31, 2022, whichever comes first.
Illinois Solar for All: Community Solar
Funding is available for all projects on the Community Solar waitlist. However, resizing is necessary for two projects. One project is RERF-funded, and one is Utility-funded. The available funding listed is inclusive of funds that will be reallocated from previously selected projects that are not proceeding. Approved Vendor Managers will reach out to Approved Vendors with the next steps for all projects.
Illinois Solar for All: Residential Solar
The Residential Solar sub-program has funding available for the 2021-2022 program year, and several projects are under review. The rolling submission window for Residential Solar will remain open until funds are exhausted or May 31, 2022, whichever comes first. Fifty-two Residential Solar (Small) projects with $850,000 in incentives and two Residential Solar (Large) projects worth $530,000 in incentives received approval by the ICC to date. With the additional funding now available, the remaining program year budget for Residential Solar is $35.293 million.
Per Section 8.4.2 of the Revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, “As this allocation of utility funding to the sub-programs is not required by law, the [IPA] may adjust utility funding between those subprograms on an as-needed basis during the program year if there are available funds in one subprogram and higher demand in another sub-program, with the exception that funds for the [Residential Solar] sub-program will not be reallocated.”
2021-2022 Program Year Budget
