We remain deeply concerned with how the Illinois community solar program has developed. Our organization, alongside industry partners, have repeatedly warned the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) about the flaws of adopting a lottery system. There are much better ways to organize a competitive market based on project quality and developer experience, which the IPA ignored. These actions will discourage clean energy investment in Illinois because they have built a program that doesn’t accurately reward the time, consideration, and investment dollars that are required to apply for projects. The IPA also ignored the overwhelming customer demand for community solar subscriptions across the state of Illinois and moved forward with an inequitable allocation of solar program capacity that is a fraction of the size necessary to meet consumer demand. Illinois customers and the solar companies seeking to invest in the state deserve an effective and robust community solar program that is equitable and meets market demand. We believe the future of Illinois solar is strong, and we stand ready to work with the IPA to refine and reform the community solar program so more customers can reap the benefits of clean, solar energy.
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Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) is a national Coalition of businesses and non-profits working to expand customer choice and access to solar to all American households and businesses through community solar. Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by multiple community subscribers who receive credits on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. Community solar provides homeowners, renters, and businesses equal access to the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy generation regardless of the physical attributes or ownership of their home or business. Community solar expands access to solar for all, including low-to-moderate income customers, all while building a stronger, distributed, and more resilient electric grid.
For more information, visit our website at www.communitysolaraccess.org, follow us on Twitter at @solaraccess and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/communitysolaraccess.