{"id":24230,"date":"2020-01-31T16:07:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T22:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?p=24230"},"modified":"2022-03-20T12:27:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T17:27:45","slug":"nexamp-and-clearway-two-new-community-solar-offers-available-to-illinois-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/blog\/2020\/01\/31\/nexamp-and-clearway-two-new-community-solar-offers-available-to-illinois-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"Nexamp and Clearway: Two new community solar offers available to Illinois consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, we\u2019ll break down the terms and conditions of two community solar offers\u00a0advertised by Nexamp and Clearway.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Nexamp mailer. Click on the image for the full page.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s start with the basics\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is \u201ccommunity solar\u201d?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Community solar<\/strong><\/a> is an exciting new program in Illinois that can help reduce your electric\u00a0bill while supporting the development of new solar projects. Thanks to a 2016 law, the\u00a0Future Energy Jobs Act, community solar allows ComEd and Ameren customers to now \u201cgo\u00a0solar\u201d without actually installing panels on their property. Under the program, you can\u00a0subscribe to a portion of the electricity produced by a solar installation\u2014called a community\u00a0solar garden\u2014and in return, receive credits that reduce your electric bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Examples of Clearway mailers. Click on the image to see the full pitch.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Community solar is just getting off the ground in Illinois, but we expect many projects to\u00a0come online later in 2020. Before community solar developers can connect the garden to\u00a0the grid, they need to secure a certain number of subscribers. Community solar companies\u00a0are signing people up in advance for when their solar gardens go live later this year. If you\u00a0sign up now through either of these offers, you will not be charged anything until the\u00a0community solar garden you are assigned to is connected to the grid and you begin to\u00a0receive credits on your electric bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

How will signing up for the Nexamp or Clearway community solar offer affect my electric bill?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your community solar provider will use your energy usage history to determine your\u00a0subscription size. You can think of your subscription size as how many panels you are\u00a0subscribing to, and it is measured in kilowatts (kW). Each month your subscription will\u00a0produce solar energy, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the community solar project you are assigned to is completed, your monthly electric\u00a0bill will include community solar bill credits. The total amount you are saving monthly from\u00a0these credits will vary as the solar production of your subscription varies. In addition to your\u00a0reduced electric bill, you will also pay a second monthly bill to the community solar\u00a0company. Even though you are now receiving two bills, you will still save money,\u00a0overall. Both Nexamp and Clearway will bill you for the value of the credits applied to your\u00a0utility bill, but at a rate that is 20% lower than the standard utility supply cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

What if I am with an alternative electric supplier?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We have heard that some alternate suppliers will not give you community solar credits at\u00a0the default utility supply rate. This could leave you in a situation where you are being\u00a0overcharged for the electricity you use, and under-credited for your community solar\u00a0subscription, forfeiting your community solar savings and paying more than you need to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, if you are signed up with an alternative electric supplier, there\u2019s a high\u00a0likelihood that they are overcharging you. To avoid being credited for\u00a0your community solar subscription at less than the utility supply rate, CUB recommends\u00a0canceling your alternate supplier before you sign up for community solar. Even if you aren\u2019t\u00a0on community solar, alternate supplier deals are almost always bad deals. (Read our fact\u00a0sheets on electric competition, for\u00a0ComEd customers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Ameren customers<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

What does CUB think about these two offers?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Community solar allows more Illinois consumers to support renewable energy, and CUB is\u00a0pleased to see these offers hit the market. From reviewing the terms of Nexamp\u2019s and\u00a0Clearway\u2019s offers, we did not see any red flags. Still, we always recommend comparing\u00a0multiple offers and understanding all the terms before signing up for community solar. Always\u00a0read your contract thoroughly.<\/span><\/p>\n

This chart summarizes key points about the Clearway and Nexamp deals:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nNexamp<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nClearway<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Does the company offer savings?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nNexamp and Clearway both offer 20 percent savings off of the default utility supply rate for the solar energy produced each month.\u00a0Note:<\/strong> This will not\u00a0always reduce your supply cost by 20 percent, as some months you may use\u00a0more energy than your community solar subscription generates.<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Is there a credit check when I sign up? <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nNo<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nYes, Clearway performs a \u201csoft credit\u00a0check,\u201d which will not impact your\u00a0credit score.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What\u2019s the contract term?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n15 years. However you may end the contract at any time. Nexamp requires 90 days\u2019 notice before cancellation goes into effect.<\/span><\/td>\n20 years. However, you may end the\u00a0contract anytime. Clearway requires 90 days\u2019 notice of cancellation.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Is there an \u201cexit fee\u201d for leaving the contract early?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nNo. There is no exit fee.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nIf you cancel after the early\u00a0termination period, there is a $200\u00a0cancellation fee. This fee is waived if\u00a0you provide a replacement customer,\u00a0or if you cancel due to a life event,\u00a0including moving out of the utility\u00a0territory.\u00a0Clearway is also waiving this fee if\u00a0you sign up before December 31,\u00a02020.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What are my billing options?<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nNexamp automatically enrolls\u00a0customers in automatic\u00a0paperless billing, but you can switch to paper bills or non-automatic payments anytime.<\/span><\/td>\nClearway accepts the following\u00a0payment methods: check, money\u00a0order, credit card, debit card, and automatic payments from a checking\u00a0or savings account.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

When will my subscription go live?\u00a0When will I start to see credits on my utility bill?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This depends on when the community solar garden you are assigned to is completed. The\u00a0Community Solar Standard Disclosure Form you receive from Nexamp or Clearway\u00a0includes the month they expect your subscription to go live in the \u201cSubscription\u00a0Specifications\u201d section. Once you sign up you can also check your customer portal for\u00a0updates on your project.<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens if I move?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you move within your current utility territory you can take your community solar\u00a0subscription with you. If you move outside of the utility territory, you can either assign your\u00a0subscription to someone else, or cancel with no penalty and proof of move. If you are\u00a0moving you must give the company sufficient notice, 90 days for Nexamp and 60 days for<\/span>\u00a0Clearway. During that period the community solar provider will still bill you for the solar\u00a0produced, and you will still receive bill credits if your account is still active.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can I sign up for community solar and ComEd\u2019s Hourly Pricing or Ameren\u2019s Power\u00a0Smart Pricing program?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, you can still participate in these programs. However, the community solar company will\u00a0continue to charge you for solar produced at 20% off the default supply rate. Because of this,\u00a0being on both programs at once will lose you money. CUB recommends choosing real time\u00a0pricing or community solar, but not enrolling in both.<\/span><\/p>\n

What about other pricing plans through ComEd and Ameren?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can be enrolled in community solar and Peak Time Rewards (Ameren) or Peak Time\u00a0Savings (ComEd) at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I sign up?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

To enroll in community solar, you must contact the company you want to sign up with. For\u00a0Clearway, visit www.clearwaycommunitysolar.com\/illinois\/<\/strong><\/a>, and for Nexamp visit\u00a0www.illinois.nexamp.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you signed up for a community solar program?\u00a0\u00a0Let us know about your experience!<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, we\u2019ll break down the terms and conditions of two community solar offers\u00a0advertised by Nexamp and Clearway. Let’s start with the basics\u00a0 What is \u201ccommunity solar\u201d? Community solar is an exciting new program in Illinois that can help reduce your electric\u00a0bill while supporting the development of new solar projects. Thanks to a 2016 law, the\u00a0Future Energy Jobs Act, community solar allows ComEd and Ameren customers to now \u201cgo\u00a0solar\u201d without actually installing panels on their property. Under the program, you can\u00a0subscribe to a portion of the electricity produced by a solar installation\u2014called a community\u00a0solar garden\u2014and 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\u00a0come online later in 2020. Before community solar developers can connect the garden to\u00a0the grid, they need to secure a certain number of subscribers. Community solar companies\u00a0are signing people up in advance for when their solar gardens go live later this year. If you\u00a0sign up now through either of these offers, you will not be charged anything until the\u00a0community solar garden you are assigned to is connected to the grid and you begin to\u00a0receive 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\u00a0subscription size. You can think of your subscription size as how many panels you are\u00a0subscribing to, and it is measured in kilowatts (kW). Each month your subscription will\u00a0produce solar energy, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Once the community solar project you are assigned to is completed, your monthly electric\u00a0bill will include community solar bill credits. The total amount you are saving monthly from\u00a0these credits will vary as the solar production of your subscription varies. In addition to your\u00a0reduced electric bill, you will also pay a second monthly bill to the community solar\u00a0company. Even though you are now receiving two bills, you will still save money,\u00a0overall. Both Nexamp and Clearway will bill you for the value of the credits applied to your\u00a0utility 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\u00a0the default utility supply rate. This could leave you in a situation where you are being\u00a0overcharged for the electricity you use, and under-credited for your community solar\u00a0subscription, forfeiting your community solar savings and paying more than you need to. Additionally, if you are signed up with an alternative electric supplier, there\u2019s a high\u00a0likelihood that they are overcharging you. To avoid being credited for\u00a0your community solar subscription at less than the utility supply rate, CUB recommends\u00a0canceling your alternate supplier before you sign up for community solar. Even if you aren\u2019t\u00a0on community solar, alternate supplier deals are almost always bad deals. (Read our fact\u00a0sheets on electric competition, for\u00a0ComEd customers\u00a0and\u00a0Ameren customers.) What does CUB think about these two offers? Community solar allows more Illinois consumers to support renewable energy, and CUB is\u00a0pleased to see these offers hit the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[624,69],"tags":[65,91,509,553,169],"class_list":["post-24230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-solar","category-updates","tag-electric","tag-energy","tag-renewable-energy-2","tag-renewables","tag-solar"],"cp_meta_data":{"_edit_lock":["1647868272:5"],"_edit_last":["5"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"borntogive_strict_no_sidebar":["0"],"borntogive_sidebar_columns_layout":["3"],"borntogive_page_header_show_hide":["2"],"borntogive_pages_title_show":["2"],"borntogive_pages_Choose_slider_display":["2"],"borntogive_pages_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_pages_slider_effects":["fade"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_body_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_wide":["0"],"borntogive_pages_content_bg_repeat":["repeat"],"borntogive_pages_social_show":["1"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_pagination":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_auto_slide":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_direction_arrows":["yes"],"borntogive_gallery_slider_effects":["fade"],"ampforwp_custom_content_editor":[""],"ampforwp_custom_content_editor_checkbox":[""],"ampforwp-amp-on-off":["default"],"classic-editor-remember":["classic-editor"],"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"borntogive_pages_select_revolution_from_list":["3"],"_wpsp_is_facebook_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_twitter_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_linkedin_share":["off"],"_wpsp_is_pinterest_share":["off"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["6"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}