Dive Brief:

• The Citizens Utility Board and Environmental Defense Fund have asked Illinois regulators to consider a community solar pilot program which envisions four to five projects with a 2-MW size limitation.
• The proposal would be a three-year pilot available to customers of Commonwealth Edison, Midwest Energy News.
• The plan calls for a community group, home or business to recruit neighbors to invest money in a solar energy project in return for a share of electric bill credits generated by the project, based on the level of their financial contribution.

Dive Insight:

Despite the growth of solar energy, only about 300 northern Illinois customers participate because many people, particularly renters, lack the funding and space to install rooftop solar, according to the joint proposal filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). Community solar programs try to provide access to cleaner energy to a broader range of consumers.

"Renewable energy is not an exclusive club—everyone should be able to enjoy its benefits," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. "Our Community Solar proposal, in effect, is renewable energy for the masses, and that's vital to making our electric bills lower and our power grid more stable." 

The two groups say they hope the pilot project could be available to ComEd customers by 2016, and expanded to all ComEd and Ameren consumers by 2020. Projects would have a 2 MW limit, and the groups recommended regulators limit eligible projects to ones which test various models for community solar, such as a resource located within a microgrid project, a commercial rooftop project, or a non-profit sponsored project.

Projects located to relieve ComEd system constraints should also qualify, the groups said.