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Nexamp and Clearway: Two new community solar offers available to Illinois consumers

Jim Chilsen — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 22:07:42 +0000

In this article, we’ll break down the terms and conditions of two community solar offers advertised by Nexamp and Clearway. Let’s start with the basics What is “community solar”? Community solar is an exciting new program in Illinois that can help reduce your electric bill while supporting the development of new solar projects. Thanks to a 2016 law, the Future Energy Jobs Act, community solar allows ComEd and Ameren customers to now “go solar” without actually installing panels on their property. Under the program, you can subscribe to a portion of the electricity produced by a solar installation—called a community solar garden—and in return, receive credits that reduce your electric bill. Community solar is just getting off the ground in Illinois, but we expect many projects to come online later in 2020. Before community solar developers can connect the garden to the grid, they need to secure a certain number of subscribers. Community solar companies are signing people up in advance for when their solar gardens go live later this year. If you sign up now through either of these offers, you will not be charged anything until the community solar garden you are assigned to is connected to the grid and you begin to receive credits on your electric bill. How will signing up for the Nexamp or Clearway community solar offer affect my electric bill? Your community solar provider will use your energy usage history to determine your subscription size. You can think of your subscription size as how many panels you are subscribing to, and it is measured in kilowatts (kW). Each month your subscription will produce solar energy, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Once the community solar project you are assigned to is completed, your monthly electric bill will include community solar bill credits. The total amount you are saving monthly from these credits will vary as the solar production of your subscription varies. In addition to your reduced electric bill, you will also pay a second monthly bill to the community solar company. Even though you are now receiving two bills, you will still save money, overall. Both Nexamp and Clearway will bill you for the value of the credits applied to your utility bill, but at a rate that is 20% lower than the standard utility supply cost. What if I am with an alternative electric supplier? We have heard that some alternate suppliers will not give you community solar credits at the default utility supply rate. This could leave you in a situation where you are being overcharged for the electricity you use, and under-credited for your community solar subscription, forfeiting your community solar savings and paying more than you need to. Additionally, if you are signed up with an alternative electric supplier, there’s a high likelihood that they are overcharging you. To avoid being credited for your community solar subscription at less than the utility supply rate, CUB recommends canceling your alternate supplier before you sign up for community solar. Even if you aren’t on community solar, alternate supplier deals are almost always bad deals. (Read our fact sheets on electric competition, for ComEd customers and Ameren customers.) What does CUB think about these two offers? Community solar allows more Illinois consumers to support renewable energy, and CUB is pleased to see these offers hit the […]

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At the Supreme Court: A victory for clean energy

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 17:22:35 +0000

This month, Illinois consumers got good news: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to review appellate court decisions that upheld the right for states to advance clean energy goals through “zero-emission credit” (ZEC) programs in Illinois and New York. On Twitter, CUB called it an “important victory for cost-effective clean energy.” The request to take up the case was filed by the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), a trade group for independent electric power producers and marketers. Big out-of-state corporations that own fossil fuel power plants—companies like Vistra, Calpine, and NRG—hate Illinois’ ZEC program, which is part of the groundbreaking clean-energy legislation, the Future Energy Jobs Act. The act, passed in 2016, expands energy efficiency and gives financial support to clean energy generators, helping to depress prices in a key electric market, called the capacity market. (Read about the capacity market and why it’s so important for your electric bills.) CUB Executive Director David Kolata has said before that the “harm” alleged by fossil fuel generators suing the state over the ZEC program was $600 million to $900 million in LOWER annual power prices. (Lower power prices isn’t a bad thing!) The capacity market has not treated customers well in recent years, increasing their power bills. So the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the case and leave in place clean energy programs that can help lower power bills was a big victory for Illinois consumers. But this battle isn’t over. The big fossil-fuel generators are fighting the ZEC on multiple fronts. They’re also before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to revamp electricity market rules to protect their profits from the price-lowering impact of Illinois’ clean energy policy. So it’s urgent that we pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA). The act includes capacity market reform that guarantees savings for consumers, greatly expands renewable energy in Illinois, and secures a 100% decarbonized electric system by 2030. Please, don’t let big fossil-fuel generators win: Urge the General Assembly to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

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The day in the life of a CUB outreach staffer…

Samantha — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 15:56:12 +0000

By Annabelle Roser As solar energy becomes more accessible to everyday consumers, the financial incentives of owning solar panels can be hard to pass up. The benefits of subsidizing or eliminating your energy bills through net-metering can be especially enticing to retirees or those on fixed incomes. Recently, I met Bryan and Louise— a couple who had just installed rooftop solar panels— at a utility bill clinic in Alton, Illinois hosted by CUB and state Rep. Dan Beiser. The future retirees saw investing in solar as a way to be more energy independent and lower their power bills in their all-electric home where their energy usage is high. Through net-metering, the panels should cut the supply side—the actual power they use—in half as well as reduce the delivery side—what they pay to have the utility deliver the power to their home. Overall, the panels are expected to produce about 50 percent of their total energy usage. Along with the solar panels, they also installed LED light bulbs throughout their home which cut the energy they used for lighting by 80 percent. Their story is a terrific example of how renewable energy and efficiency can be big money-savers for Illinois consumers. Aside from talking about net metering and energy efficiency, I made sure attendees were not signed up with unregulated electric suppliers. Unfortunately, I found some people who were being overcharged by these third-party companies. The good news is that Rep. Beiser is sponsoring a bill with CUB that would rein in unregulated companies that charge consumers exorbitant rates. (Help fight electric price-gouging TODAY!) Before going home, my colleagues and I grabbed lunch at Fast Eddies—a local, favorite watering hole—and stopped by to see the shoes of Alton resident Robert Wadlow who holds the title of world’s tallest man at a staggering 8’11. Thanks to all the excitement, I hope to be back in Alton soon!

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lllinois’ Only Chance

Jim Chilsen — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 18:26:31 +0000

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon pollution from power plants by 2030. Under the plan, Illinois is required to cut emissions 31 percent. That won’t be easy, but we have a key tool to reach that goal: the Illinois Clean Jobs Bill. The Illinois Clean Jobs Bill (House Bill 2607/Senate Bill 1485) is a plan to cut power bills and create jobs in the state. The measure would 1) improve efficiency standards, allowing Illinois to cut costly electricity waste by 20 percent by 2025; and 2) strengthen the power grid by requiring 35 percent of energy to come from cleaner, less costly renewable sources, like solar and wind, by 2030. (The current standard is 25 percent.) The bill would add 32,000 energy-related jobs a year once fully implemented. Furthermore, the Clean Jobs Bill is the only legislation in Springfield that could help Illinois meet its federal goals, while saving consumers $1.6 billion on their electric bills. But big power generators want to kill the bill, because its efficiency provisions would eat into their bottom lines. Don’t let them win. Together, we can achieve a clean, affordable future. Please, tell your legislators: I support the Illinois Clean Jobs bill.

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