Illinois solar export compensation
What Illinois pays for exported rooftop solar power, with the source and the date each figure was checked.
Record verified 2026-09-16 · 18 of 17 fields sourced
What does your utility pay?
No single rate — formula based
No fixed statewide dollar rate: for customers interconnected on or after January 1, 2025, credits offset supply-section and applicable kWh-based charges; value is based on the customer's applicable electric service rate and energy price. Legacy customers receive full-retail credits.
ComEd (Commonwealth Edison) · Illinois
ComEd's Rider POGNM and 2026 Net Metering FAQ describe the supply-only treatment for new residential and Small Load customers under 100 kW, lifetime legacy treatment for systems interconnected by December 31, 2024, annual April/October reset for legacy fixed-price kWh credits, and no expiration for post-2025 credits.
Source: comed.com
Full ComEd (Commonwealth Edison) detail →Illinois still requires net metering, but new systems no longer receive the legacy full-retail bill credit. For customers registering on or after January 1, 2025, exports generally credit the supply and transmission components at the customer's applicable utility or supplier tariff/contract rate; delivery, taxes, and other charges are not offset in the same way. Customers registered before January 1, 2025 retain the legacy treatment for the system's lifetime. The ICC-regulated investor-owned utilities covered here are ComEd and Ameren Illinois; municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are outside these ICC utility tariffs. Illinois Shines is a separate REC incentive program, not the bill-credit export rate.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Net electricity metering / net billing transition: legacy customers registered before January 1, 2025 keep full-retail net-metering treatment for the system lifetime; new customers receive credits for exported energy against applicable supply and transmission charges, with the precise rate determined by the utility or retail electric supplier tariff/contract. Applies to eligible customers of electricity providers, including ComEd and Ameren Illinois; municipal and cooperative utility treatment is not established by these ICC tariffs. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For new residential and small-load customers, the credit is based on the applicable electric supply/energy and transmission tariff or contract rate; ComEd describes the value as determined by the customer's electric service rates and price paid for energy, while Ameren Rider NM credits exported energy at the applicable tariffed or contract rate for supply and transmission charges. |
| Rate effective | For new customers, the reduced credit treatment applies on and after January 1, 2025. Legacy full-retail net metering applies to eligible systems registered before January 1, 2025; the utility-specific tariff sheets cited here are effective March 21, 2023 (Ameren Rider NM) and the 2026 ComEd FAQ describes the current treatment. |
| Credit rollover | Unused export credits carry forward to subsequent billing periods until used. Ameren's Rider NM defines a 12-month annual period ending with the customer's selected April or October billing period; ComEd says post-January 1, 2025 credits do not expire. |
| Credit expiration | Post-January 1, 2025 ComEd kWh or monetary credits do not expire. For ComEd legacy fixed-price customers, kWh credits reset annually in April or October under the election form; Ameren's Rider NM specifies an annual period ending in April or October, but the cited tariff does not state a separate dollar expiration rule. |
| Annual true-up | The annual reconciliation period ends on the last day of either the April or October monthly billing period, selected by the customer when applying for net metering. |
| Residential system cap | Illinois sets no separate residential size limit. 83 Ill. Adm. Code 465.5 defines an eligible renewable electrical generating facility generally as not more than 2,000 kW, a single definition that applies regardless of customer class. |
| Commercial system cap | The statewide Part 465 definition is not more than 2,000 kW; however, Ameren Rider NM separately states that, effective March 1, 2023, there is no maximum nameplate capacity for an Eligible Customer's Private Generation Facility. Eligibility and compensation therefore depend on the applicable utility tariff. |
| Aggregate program cap | No statewide net-metering aggregate capacity cap was verified in the current statute and cited utility tariffs; the former 5% limitation was eliminated by the Clean Energy Law. |
| Program status | No statewide net-metering aggregate capacity cap was verified in the current statute and cited utility tariffs; the former 5% limitation was eliminated by the Clean Energy Law. This does not establish eligibility for every municipal or cooperative utility. |
| Regulator | Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), Springfield |
| Docket | ICC Docket No. 22-0208 is the current tariff decision cited by Ameren Rider NM; ComEd's 2026 POGNM compliance filing implements Public Act 104-0458. |
| Governing rule | 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5 (Net electricity metering), 83 Ill. Adm. Code Part 465 (Net Metering), and utility tariffs including ComEd Rider POGNM and Ameren Illinois Rider NM. |
| Grandfathering | Eligible systems for which the customer registered for net metering before January 1, 2025 retain the legacy net-metering service described in 220 ILCS 5/16-107.5(d), (d-5), and (e) for the lifetime of the system, including when the customer changes electricity providers or the benefiting customer changes. |
| Interconnection application | Apply for interconnection and net metering through the serving utility. ComEd says the interconnection application typically includes net metering and participation begins after interconnection approval and a signed Certificate of Completion / permission to operate. Ameren requires an application for service under Rider NM compliant with Part 465 and its interconnection requirements under Parts 466 or 467. |
| Interconnection timeline | A utility must date and time-stamp each valid net-metering application and notify the customer within 10 business days of receipt about net-metering availability; the full interconnection review timeline depends on the applicable ICC interconnection level and utility process. |
| Pending change | Public Act 104-0458 (Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act), effective June 1, 2026, expands net-metering eligibility to qualifying standalone energy storage and vehicle-to-grid systems up to 5,000 kW and requires tariff implementation. ComEd filed Rider POGNM revisions with an August 14, 2026 effective date; the cited filings do not change the solar export-credit formula for ordinary new rooftop-solar customers. ComEd says additional storage offerings are expected in early 2027 subject to ICC approval. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) | No fixed statewide dollar rate: for customers interconnected on or after January 1, 2025, credits offset supply-section and applicable kWh-based charges; value is based on the customer's applicable electric service rate and energy price. Legacy customers receive full-retail credits. January 1, 2025 transition; current FAQ issued June 16, 2026 ComEd's Rider POGNM and 2026 Net Metering FAQ describe the supply-only treatment for new residential and Small Load customers under 100 kW, lifetime legacy treatment for systems interconnected by December 31, 2024, annual April/October reset for legacy fixed-price kWh credits, and no expiration for post-2025 credits. |
|---|---|
| Ameren Illinois Company | Applicable tariffed or contract rate for electricity supply and transmission charges; no single fixed export dollar rate is stated in Rider NM. March 21, 2023 tariff sheets, current Rider NM cited as governing tariff Rider NM, filed pursuant to ICC Docket No. 22-0208, carries excess kWh credits to later billing periods and defines the customer's 12-month annual period as ending with the selected April or October billing period. |
| Illinois Shines (separate REC incentive; statewide program) | $70.37/REC for 0-10 kW AC Small DG Group A or $80.77/REC for 0-10 kW AC Small DG Group B in Program Year 2026-27; REC prices vary by group, category, and system size. June 1, 2026 - May 31, 2027 program year The 2026-27 dashboard shows Small DG with 236.71 MW opening available capacity and 0.00 MW of prior-year waitlist allocation, so the residential-scale Small DG category was open at the program-year opening. Illinois Shines RECs are a separate incentive and are not the utility bill-credit export rate. |
Sources read for this record
Keep reading
- Every state we track
- How these figures are sourced and dated
- Arizona — Set per utility, not statewide. APS: $0.05554/kWh. TEP: $0.0513/kWh, w
- California — No single statewide export rate. Compensation is set by the CPUC Avoid
- Colorado — No single statewide dollar export rate. Under ordinary net metering, m
- Florida — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh export rate. Monthly net exports ar
- Hawaii — Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy Export rates for 2024-2026, i
- Massachusetts — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For ordinary qualifying solar
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New York — No single statewide $/kWh rate. The Value Stack is calculated from uti
- Texas — No statewide rate. Published municipal examples include Austin Energy