1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="6zE1ScgOjS"><a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2019/11/05/the-facts-on-arcadia-powers-community-solar-offer/">The facts on Arcadia Power’s community solar offer</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2019/11/05/the-facts-on-arcadia-powers-community-solar-offer/embed/#?secret=6zE1ScgOjS" width="600" height="338" title="“The facts on Arcadia Power’s community solar offer” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="6zE1ScgOjS" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! 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Consumers from across Illinois are asking CUB lots of questions about Arcadia’s offer.  We’ll try to break it down below. 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. Arcadia’s website talks about more than just community solar. What type of company are they? Arcadia is an energy brokerage company—a for-profit business that offers to manage your electricity supply needs. They offer a variety of products like retail supply brokerage, wind energy offsets (provided via Renewable Energy Credits), and they now offer community solar. How will signing up for the Arcadia community solar offer affect my electric bill? To participate in Arcadia’s offer, you must first connect your utility and billing information. To do that, you must have an online account with your utility (ComEd or Ameren) and enter your login info (username and password) into Arcadia’s online system. Once you’ve signed up with Arcadia, your bill email will be redirected to Arcadia, and you will stop receiving bills from your utility. Instead, you will receive a monthly statement from Arcadia. This monthly statement will combine your utility bill and the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that Arcadia purchases on your behalf. Arcadia will use your energy usage history to determine your community solar 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 Arcadia statement will also indicate the amount of money you are saving from your community solar subscription. The total amount you are saving monthly will vary as the solar production of your subscription varies. Until your project is completed, Arcadia will estimate your community solar savings and apply credits to your bills based on that estimate. All Arcadia members receive wind RECs (Renewable Energy Credits) to cover 50 percent of their electricity usage at no additional cost. A REC represents the environmental benefit of renewable energy. Is the deal any good? Although CUB has not yet spoken with anyone who has signed up, we have had discussions with Arcadia and learned details of its offer. Questions about Arcadia’s offer: Answers:  How much will I save? Arcadia offers 10 percent savings compared to the default utility supply rate for the solar energy produced each month. This will not necessarily […]https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screen-Shot-2020-06-29-at-11.40.31-AM-1.png