FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ben Finzel, 202-277-6286 ben@communitysolaraccess.org

U.S. Community Solar Industry Welcomes Introduction of New Legislation in the U.S. Senate

Bill from Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich Would Expand Consumer Access to Solar Nationwide

Washington, D.C. (July 31, 2017) – The Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) welcomes newly introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to promote customer choice and the development of the community solar market nationwide. The Community Solar Consumer Choice Act of 2017 (S 1670) was introduced by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) on Thursday, July 27, 2017 in the U.S. Senate to coincide with the First Annual CCSA Community Solar Summit, held in Denver last week with over 200 industry representatives.

“Community solar offers every American the opportunity to choose affordable, local clean energy,” said Jeff Cramer, Executive Director of the CCSA. “CCSA – and its 36 industry members – welcome United States Senators Bennet and Heinrich’s leadership to encourage the expansion of consumer choice and access to solar for all through this legislation.” 

The new legislation makes permanent an existing U.S. Department of Energy program that promotes community solar by providing technical assistance at the request of state and local governments, and includes specific provisions focused on boosting community solar in low-income communities. The bill also encourages federal government participation in community solar nationwide.

Bill sponsor Senator Bennet published an op-ed on the bill hailing its introduction and highlighting community solar’s origins in Colorado, and importance for the country, writing on Medium that “Community solar is one of the most promising developments in renewable energy.”

“Clean Energy Collective pioneered the community solar business model in 2009, and has grown to employ over 100 workers out of our Louisville, CO headquarters, with hundreds more engineers and skilled laborers constructing and operating our projects across the country,” said Paul Spencer, CEO of Clean Energy Collective, one of the nation’s largest community solar providers.  “We see firsthand the benefits these local clean energy

projects bring to communities, consumers, and the electric grid, and it is our mission to make affordable community solar an option for everyone who wants it.”

CCSA continues to work to expand consumer choice and access to solar in states across the country.  Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have community solar programs in place, and the standing-room only CCSA Community Solar Summit and accompanying Senate legislation and Op-Ed demonstrate the excitement and opportunity around community solar as more and more states develop and implement new programs. 

“Community solar provides win-wins for consumers: savings on their electric bill, and the knowledge that they’re supporting local, safe, reliable, clean power generation for the grid,” added Cramer.

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About CCSA: Founded in February 2016, CCSA is a business-led trade organization that works to expand access to clean, local, affordable energy nationwide through community solar. Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by individual community members, who receive credits on their electricity bills for their portion of the power produced. Community solar projects provide American homeowners, renters and businesses access to the benefits of solar energy generation

unconstrained by the physical attributes of their home or business, like roof space, shading, or whether or not they own their residence or building. These programs can also expand access to solar energy to low-income households. For more information, visit the website at www.communitysolaraccess.org, follow the Coalition on Twitter at @solaraccess and like the Coalition on Facebook at www.facebook.com/communitysolaraccess.

Public Act 99-0906, which became effective June 1, 2017, calls for an initial forward procurement of one million renewable energy credits (“RECs”) annually from new utility-scale wind projects and of one million RECs annually from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects.  The delivery of RECs may begin as early as June 1, 2019 but not later than June 1, 2021.

 

The first event under this initial forward procurement begins with the posting of the calendar.  An invitation to comment on the draft standard contract form will be issued later today.  The first procurement event will seek the entirety of the one million RECs annually from new utility-scale wind projects and will seek a portion of the one million RECs annually from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects.  There will be multiple events to procure RECs from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects. 

 

Two webcasts will be held for the upcoming procurement event:

·         A first webcast (called the “virtual contract workshop” in the procurement event calendar) will be held at 11 AM Central Prevailing time onTuesday, June 6, 2017.  The objective of the webcast is to present the main terms of the draft standard contract form to prepare participants for submitting their comments.  You may RSVP for the webcast by providing your name, company, and the number of lines needed at Illinois-RFP@nera.com. 

·         The second webcast is planned for June 28, 2017 to present the terms of the final standard contract form and RFP requirements.  A further announcement will provide additional details.

 

To receive announcements and updates about this upcoming procurement event, join the mailing list.

 

INVITATION to Comment on the Draft Standard Contract Form

A draft standard contract form, the “draft REC Contract”, has been posted to the procurement website.  This draft REC contract is proposed to be the standard contract form between each winning supplier in the Wind and Solar RFP and Ameren Illinois Company (“AIC”), Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”), or MidAmerican Energy Company (“MEC”).  The Wind and Solar RFP will seek to procure one million RECs annually from new utility-scale wind projects and will seek to procure a portion of one million RECs annually from new utility-scale solar projects and brownfield site photovoltaic projects. 

The Procurement Administrator invites interested parties to comment on the draft standard contract form.  The comment process is explained in the Invitation to Comment posted here.  The process can be summarized as follows:

• Submit your comments using tracked changes in Microsoft Word. We strongly encourage you to provide explanatory notes either in a separate document or highlighted in tracked changes.
• Send your comments by email to the Procurement Administrator at:  Illinois-RFP@nera.com.

The deadline to provide comments is 6 PM Central Prevailing Time on Wednesday, June 14, 2017.

RSVP Now! The Procurement Administrator also invites interested parties to participate in a webcast on June 6th at 11 AM CPT during which the Procurement Administrator will present the main terms of the draft REC Contract.  You may RSVP for this webcast by providing your name, company, and the number of lines needed at Illinois-RFP@nera.com. 

 

Please direct any questions regarding this comment process to the “Ask a Question” page of the procurement website. 

The Spring 2017 Utility Distributed Generation RFP (“DG RFP”) is for the procurement of Renewable Energy Credits from distributed generation (“DG”) resources using the already collected funds from Alternative Compliance Payments.

The schedule for the DG RFP is posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website.

Part 1 Proposals are due on April 5, 2017 and Bids are due on April 28, 2017.

Draft supplier contracts are expected to be posted by February 28, 2017. An announcement will be sent to all registrants when these documents are posted.

If you would like to learn more, ISEA produced and recorded the following webinar on the topic:

"The Illinois solar industry is well-positioned to grow significantly in 2017.

"The Illinois Power Agency will conduct 2017 Spring and Fall Solar DG SREC Procurement totaling nearly $40M - more than the three previous Supplemental SREC Procurements combined.

"During this webinar, ISEA will summarize the upcoming procurement process and timeline, past SREC Procurement results, and will also provide attendees with background information that may benefit business marketing and messaging campaigns that encourage customers to go solar in 2017 as opposed to waiting for the new RPS implementation in 2018. There are distinct advantages to going solar sooner rather than later - is your business ready?"

View the slides here. Watch the webinar here.

In Illinois, new rules expected to make solar faster and cheaper

By Kari Lydersen

Oct 19, 2016 - Read the whole article at Midwest Energy News. 

Illinois lawmakers have adopted new interconnection standards that will make the solar siting and installation process significantly quicker and cheaper, clean energy advocates and utilities say.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2016

Contact:

Lesley McCain

Executive Director

Illinois Solar Energy Association

lesley.mccain@illinoissolar.org 

847.924.7359

 

Illinois Solar Announces Solar Job Training Program

 

[Mt Vernon], ILLINOIS --- The Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) is pleased to announce that recently received a USDA Rural Business Development Grant award.  The grant funds will be used to provide a six-week solar installation training to Southern Illinois electrical contractors. Upon completion participants in the training will be to be qualified to lead solar installations.

 

The grant which was submitted through USDA’s Rural Development office, located in Marion Illinois, provides funding in excess of $31,000 to provide classroom and hands-on training to both union and non-union electrical contractors in order to advance solar installations in the Southern Illinois region. Additional funding of $4,000 to support the in person and webinar portion of the training, has been received from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

 

In order to interconnect solar systems to the electric grid, Illinois law requires that electrical contractors be Distributed Generation (DG) certified.  With only a few DG certified installers in the southern part of the state, ISEA recognizes that the lack of solar installers was a barrier to solar development in the region. Program trainees will be qualified to take the NABCEP exam, which when passed, will qualify them to be certified by the State.

 

Trainees will have an opportunity to exercise their newly gained skills by participating in 1kW solar installations at local schools. Grant funds for the installation portion of the training will be supplied by the Illinois Solar for Schools Program via the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, and through product donations from The Solar Foundation.

 

The Illinois Solar Energy Associationis pleased to offer this opportunity to advance solar development in Southern Illinois, as well as accelerate economic development and job creation in the region.

 

About the Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA)

Established in 1975 The Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) is a non-profit organization that promotes the widespread application of renewable energy through education and advocacy. As the Illinois chapter of the American Solar Energy Society, ISEA is the local resource for educational classes, events, renewable energy related policy developments, local news and access to local renewable energy vendors. www.illinoissolar.org

 

 

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The winning ISEA PV Raffle ticket number is 1735! A new installation will soon belong to our lucky winner from Rolling Meadows, IL. Congrats!

Thank you to all who participated and continue to support ISEA's work!

Solar PV Raffle ticket sales end on Saturday, April 16th at 11pm CST

and

ISEA will be drawing the winner of our Solar PV Raffle at the

Wild & Scenic Film Festival

April 22, 2016 6:30-9:30pm

Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist

1025 N. Smith St, Palatine, IL

Join us for the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Palatine!  This is the second year hosting this event, sponsored by the Northwest Cook County Group of the Illinois Sierra Club and by Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist.  They will screen two hours of short films celebrating nature and our connection to it, and telling the stories of activists working to preserve our environment for future generations.  Admission is free.  Advanced registration through Eventbrite is encouraged, but not required.  A $5 per person donation is requested to help cover the cost of licensing the films.

For more information, click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 12, 2016

Contact:
David Jakubiak, ELPC
312-795-3713
djakubiak@elpc.org
@DavidELPC

Emily Rosenwasser, Sierra Club
312-251-1680 x119
emily.rosenwasser@sierraclub.org
@ERosenwasser

Angela Guyadeen, NRDC
312-651-7936
aguyadeen@nrdc.org
@Guyadeen

New solar jobs numbers show broken energy policies cost Illinois jobs.

Illinois drops two spots in solar job rankings while other states gain.

State must pass Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (SB1485/HB2607) to create more solar jobs.

New nationwide data released this week by the Solar Foundation show Illinois must fix its broken energy policies if it hopes to compete long-term for jobs in the booming solar and renewable energy fields.

The Solar Jobs Census showed that Illinois dropped two places in solar jobs in 2015, from 12th to 14th nationwide. Illinois lost more than 300 solar jobs over the year.

By comparison, other nearby states saw solid growth in 2015. Michigan added nearly 700 solar jobs, while Ohio added more than 500 jobs. Even more impressively, New York grew almost 1,000 solar jobs this year alone, enjoying a solar boom since it fixed its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2012. Experts say Illinois’ broken RPS blocks the type of investment that the state needs to compete.

The bipartisan Illinois Clean Jobs Bill would fix the RPS and expand it to 35% by 2030 (up from the current target of 25% by 2025). By also boosting energy efficiency, the bill will build 32,000 jobs and save consumers $1.6 billion.

“Make no mistake: the solar industry in Illinois has shown tremendous growth over the past several years, with more than 3,400 workers across the state, who are helping consumers save big money. But to continue this success and compete with other states, Illinois needs to update its policy, beginning with a working RPS,” said Lesley McCain, Executive Director of the Illinois Solar Energy Association.

“Creating a working RPS like the one envisioned in the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill would give companies and investors the reliability that they need,” said McCain, who added that last year Illinois legislators swept funds intended for renewable energy to plug holes in the state’s budget.

She added that other states are taking the lead in policies that encourage rooftop solar, community solar, low-income solar programs. The Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (SB1485/HB2607) calls for those policies, too, allowing Illinois to create more jobs.

“The time to act is now, because the rest of the country isn’t standing idly by, they are taking the initiative and building a clean energy economy while Illinois delays.”

Illinois’ drop in the national solar rankings mirrors the state’s recent experience in wind energy. Last year it was announced that Oklahoma had leap-frogged Illinois to become the 4th highest wind-producing state. Now, even Illinois’ #5 ranking is at risk, with Kansas having enough projects in the pipeline to surpass Illinois.

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The Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition is made up of Illinois businesses and organizations representing the state’s environmental, business and faith communities. Currently more than 160 businesses and 60 organizations have formally joined the coalition to promote steps to improve the Illinois environment, help consumers, improve public health, and create tens of thousands of new jobs across the state.

12/10/15 12:15PM CST

Hello Raffle Ticket Holders!

This is where we will be blogging on tonight's membership meeting and Tesla Raffle drawing!

Check back tonight for live updates! Membership meeting starts at 6PM CST, raffle drawing planned to be around 7:30PM CT. We will be announcing the winning ticket number.

7:40PM CST: Our meeting is running a bit behind schedule. Please stay tuned for raffle results!

7:45PM CST: ISEA year in review presentation from ISEA Executive Director, Lesley McCain.

7:55PM CST: Check out the ISEA Facebook and Twitter (@ILSolarEnergy) for pictures and more updates!

8:05PM CST: Quick solar policy update from ISEA policy committee chair and board member Lisa Albrecht happening now!

8:30PM CST: Reading ISEA board election candidate statements now. 10 total!

8:40PM CST: Drum roll please........

8:41PMCST: The winning ticket is 2127!!!!! Congrats!

ISEA is excited to announce that the DCEO Solar and Wind Energy Rebate and Grant Program has been extended through December 31, 2020!

Due to sunset at the end of this month, an extension was approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor last  Friday December 4th 2015.  This is a big win and important milestone for ISEA as we sponsored this legislation in partnership with champions, Sen. David Koehler, Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie and the Illinois Environmental Council. Although there are still some unknowns due to the lack of a State budget, we are celebrating this victory! Stay tuned to ISEA for more information as it becomes available.