Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA) has published the 2024-2025 Program Year budgets. The sub-program budget amounts are pro-rated across the sub-programs according to the Renewable Energy Resources Fund (RERF) allocation percentage under the law. As described in the 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (the 2024 Long-Term Plan) and implemented previously in the 2023-2024 Program Year, the Illinois Power Agency (the Agency) will hold the initial budget allocations for the Illinois Solar for All: Residential Solar (Small and Large) sub-programs on a first-come, first-served basis for the first nine months of the program year. After March 1, 2025, the two sub-program allocations will combine to be used on a first-come, first-served basis by projects of either sub-program.
Twenty-five percent of funds in each sub-program category will be reserved for energy sovereignty projects to promote ownership for eligible customers and twenty-five percent for projects sited in an environmental justice community (EJC). These twenty-five percent carveouts will not be earmarked for RERF or utility funding. As described in Section 8.5.1.2 and Section 8.5.3 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, initial Energy Sovereignty carveout allocations for the Residential Solar (Small and Large) sub-programs will be held for nine months after the program application deadline, and the Energy Sovereignty carveouts for Illinois Solar for All: Non-Profit and Public Facilities and Illinois Solar for All: Community Solar projects will be held for six months after the program application deadline. All EJC carveouts are held for the full year. Any unused EJC carveout funds at the end of the program year would roll over to the same sub-program’s budget in the next program year.
Additionally, per Section 8.4.2 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, ILSFA program administration costs will no longer come out of the annual budget allocations but directly from the RERF. This removes the “Expected Expenses” and “Adjusted RERF Budget” lines that were previously found in ILSFA budget tables.
Finally, this year the Agency will roll over funds from reductions in final REC Contract values to the same sub-program budget with any other unallocated funding, per Section 8.10.2 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan. Any funds made available from reductions in final REC contract values will be rolled over to the same sub-program budget the following year. Further details can be found in the Project Selection Protocol for the 2024-2025 Program Year (Program Year 7), released on April 8, 2024. A new element will be added to the budget calculation table titled “Part II Adjustments.” This element displays the difference between the Total Values approved at Part I and the REC Purchase Payment Amount at Part II approval, and the amount will be added to the total budget for PY7.
| Funding Source | Residential Solar (Small and Large) | Community Solar | Non-Profit and Public Facilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Funding | 35% | 40% | 25% |
| RERF Allocation | $5,775,000.00 | $6,600,000.00 | $4,125,000.00 |
| Available Rollover from PY6-RERF | $17,163,092.00 | $1,593,770.24 | $212,500.41 |
| Part II Adjustments | – | $729,424.49 | $177,591.40 |
| Utility Allocation | $17,500,000.00 | $20,000,000.00 | $12,500,000.00 |
| Available Rollover from PY6-Utility | $19,815,738.51 | $5,758,914.32 | $356,522.18 |
| Part II Adjustments | $39,382.38 | $2,410,445.93 | $246,159.48 |
| Total Budget | $60,293,212.89 | $37,092,554.98 | $17,617,773.47 |
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Info@illinoisSFA.com.