Get your electricity from a local solar farm and save 5-25%
Join the thousands of renters, homeowners, and businesses saving up to 25% with community solar...no equipment required.
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What is Community Solar?
Community solar allows anyone in Illinois access solar farms, which can reduce your energy bill. There is no cost to you, and you'll be supporting local clean energy.
Who benefits from Community Solar
There are several financial reasons why community solar is an attractive proposition for consumers, developers, investors and energy companies
Consumers:
- Community Solar is a way to provide access to clean energy to anyone who pays an electricity bill.
- Incentives to increase adoption include bill credits from 5-20% of your bill.
Low Income Communities
- Low income and tribal communities seldom have access to clean energy.
- Tax credits offer incentives to developers to build projects in low-income areas.
- These projects directly benefit local customers and offer significant, immediate electricity bill savings and credits of up to 20%
Utility Companies:
- Local community solar farms reduce strain on the grid.
- The highest demand for electricity occurs during daylight hours
- Line loss from transmitting power cost utilities and transmission companies significant sums. Based on weather and local conditions , up to 10% of the generated power can be lost when it is transmitted. So a traditional power plant generating 500 MW of power may only get paid for 450MwH of power delivered. Over the course of a year - those line losses can add up to millions of dollars.
Investors:
- Tax Benefits - Investors can deduct 30% of their investment from their taxes.
- Tax Credits - The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 offers additional tax credits for projects in low-income communities or tribal lands.
- RECs (Renewable Energy Credits) generated by community solar farms can be used to offset carbon based power, meet compliance targets and can be sold as financial instruments to third parties.
Call 888-834-2082 to get started
How Do I Sign Up for Community Solar?
The Simplest Way is to Call: 888-834-2082
Benefits
- Free To Enroll
- 5-25% Discount On Credits for Up To 20 Years
- Nothing To Buy or Install
- Even Renters Qualify
- No Interruption in Service
How does Community Solar Impact My Electricity Bill?
- Customers will receive two bills:
- A bill from their utility with solar credits
- After connecting to a designated solar farm, residents receive a utility bill with solar credits applied. Residents are responsible for paying any remaining balance directly to the utility.
- A bill from the community solar provider for those credits at a discount.
- Residents also receive a bill from the community solar provider for their solar credits, which are offered at a discounted rate.
- A bill from their utility with solar credits
Understand Your Community Solar Bill in Illinois
The Basics of Community Solar Billing
Community Solar in Illinois offers subscribers a portion of the energy savings generated by local solar projects. Once operational, these savings are reflected on your Arcadia statement and applied to your utility bill, reducing overall charges.
Transition to Utility Consolidated Billing (UCB)
The Illinois community solar market operates under UCB, where solar charges appear directly on your utility bill. Some projects have already implemented UCB, while others still use a separate billing system.
Dual Billing vs. UCB
For projects not yet on UCB, customers experience Dual Billing. Here's how it works:
- 10% of solar savings are credited to your utility charges
- The remaining 90% goes towards project maintenance and operation
- Your Community Solar Provider charges your payment method for the solar credits
Your Community Solar Provider Statement
Your Community Solar Provider statement will show:- Total solar credit applied to your utility bill
- Your savings (10% of the credit)
- The amount owed to your community solar provider (90% of the credit)
You can review these statements via email or your Community Solar Provider's dashboard.
UCB Customers
For those already on UCB, savings and repayment of the 90% will be visible directly on your utility statement.
Tracking Your Savings
Regardless of billing method, you can always monitor your community solar savings through your community solar provider dashboard.
Budget Billing and Community Solar in Illinois
For most Illinois Shines participants, it's advisable to discontinue your budget billing plan when enrolling in Community Solar. In cases where these two programs are incompatible, Your Community Solarm provideer will reach out to you before your project activation to allow time for unenrollment.
Impact on Billing and Savings
When you're on a budget billing plan with your utility, it may take several months for your billing amount to accurately reflect Community Solar savings. The solar portion of your bill, which contributes to project maintenance and development, will be added to your regular budget billing amount and detailed in our statement. Non-budget billing customers will see this amount integrated into their actual charges, making savings more apparent.
Benefits of Canceling Budget Billing
By canceling your budget billing plan, you'll immediately notice savings on your statement. However, be aware that discontinuing budget billing may result in an additional credit or charge on your next utility bill, depending on your actual energy consumption during your budget billing enrollment.
LIHEAP and Community Solar in Illinois
Participating in LIHEAP doesn't prevent you from benefiting from Community Solar! You'll still receive your full credit, but it's important to note that once you're connected to a Community Solar project, your LIHEAP credit will be distributed over several months instead of appearing as one large credit on a single statement.
LIHEAP Credits and Solar Savings
Your local utility will apply the LIHEAP credit to your net utility charges. Thanks to Community Solar, your monthly net charges will be lower than they would be without it. After your utility bill is issued, you'll still receive at least 10% of the solar savings, with the remaining savings allocated towards maintaining and operating the local solar project. Any unused LIHEAP credit will carry over to your next utility bill until it's fully depleted.
How to Cancel Your Community Solar Account in Illinois
Steps to Cancel Your Community Solar Membership
To cancel your community solar membership and stop receiving Community Solar savings in Illinois, follow these steps:
- Contact your Community Solar provider's Customer Support team via email or phone.
After your Community Solar provider receives your request, they'll initiate the cancellation process with your utility company. Please note that it takes approximately 90 days for the utility to fully process your cancellation. During this period, you'll continue to receive statements from your Community Solar provider reflecting your solar savings. Once the 90-day period ends, you'll no longer receive solar savings and will revert to getting statements directly from your local utility company.
Your Community Solar provider will keep you informed throughout the process and send you a confirmation email once the cancellation is complete.
Moving to a New Location?
If you're moving, please contact your Community Solar provider to transfer your account. Your solar savings will continue until your final bill, which your Community Solar provider will manage for you. Depending on your new utility, your Community Solar provider will enroll you in a new Community Solar project as soon as possible.