Illinois Shines (REC incentive) solar export rate
What Illinois Shines (REC incentive) pays for power exported from rooftop solar in Illinois, with the source and the date it was checked.
Fixed export rate
$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.
Illinois Shines (REC incentive) · Illinois
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.
Source: illinoisshines.com · illinoisshines.com · illinoisshines.com
Full Illinois Shines (REC incentive) detail →Illinois rules that apply to Illinois Shines (REC incentive)
The state framework sets the default. Where Illinois Shines (REC incentive) pays something different, the utility tariff governs and is what the card above reports.
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Regulator | Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), Springfield |
| 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. |
| 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. |
Other Illinois utilities
- ComEd (Commonwealth Edison)Formula basedNo fixed statewide dollar rate: for customers interconnected on or after January 1, 2025, credi
- Ameren IllinoisFormula basedApplicable tariffed or contract rate for electricity supply and transmission charges; no single