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Illinois Commerce Commission Issues Final Order on 2024 Long-Term Plan Reopening

On October 16, 2025, the ICC issued a Final Order approving the reopening of the IPA's 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, following a petition filed on August 14 by the Joint Solar Parties.

For Illinois Shines:

The order allows the IPA to expand the available capacity for all program categories in the 2025-2026 program year, which will result in the addition of 800 MW of additional capacity for this Program. It also provides improved flexibility to further expand the Equity Eligible Contractor Category (EEC) beyond 100%, thus supporting greater participation from solar developers representing underserved and disadvantaged communities.

In addition, the order directs that half of any unused Illinois Shines program capacity available as of April 1, 2026, be redistributed and reallocated to projects on the program’s waitlist, ensuring qualified projects can advance.

For Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA):

The order authorizes the IPA to increase the ILSFA’s 2025-2026 Program Year budget by up to $20 million from the Renewable Energy Resources Fund (RERF):

  • $7 million to Residential Solar (Small) sub-program
  • $8 million to Community Solar
  • $5 million to Non-Profit and Public Facilities

This funding will help strengthen equitable access to solar energy across Illinois and maintain program stability for participating households and organizations.

For Utility-Scale:

The order authorizes the Agency to add a target quantity of 666,666 annual RECs from utility-scale solar to the Fall 2025 Procurement Event.

In addition, the order provides the Agency with the ability to reassign REC capacity from an under-subscribed technology to an over-subscribed, during the Fall 2025 procurement event, as long as the bid price for the technology remains below the benchmark. This ensures that any shortfalls in one category (such as solar or wind) can be met instead by other cost-effective bids in another category. Further, the order allows the Agency to adjust the wind/solar split for Indexed REC procurements in the Fall 2025 Procurement Event if necessary.

Finally, the order authorizes updates to standard Indexed REC contract terms to account for recent changes in federal law, helping manage potential risks for renewable energy projects.

For additional details, please refer to the ICC’s Final Order.