The Program Administrator is announcing a proposed schedule for the Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA) 2020-2021 program year. Please note that continued disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic could necessitate changes being made to this schedule. Should any updates be necessary, they will be published as a website announcement and emailed to stakeholders. Sign up to receive email announcements here.
Project Submission Windows
ILSFA’s third program year will begin in summer 2020 and will feature two separate initial project submission windows, one for the Low-Income Distributed Generation and Non-Profit/Public Facilities sub-programs and one for the Low-Income Community Solar sub-program. Both initial project submission windows will remain open for two weeks. The full project application timelines for the 2020-2021 program year are below.
Approved Vendors currently have access to the ILSFA Approved Vendor Portal and can generate disclosure forms for program participants (as applicable) and enter Part I application information for projects prior to the opening of the project submission windows. When the project submission windows open, Approved Vendors will be able to submit Part I applications. Part I applications must be entered and submitted during this window to be eligible for consideration if the Project Selection Protocol is required. If a Part I application is entered but the project is not subsequently timely submitted, it will not be eligible for the project selection process. For Approved Vendors who have not previously had projects approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, a minimum batch submittal of 50kW will be required.
For sub-programs where the Project Selection Protocol is determined to not be needed, the Program Administrator will endeavor to review projects as quickly as possible in order to send as many eligible projects as possible to the first Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) meeting after the review period is complete. Projects submitted with complete project documentation early within each submission window are more likely to have their reviews completed in time for this first ICC meeting deadline. The ICC’s calendar can be found here; please note that the ICC requires requests for approval be submitted nine business days prior to the meeting date.
Projects previously submitted for the 2019-2020 program year that were not selected for REC funding do not need to re-enter their Part I application information. However, the Approved Vendor will need to attest that all previously entered information is still correct or that the relevant updates have been made in order to submit the application.
Within each sub-program, projects submitted after the initial project submission window will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis until May 31, 2021 if there is remaining sub-program funding available.
After May 31, 2021, sub-program waitlists from the 2020-2021 program year will not be used, and the Project Selection Protocol for the 2021-2022 program years will not give preference to projects that were on previous years’ waitlists. This provision is detailed in Section 8.12.2 of the recently approved revised Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan.
Environmental Justice Self-Designation Applications
Requests for self-designation as an Environmental Justice Community (EJC) are being considered on an ongoing basis. However, EJC self-designation requests must be approved by the EJC Self-Designation Committee before the submission window closes for any associated projects to be considered located within an EJC for the purpose of project selection preferences. The last day for submissions to be considered by the EJC Self-Designation Committee before the Low-Income Distributed Generation and Non-Profit/Public Facilities sub-programs’ project submission window closes is June 5, 2020, and the last day for submissions to be considered before the Low-Income Community Solar sub-program’s project submission window closes is July 24, 2020. Details on the EJC self-designation process can be found here.
Approved Vendor Registration
Entities seeking to become an Approved Vendor submitting projects for the Low-Income Distributed Generation, Non-Profit/Public Facilities, or Low-Income Community Solar sub-programs during the initial project submission window must complete the Approved Vendor Registration Form by June 12, 2020 in order to allow the Program Administrator time to properly review and evaluate the application. Learn more about the registration process here. As a reminder, applicants must first be registered with the Adjustable Block Program.
Project Selection Protocol
The 2020-2021 program year will follow the revised Project Selection Protocol. The Program Administrator is currently accepting written comments on the draft version of this revised Protocol. A redlined version is available for review and written comments are due to comments@IllinoisSFA.com by Friday May 8, 2020 at 5:00 PM CDT.
The project application timelines for the 2020-2021 program year are as follows:
Low-Income Distributed Generation and Non-Profit/Public Facilities Sub-Programs:
