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Equitable Energy Upgrade Program

Background

Public Act 102-0662 was enacted by the General Assembly with an effective date of September 15, 2021. The Act requires the Commission to open an investigation into and direct all electric public utilities in this State to adopt an Equitable Energy Upgrade Program that permits customers to finance the construction of energy projects through an optional tariff payable directly through their utility bill, modeled after the Pay As You Save system, developed by the Energy Efficiency Institute. The Program model shall enable utilities to offer to make investments in energy projects to customer properties with low-cost capital and use an opt-in tariff to recover the costs. The Program shall be designed to provide customers with immediate financial savings if they choose to participate. The Program shall allow residential electric utility customers that own the property, or renters that have permission of the property owner, for which they subscribe to utility service to agree to the installation of an energy project.

The program is to ensure:

  1. eligible projects do not require upfront payments; however, customers may pay down the costs for projects with a payment to the installing contractor in order to qualify projects that would otherwise require upfront payments;
  2. eligible projects have sufficient estimated savings and estimated life span to produce significant, immediate net savings;
  3. participants shall agree the utility can recover its costs for the projects at their location by paying for the project through an optional tariff directly through the participant's electricity bill, allowing participants to benefit from installation of energy projects without traditional loans;
  4. accessibility by lower-income residents and environmental justice community residents; and
  5. the utility must ensure that customers who are interested in participating are notified that if they are income qualified, they may also be eligible for the Percentage of Income Payment Plan program and free energy improvements through other programs and provide contact information.

Program guidelines established by the Commission must include the following elements:

  1. The Commission shall establish conditions under which utilities secure capital to fund the energy projects. The Commission may allow utilities to raise capital independently, work with third-party lenders to secure the capital for participants, or a combination thereof. Any process the Commission approves must use a market mechanism to identify the least costly sources of capital funds so as to pass on maximum savings to participants. The State or the Clean Energy Jobs and Justice Fund may also provide capital for the Program.
  2. Customer protection guidelines should be designed consistent with Pay As You Save Essential Elements and Minimum Program Requirements.
  3. The Commission shall establish conditions by which utilities may connect Program participants to energy project vendors. In setting conditions for connection, the Commission may prioritize vendors that have a history of good relations with the State, including vendors that have hired participants from State-created job training programs.
  4. Guarantee that conservative estimates of financial savings will immediately and significantly exceed Program costs for Program participants.

No later than June 12, 2022, the Commission is to convene a workshop during which interested participants may discuss issues and submit comments related to the Program.

ICC Staff Workshop Series

In order to provide a stakeholders a forum for providing input regarding the Equitable Energy Upgrade Program development, Staff will be hosting workshops. Details regarding the workshops will be forthcoming and posted on this page.

The workshops will be open to all interested parties. If you are interested in receiving an invitation, please send your e-mail address to jeffrey.orcutt@illinois.gov and include “Illinois EEUP Workshop Series Invitation” in the subject line of your e-mail.

Please click on the EEUP Workshop dates below to access WebEx information.

Comment opportunities and “Page Turn” sessions on Staff’s Draft Rule for Part 440

Comments – Timeline
  • Staff issues complete draft rule: TBA
  • Party Edits to Staff’s draft rule due: TBA
  • Staff issues compiled sections from various parties: TBA
  • Party Replies to edits: TBA
Page Turn Sessions

Meetings to go through the Draft Rule section by section concerning the various comments by the parties

The schedule will be confirmed with the update to the Draft Rule

Meeting Agendas

The Workshop series aims to address one agenda per meeting but this is subject to change. The next meeting’s agenda will be set at the end of the meeting proceeding it. Please check back here for timely updates.

Program Eligibility - Project Savings (March 7, 2023)
  • Interpretation of “immediate” and “guaranteed” language in statute
  • Savings calculation methodology
  • How should IL-TRM be used, if at all, or should modeled savings be used
Program Eligibility - Project and Customer Type (April 17, 2023)
  • Eligibility of electrification measures
  • Eligibility of solar, storage and other distributed energy resources
  • Gas utility data access and counting of gas savings
  • Customer eligibility
Program Implementation and Design (May 1, 2023)
  • Program scale and growth trajectory (market potential (AIC) and Program interactions/workforce (ComEd)
  • Volume pricing for installed equipment
  • Evaluation methodology
  • Operations of the Administrator if not addressed other places
  • Interactions with other programs
Consumer Protections (May 25, 2023)
  • Disconnection rules
  • Marketing
  • Complaints
  • Maintenance obligations of customers and utilities
  • Disclosures and what notices to customers look like
Funding: Sourcing (June 12, 2023)
  • Capital sourcing
  • Interest rates paid by participants
Funding: Cost Recovery (July31, 2023)
  • Administrative program cost recovery
  • Cost recovery for interest rate differential
  • Payment terms

EEUP Workshop Materials

February 14, 2023 Workshop
September 20, 2022 EEUP Workshop #3
August 10, 2022 EEUP Workshop #2
June 7, 2022 EEUP Workshop #1