The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is now accepting applications for its Community Solar Energy Sovereignty Grant Program to support the pre-development and development of community solar projects that promote community ownership and energy sovereignty.
Donor Name: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
State: Illinois
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/31/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
The Community Solar Energy Sovereignty Grant Program is intended to provide grants to plan, develop, and execute community solar projects. The grant program provides upfront capital to support the development of community solar projects and provides seed capital and pre-development funding to support community ownership of renewable energy projects.
The Department will prioritize funding for projects that best demonstrate the ability and intent to create community ownership and other local community benefits, including local community wealth building via community renewable generation projects. Grants shall be prioritized to applicants for whom:
- The proposed project is located in and support an equity investment eligible community or communities; and
- The proposed project provides additional benefits for participating low-income households.
Equity investment eligible communities are defined as geographic areas throughout Illinois which would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination. Specifically, the eligible communities are defined as the following areas:
- Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) Areas as established pursuant to Section 10-40 of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, where residents have historically been excluded from economic opportunities, including opportunities in the energy sector; and
- Environmental Justice Communities, as defined by the Illinois Power Agency pursuant to the Illinois Power Agency Act, where residents have historically been subject to disproportionate burdens of pollution, including pollution from the energy sector.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $8,500,000
- Award Range: $50000 – $1000000.
Grant Period
The period of performance is expected to be the date when the grant is awarded through up to four years from the date of grant agreement execution.
Eligible Activities
Grant funds may be used to support a wide array of activities to support the development of community solar projects.
- Phase 1: Planning and feasibility phase, which may include:
- Early Stage Project Planning
- Project Team Organization
- Site Identification
- Organizing a project business model
- Customer outreach
- Preliminary site assessments
- Development of cooperative or community ownership project models that allocate benefits to equity eligible communities. and
- Phase 2: Pre-development construction phase, which may include:
- Procurement and contracting Securing financing
- Site control
- Customer outreach and enrollment
- Permitting and zoning
- Interconnection application costs and fees, studies, and expenses
- Equipment and supplies directly related to pre-development or community ownership model development activities
- Staff and operations expenses directly related to pre-development or community ownership model development activities
- Fixing code violations.
Eligibility Criteria
- Community-based organizations defined by the National Community-Based Organization Network (NCBON) in the Illinois Power Agency’s 2022 Long-term Plan as organizations in which:
- The majority of the governing body and staff consists of local residents,
- The main operating offices are in the community,
- Priority issue areas are identified and defined by residents,
- Solutions to address priority issues are developed with residents, and
- Program design, implementation, and evaluation components have residents intimately involved, in leadership positions.
- A public entity may qualify as a community-based organization, but only if the public entity meets the following requirements:
- The public entity must represent a municipality or county (or school district, park district, etc.) Priority given to proposed projects located in and supporting an equity investment eligible community or communities; and benefiting participating low-income households.
- The public entity must certify that no local community-based organizations exist that are capable of filling this role.
- The public entity must provide the same showing of robust community engagement as a non-public entity would be required to show.
- Technical service providers working in direct partnership with community-based organizations.
- The entity must demonstrate robust community engagement and support.
- A technical service provider can be a solar supplier or installer or business involved in the field of solar energy.
For more information, visit DCEO.
