{"id":31517,"date":"2021-04-21T18:27:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/?page_id=31517"},"modified":"2025-10-03T14:17:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T19:17:00","slug":"solar-in-the-community","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citizensutilityboard.org\/solar-in-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar in the Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Welcome to Solar in the Community<\/span><\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Illinois\u2019 new community solar program allows electricity customers to enjoy the benefits of solar energy without installing panels on their own homes. Solar in the Community is a free resource\u2014brought to you by the nonprofit consumer group Citizens Utility Board (CUB)\u2014to educate consumers about the program and help them assess community solar offers on the market. Note:\u00a0<\/b>This resource is about Illinois’ Community Solar program. For information about rooftop\u00a0solar,\u00a0go here.<\/a><\/b>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_tour color=”sky” gap=”1″ active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section title=”How Does Community Solar Work?” tab_id=”1587673577145-670b6001-4a22″][vc_column_text]How Does Community Solar Work?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Community solar is a program for people who can\u2019t put solar on their own homes. It allows consumers to save money on their electric bills from energy produced by large, offsite community solar projects, similar to how you would save on your electric bill if you installed panels on your own property.<\/p>\n

The owner of the community solar garden pays the upfront costs to build, maintain and connect the\u00a0garden to the utility\u2019s power grid. When you sign up for community solar, you are subscribing to a\u00a0portion of the project\u2019s monthly output. Your community solar provider will analyze your household\u2019s\u00a0energy demand to determine your subscription size. Each month, you\u2019ll pay\u00a0your community solar\u00a0provider for the amount of electricity generated by your subscription. The provider then reports the\u00a0output of your subscription to the utility, and the utility company adds credits to your electric bill equal\u00a0to that output.<\/p>\n

To participate in this program, you must be an electric customer in the utility territory where\u00a0the community solar project is built. Unfortunately, most municipal utility or co-op customers cannot\u00a0sign up for community solar, because there are no community solar projects being built in their electric\u00a0provider\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0HERE\u00a0<\/span>to download a PDF of CUB\u2019s Community Solar fact sheet.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch CUB’s video: What is Community Solar?<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TUM_VoYqHFs&feature=youtu.be[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]And here’s an example of how your bill could look with community solar:[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”25898″ img_size=”large” style=”vc_box_shadow”][vc_column_text]In addition to traditional community solar projects, there are also Community-Driven Community Solar (CDCS) projects<\/strong><\/a>. These initiatives focus on delivering direct benefits to local communities and encouraging active participation from residents. CDCS projects offer several advantages, including community ownership and wealth-building opportunities. They also promote meaningful connections and engagement among community members, nonprofit organizations, and public entities. CUB will provide more information on these projects as they are built in Illinois.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Why is Community Solar Possible Now?” tab_id=”1587673443923-5a187b06-bfef”][vc_column_text]Why is Community Solar Possible Now?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Future Energy Jobs Act<\/a><\/strong>, passed in 2016, created Illinois’ community solar program, and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA)<\/strong><\/a>, passed in 2021, strengthened it. CEJA allocated funding so that 250 MW of pending community solar projects–for roughly 40,000 subscribers–could be launched, and then about 150 MW per year of community solar projects going forward.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”How Do I Know What a Good Deal Is?” tab_id=”1587673614193-ae2bbaeb-497e”][vc_column_text]Your Community Solar Offer Checklist<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ask these questions when comparing community solar offers:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n