In 2007, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed Illinois’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) into law. The law created the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), which sets procurement plans for investor-owned utilities that serve over 100,000 customers. Only two utilities fall under that standard, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) and Ameren. Under the rules of the IPA procurement plan, ComEd and Ameren must generate 25 percent of their electricity sales from renewable energy by 2025. The law was modified in 2010 to include in the mandate, alternative energy electric suppliers (ARES) and utilities that sell outside their service territories.
The law sets a graduated schedule for compliance from 2009-2025. ARES must follow a separate graduated compliance schedule.
Qualifying sources include solar, dedicated crops grown for energy production, organic waste biomass, trees and tree waste, in-state landfill gas, biodiesel, existing hydropower and waste heat from industrial processes.
The Illinois RPS also creates carve outs for wind and solar. Utilities must generate 75 percent of the renewable mandate from wind, and six percent from solar. ARES must generate 60 percent of the mandate from wind.
ARES must meet at least half their renewable quota through an alternative compliance payment (ACP). The ACP for the current compliance year is $0.211 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for ARES operating in Ameren territory, and $0.256 per MWh for ARES operating in ComEd territory. ARES may also purchase renewable energy credits (RECs) to meet the mandate.
The law also includes a graduated cost cap. In 2008 the cost to customers could not exceed 0.5 percent of the amount paid per kilowatt-hour (kW) in 2007. After 2011 the cap is set at 2.015 percent of kW paid in 2007.
The IPA also requires utilities to implement energy efficiency measures to reduce energy usage by two percent of demand by 2015.
Source: Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency