2025 Summer Indexed Wind, Solar, Brownfield, and Hydropower REC RFP (AIC, ComEd, and MEC)

No, a Bidder cannot submit a bid for a delivery term of less than twenty years. Pursuant to the Indexed REC RFP Rules, each Seller must accept the terms of the Indexed REC Contract with a twenty-year delivery term as a condition of participation. The twenty-year delivery term for the Indexed REC Contract is a requirement under Illinois law.

Two electronic methods of payment, ACH or E-Pay, will be accepted by the IPA for the payment of the required supplier fees. The Procurement Administrator will distribute detailed instructions for payment of the supplier fees to Bidders that have Bids approved by the ICC. The ICC renders its decision on the results of the Summer 2025 Indexed REC procurement on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

Please see Section 5.6 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, Table 5-5 in particular, for the proposed schedule for competitive procurements. The next Indexed REC RFP is expected to be held in Fall 2025. The schedule for the Fall 2025 Indexed REC RFP is not yet available.

As described in the 2024 Long-Term Plan, the targets for the Fall 2025 Indexed REC RFP will be the remaining unfilled quantities from the prior procurement events held under the 2024 Long-Term Plan. This means that the targets for the Fall 2025 Indexed REC RFP for each Category of Project would be set to any unfilled target quantities from Summer 2025. Thus, if the target for Summer 2025 is met for a Category of Project, there would be no target for that Category of Project in Fall 2025.

The IPA has not received any MES waivers submitted for utility-scale projects. More information on waivers can be found at the Minimum Equity Standard webpage here: https://ipa.illinois.gov/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/minimum-equity-standard.html. In particular, the IPA posted an MES Compliance and Waiver Request Training Presentation applicable to utility-scale solar and wind projects under the header “MES Educational Resources.”

Submitted waivers will become public records that may be subject to disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140). As such, if any information within the waiver or supporting documentation should be protected from disclosure, the requestor of the waiver should indicate what information, if any, is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, and whether the disclosure of that information would cause competitive harm. Any such information contained within the waiver request will be withheld by the Agency in response to requests under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

The Indexed Renewable Energy Credit Agreement (“Indexed REC Contract”) was finalized prior to the enactment of OBBBA on July 4, 2025. In recognition of potential changes regarding the investment tax credit, the Indexed REC Contract contains a provisions within Section 11.3, Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or Clean Electricity Investment Credit Contingency, which are intended to protect Sellers from potential future changes to the availability of investment tax credits or other such clean electricity investment credits used to develop utility-scale solar, wind, hydropower, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects participating in the upcoming procurement.  Relief under Section 11.3 is intended to address bona fide and material changes in ITC eligibility arising from government actions occurring after contract execution.

The OBBBA, enacted July 4, 2025, updated ITC eligibility criteria and includes safe harbor deadlines requiring projects to begin construction by July 4, 2026 or alternatively be placed in service by December 31, 2027 to qualify for the full credit. Enactment of OBBBA predates the Summer 2025 Indexed REC RFP Bid Date and the Indexed REC contract execution date. Therefore, enactment of OBBBA does not constitute “Government Action” triggering Section 11.3 termination provisions.

However, the IPA recognizes that forthcoming federal guidance—such as clarifications on what constitutes “beginning of construction” under the OBBBA—may render the ITC unavailable for projects.  Those actions may be considered Government Action materially affecting ITC eligibility and impacting the opportunity for Sellers to access the ITC consistent with Section 11.3 if Seller reasonably relied on ITC qualification that would have been achieved but for the Government Action, as explained further below.

In the event that Seller seeks to terminate the contract pursuant to Section 11.3 and to recover Performance Assurance, Seller must submit to the IPA a written request to terminate. The request must be substantiated by reasonable documentation demonstrating that:

• Seller’s bid reflected ITC revenues and Seller’s expectation of ITC qualification was reasonable based on the information available at the time of contract execution;
• But for the Government Action, ITC eligibility would likely have been achieved prior to the Date of First Operation; and
• The Government Action was the cause of the Seller’s inability to achieve ITC eligibility.

As provided in Section 11.3, the IPA will exercise reasonable discretion in reviewing such requests.

Sellers bidding into the Summer 2025 Indexed REC procurement are encouraged to carefully evaluate all available federal tax credit and incentive assumptions in light of the enactment of OBBBA and to consider forthcoming federal guidance when developing project timelines and preparing bids for the IPA’s Summer 2025 Indexed REC procurement event.

Each Seller must provide all information necessary for the preparation of the Indexed REC Contract by each of the Companies. A Seller that has named a Guarantor in the Part 1 Proposal is also asked to provide all information necessary for ComEd to prepare the Guaranty. The Indexed REC Contract is prepared by each of the Companies after the Procurement Administrator notifies the Bidder that the Bid on the Project has been approved by the Commission. This information is provided by completing the Contract Insert (#P2-5).

If a Bidder fails to submit the Contract Insert with the Part 2 Proposal and if the Procurement Administrator notifies the Bidder that the Bid on the Project is being identified as a winning Bid to the Commission, the Bidder will be required to provide the Contract Insert (#P2-5) by 12 PM (noon) CPT on the day after the Bidder is notified that the Bid on the Project is identified as a winning Bid to the Commission.

The expected Date of First Operation provided within the Part 1 Proposal is not binding. Under the Indexed REC Contract, the Delivery Term may begin prior to the expected Date of First Operation within the Part 1 Proposal. As stated in the agreement, the Delivery Term starts “on the date that the first REC is issued by PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS for the Project subsequent to the Date of First Operation of the Project as recorded by PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a Hydropower Project that is newly Modernized or Retooled); provided that if such first REC issued for the Project is associated with a Vintage that is earlier than September 2025, then the Delivery Term shall start on the date that the first REC is issued for the Project associated with a Vintage of September 2025, and (ii) ending on the last day of the third month after the conclusion of the Acceptable Vintage Period.”

Projects with winning Bids approved by the Commission will be assessed a one-time Supplier Fee per REC. The exact amount of the Supplier Fee per REC will be announced no later than two (2) business days before the Bid Date. An estimate $1.00 per REC of the Annual Quantity of RECs was provided on slide 18 in the Bidder Information Webcast held on May 28, 2025 and posted to the Final Materials page. Payment of the Supplier Fees to the IPA by the Bidder or Seller will be due within seven (7) business days after Commission approval of the Bids.

The Delivery Year Requirement for Delivery Year 0 shall apply if the Earliest Vintage Month is not June. The Delivery Year Requirement for Delivery Year 0 is not applicable if the Earliest Vintage Month is June. Please note, as set forth in Section 4.1(f) of the Indexed REC Contract,“ …Seller’s failure to Deliver the Delivery Year Requirement through the first two (2) full Delivery Years shall be excused and the failure to meet any Delivery Year Requirement through the first two (2) full Delivery Years shall not constitute a Shortfall Amount. … If in the last Delivery Year, the Delivery Year Requirement is greater than the quantity of RECs to meet the Maximum Contract Quantity, then the Delivery Year Requirement for the last Delivery Year shall be reduced to be the greatest quantity of RECs that would not cause the Maximum Contract Quantity to be exceeded.” This means that there shall be no Shortfall Amounts for Delivery Year 0, Delivery Year 1, and Delivery Year 2; further the Delivery Year Requirement for Delivery Year 0, if applicable, would not be pro-rated, but the Delivery Year Requirement for Delivery Year 20 could be adjusted downward pursuant to Section 4.1(f). Please see Exhibit F and Section 1.32 to the Indexed REC Contract for additional information on the Delivery Year Requirement calculation

The Procurement Administrator expects to provide the Forecast Factor for each Category by Friday, July 18, 2025. As stated in Section I.2.11. of the Indexed REC Rules, “The Forecast Factor by Category will be provided to Bidders no later than one (1) week prior to the Bid Date”, which will be no later than July 25, 2025.

The Illinois Power Agency Act (“IPA Act”) requires that benchmarks are kept confidential. Benchmarks are established by the Procurement Administrator, in consultation with the IPA, the Procurement Monitor, and the ICC Staff. The benchmark is subject to review and approval by the Commission.

Section 1-75(c)(1)(D) of the Act states that, “Renewable energy credits shall be cost effective. For purposes of this subsection (c), “cost effective” means that the costs of procuring renewable energy resources do not cause the limit stated in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (1) to be exceeded and, for renewable energy credits procured through a competitive procurement event, do not exceed benchmarks based on market prices for like products in the region. For purposes of this subsection (c), “like products” means contracts for renewable energy credits from the same or substantially similar technology, same or substantially similar vintage (new or existing), the same or substantially similar quantity, and the same or SB2408 Enrolled LRB102 11366 BMS 16699 b Public Act 102-0662 substantially similar contract length and structure. Benchmarks shall reflect development, financing, or related costs resulting from requirements imposed through other provisions of State law, including, but not limited to, requirements in subparagraphs (P) and (Q) of this paragraph (1) and the Renewable Energy Facilities Agricultural Impact Mitigation Act. Confidential benchmarks shall be developed by the procurement administrator, in consultation with the Commission staff, Agency staff, and the procurement monitor and shall be subject to Commission review and approval. If price benchmarks for like products in the region are not available, the procurement administrator shall establish price benchmarks based on publicly available data on regional technology costs and expected current and future regional energy prices. The benchmarks in this Section shall not be used to curtail or otherwise reduce contractual obligations entered into by or through the Agency prior to June 1, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act 99-906).”

As described in Chapter 5.8 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, a comment process will be held as part of the benchmark development process for each Indexed REC procurement event. The Benchmark Categories of Inputs, Assumptions and Data Sources comment process for the latest procurement event, the 2025 Summer Indexed REC RFP, concluded on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. The invitation to comment and any comments received can be viewed here under the heading “Comment Process on Benchmark Categories of Inputs, Assumptions and Data Sources”.

No additional information is available.

The Bid Assurance Collateral Instructions for each Company were distributed to Bidders on July 7, 2025. Please contact the Procurement Administrator at Illinois-RFP@nera.com to receive this document.

An Example of Delivery Year Requirement Calculation has been posted to the to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, Brownfield, and Hydropower section of the website, and is linked here.

All bid assurance collateral remains in place until the Commission has rendered a decision on the results of the procurement event. If the Bid for a Project is selected by the evaluation procedure and approved by the Commission, bid assurance collateral remains in place until full execution of the Indexed REC Contract and posting of any required Performance Assurance, and until payment of the Supplier Fee is received. The Commission is expected to render its decision on the results of the procurement event on Thursday, August 7, 2025.

If the Bid for a Project is not selected by the evaluation procedure, the bid assurance collateral for that Project will be returned as stated in Section VI.2.19 of the RFP Rules, “A Pre-Bid Letter of Credit will expire on the date stated as part of its terms, twenty-one (21) business days after the anticipated date of the Commission decision on the procurement event and cash provided as bid assurance collateral will be returned in the same general timeframe”. The return of cash tendered as bid assurance to a Company is not initiated until the Company receives an executed request in a form acceptable to the Company and, for AIC, until an account in AIC’s vendor portal used for the return of cash is set-up, for MEC, until a Vendor Request Form is received that MEC finds to be duly completed. Please note that for a Bidder who is not yet set up on AIC’s portal used for the return of cash, account set up may take six (6) business days after the ICC’s decision on the procurement results.

Please note, that Cash posted as bid assurance collateral under the RFP may be used to meet the performance assurance requirement under the contract without needing to post additional cash separately. A Bidder must indicate whether it elects for cash to be retained by the applicable Company in the Contract Insert, also labelled INSERT #P2-5, as further described in Paragraph V.4.2.

Please see paragraph V.2.2. of the Indexed REC RFP Rules for the conditions under which a draw on cash posted as bid assurance collateral may be made.

Bid assurance collateral must be received by 12 PM (noon) CPT on July 23, 2025 (the Part 2 Date) along with all other information and documents required by the Part 2 Proposal except for a Bidder’s Bids.

First, if you bid and win in the RFP, the RECs from your winning Project will be allocated by the Procurement Administrator to the Companies in pre-specified proportions (27.09% to AIC, 72.67% to ComEd, and 0.24% to MEC). As such, it is contemplated that you will sign three contracts, one with each of AIC, ComEd and MEC.

Second, the annual quantity that you bid and win in the RFP will be the “RFP Awarded Annual Quantity” in each of the Indexed REC Contract. The Annual Quantity in a contract will reflect the portion of the RFP Awarded Annual Quantity allocated to such contract. The Maximum Contract Quantity will be equal to the Annual Quantity indicated in such contract multiplied by 20.”

A Seller with a Project with an approved Bid must meet the creditworthiness requirements under the Indexed REC Contract within fifteen (15) business days of the Illinois Commerce Commission decision on the results of the procurement event. The Performance Assurance must be posted no later than August 28, 2025. It is Seller’s responsibility to ensure Seller’s Performance Assurance is maintained pursuant to Article 7 of the Indexed REC Contract. Pursuant to Section 7.1(c) of the Indexed REC Contract, at the conclusion of the Delivery Term of the Indexed REC Contract upon completion of the final delivery obligations and payment obligations under the Indexed REC Contract, Seller may request for the return of Seller’s Performance Assurance.

For a brownfield site photovoltaic project, the project must be entirely contained within the brownfield site. The map of the Project and the boundary line must clearly show the site location and that the Project is entirely contained within the brownfield site. The map must include a boundary line around the entire Project site and not just the parcels of land that have been secured at this time or the location of the panels. There is no requirement to provide the location of the panels or other equipment on the map.

Please be aware that, as stated in Section IV.5.2. of the RFP Rules, “If the Project is selected by the evaluation in this RFP and the Bid is approved by the Commission, the map of the Project site provided by the Bidder in its Proposal will become part of the Indexed REC Contract. With each REC delivery, the Seller will be required to represent that the Project is entirely located within the physical location, identified by the boundary line, provided in the Proposal. The boundary line may contain additional land than the parcels of land that have been secured at the time of the Proposal.”

The Bid Assurance Collateral Instructions for each Company will be distributed to Bidders shortly after the Part 1 Date, which is June 30, 2025. The instructions will include both information on how to submit cash as bid assurance collateral to the Companies as well as how to transmit the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to the Companies, including the physical address for each of the companies.

Under the Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder must provide the “Date of First Operation” for the Project, as defined by the Operating Manuals of PJM EIS GATS or M-RETS, or the expected Date of First Operation. This date is not binding.
The actual Date of First Operation may be different from the expected Date of First Operation provided within the Part 1 Proposal.
However, please note, each Project selected through this RFP with a Bid approved by the Commission must deliver at least one REC to each Company by May 31, 2030. Notwithstanding the foregoing, such deadline may be extended to May 31, 2032 if Seller meets an increased collateral requirement; and may be further extended as described in the Indexed REC Contract.

The Utility-Scale Wind/Hydropower Target is for RECs delivered annually from either new utility-scale wind projects or hydropower projects only. Any remaining unfilled Utility-Scale Wind/Hydropower Target quantity from Summer 2025 would be used to procure RECs from new utility-scale wind projects or hydropower projects in the subsequent procurement event planned for Fall 2025.
The targets and the allocation between the technologies stems from requirements under Section 1-75(c)(1)(C) of the Illinois Power Agency Act as described in Chapter 5 of the IPA’s 2024 Long-Term Plan.

Please see paragraph V.5.5. of the RFP Rules which states, “Only one Bid may be submitted for a Project.”

Bid assurance collateral, which is due with the Part 2 Proposal, must be submitted in the form of cash or a letter of credit. Surety bonds are not an accepted form of bid assurance collateral.

Whether providing bid assurance collateral in the form cash or a letter of credit for a Company, the Bidder must follow all instructions provided by the Procurement Administrator for transmission of bid assurance collateral to each Company. Such instructions are provided after submission by the Bidder of a Part 1 Proposal and by the date of the Part 1 Notification. Such instructions specify that the Bidder must provide cash by wire transfer and that the original executed Pre-Bid Letters of Credit must be in the form of Appendices 5, 6 and 7 to the RFP Rules if submitting the letter of credit via electronic means or in the form of Appendices 8, 9 and 10 to the RFP Rules if submitting the letter of credit via overnight delivery service. The letter of credit may include only modifications to the Standard Pre-Bid Letter of Credit acceptable to that Company, applicable specifically to either the Electronic Version or Hardcopy Version, and posted to the procurement website.

Each of the Electronic Versions and Hardcopy Versions of the Pre-Bid Letters of Credit have been posted in separate zip files along with the corresponding lists of modifications acceptable to each Company. A Bidder may provide comments on or propose modifications to each Pre-Bid Letter of Credit drawn for the benefit of a Company with the Part 1 Proposal. Any one of a Bidder’s comments or proposed modifications to a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit may result in an addition to the list of modifications to the Pre-Bid Letter of Credit approved by the Company for use by all Bidders on an optional basis. The Bidder provides comments and proposes modifications exclusively by submitting a redline of a Pre-Bid Letter of Credit in Microsoft Word format. This document is provided by email or by upload to the application website.

The Supplier Fee is non-refundable. For additional information on the supplier fee please refer to FAQ-Indexed REC-45.

The Procurement Administrator posted the final Indexed REC Contract and final RFP Documents, including the Illustrative Part 1 Form, to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, Brownfield, and Hydropower section of the website.

The Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) develops procurement plans and conducts competitive procurement processes in accordance with the requirements of Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act. The IPA issued their final Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2024 Long-Term Plan”) on April 19, 2024. Chapter 5 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan covers the IPA’s competitive procurement activities relevant to Ameren Illinois Company (“Ameren Illinois”), Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”), and MidAmerican Energy Company (“MidAmerican”) for 2024 and 2025.

Please see Section 5.6 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, Table 5-5 in particular, for the proposed schedule for competitive procurements. The next Indexed REC RFP for new utility-scale wind, new utility-scale solar, new brownfield site photovoltaic, and certain hydropower projects is expected to be held in Fall 2025.

Yes, that is possible. If in a subsequent procurement event the Bidder proposes the same Project and submits a bid for the remainder (or another portion) of the RECs, and the Project is selected and approved by the Commission, the Seller will sign a separate Indexed REC Contract that was posted for purposes of that subsequent event for those RECs. Thus, the two Indexed REC Contracts for the Project may have different terms.

In order to bid a remainder (or another portion) of the RECs from the Project, the Bidder is required to confirm that the Project will have a separate revenue quality meter (separate from the revenue quality meter associated with the portion of RECs for which the Project is already under contract) and will have its own account within PJM EIS GATS or M-RETS for purposes of tracking the RECs. Please also note that the MWh hourly generation that must be provided under Section 6.1 of the Indexed REC Contract, for which the REC Monthly Price Hourly Component is calculated for the RECs, must be from the Project as measured by the Project’s separate revenue quality meter and not from any other electric source.

The Bid Assurance Collateral amount is calculated based on the MW size of the Project in AC rating. Please see FAQ-Indexed REC-30 for additional information on the required amount of Bid Assurance Collateral.

The Seller may request a one-time adjustment to the REC Delivery Obligation, as described in Section 2.6 of the Indexed REC Contract, if such request is made before the start of the Project’s construction. This adjustment can be requested if there is a reduction of at least 5% to the anticipated nameplate capacity or generation output. Approval of such request may be granted by the IPA on a case-by-case basis upon a demonstration of good cause by Seller to the satisfaction of the IPA in its sole discretion. Any adjustment will only reduce the Seller’s REC delivery obligation and cannot increase the Annual Quantity or Maximum Contract Quantity.

The Procurement Administrator posted the presentation materials and the audio recording from the bidder information webcast held on May 28, 2025 to the Final Materials page of the Indexed Wind, Solar, Brownfield, and Hydropower section of the website.

This is not a possibility under the Indexed REC Contract. During the RFP, the Bidder may elect in the bid form for a one-time adjustment to the Strike Price in the Bid that will occur during the term of the Indexed REC Contract in accordance with Section 2.7 and Exhibit G (Strike Price Adjustment Mechanism) of the Indexed REC Contract.

Additionally, under the Indexed REC Contract, Seller may request for the Indexed REC Contract for the Project to be terminated and for its Performance Assurance to be returned if due to a Government Action the federal investment tax credit or clean electricity investment credit applicable to the Project, as available under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (or any successor provision), is eliminated, materially reduced, or otherwise rendered unavailable for the Project prior to Date of First Operation (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled).

Yes, a Bidder with a brownfield site photovoltaic project co-located with another facility on a greenfield site may submit separate Proposals, one for partial capacity of the Project under the utility-scale solar category and another one for partial capacity of the same Project under the brownfield site photovoltaic category. Under the RFP, these partial capacities would be considered separate Projects. Please note that, the Bidder must (i) disclose this fact during the Part 1 Proposal, (ii) the separate projects must be separately metered with a dedicated, single revenue quality meter and need to have separate PJM EIS GATS or M-RETS accounts, and (iii) the Brownfield project must be entirely contained within the brownfield site.

No, all RECs delivered to the Buyer must be from the Project selected under the RFP. As stated in Section 4.1(a) of the Indexed REC Contract, “All RECs Delivered to Buyer from Seller under this Agreement shall be associated with electric energy generated by the Project.”

Yes, if the Bidder elects within the Bid Form to opt into the one-time Strike Price Adjustment Mechanism under the Indexed REC Contract, the Strike Price will be adjusted during the Bid evaluation. As detailed in Section I.2.11 of the RFP Rules, the first step of the bid evaluation proceeds as follows: “the strike price for an Opt-in Bid is multiplied by a “Forecast Factor” specific to the Category of project. The Forecast Factor is the expected percent change in the strike price of an Opt-in Bid if the strike price adjustment described in Exhibit G to the Indexed REC Contract were to be made 30 months from the Commission Bid Approval Date. The Forecast Factor for a Category is calculated as the weighted average of forecasts for each Index in Exhibit G to the Indexed REC Contract using weightings from the Strike Price Adjustment Mechanism formula for that Category. The Forecast Factor by Category will be provided to Bidders no later than one (1) week prior to the Bid Date.”

The Utility-Scale Solar Target of 666,666 RECs delivered annually from new utility-scale solar projects published in the RFP Rules on May 28, 2025 is final, and will not be updated again.

Pursuant to Section 4.1(i) of the Indexed REC Contract, if the Delivery Year Requirement is already met, then any RECs generated by the Project in excess of the Delivery Year Requirement for any Delivery Year are deemed Excess RECs. Such Excess RECs are not eligible for payment by Buyer except as provided in Section 2.3(f)(ii).

At the conclusion of the Delivery Term of the Indexed REC Contract and upon completion of the final delivery obligations and payment obligations under the Indexed REC Contract, the Seller may sell all the RECs from the Project to a third-party at Seller’s sole discretion.

Pursuant to Section 6.1 of the contract, “Seller shall, on a monthly basis, provide to Buyer and the IPA: … (ii) hourly real time locational marginal prices at the applicable hub indicated in the Product Order (either PJM-NIHUB or MISO-IL) for each calendar month of the Acceptable Vintage Period within five (5) Business Days after the conclusion of such Vintage month.” For this purpose, Seller may provide hourly real time locational marginal prices that is publicly available from MISO for the MISO-IL Hub or from PJM for the PJM-NIHUB.

The Index Hub, namely either MISO-IL Hub or PJM-NIHUB, which will be used for purposes of calculating the Index Price, is selected by the bidder in the bid form. A bidder may select either MISO-IL Hub or PJM-NIHUB, no matter the location of the Project. The Procurement Administrator cannot provide any guidance on how to select the Index Hub.

No, there is no limit on the maximum or minimum value of the REC Monthly Price.

Section 4.1(d) of the Indexed REC Contract states that “In such a case, Buyer shall be entitled to payment by Seller in the amount of the Collateral Requirement or Increased Collateral Requirement, as applicable.” If Seller wishes to terminate the Indexed REC Contract pursuant to Section 4.1(d), it shall provide a written notice to Buyer and remit a new payment in the amount of the Collateral Requirement or Increased Collateral Requirement, as applicable. Once the Indexed REC Contract is terminated pursuant to Section 4.1(d), any Performance Assurance will be returned.

For avoidance of doubt, a termination pursuant to Section 4.1(d) is not an Event of Default and therefore is not a condition for drawing on the Letter of Credit. If Seller has posted cash for Performance Assurance, then Seller may request for such cash to be drawn by Buyer as payment pursuant to Section 4.1(d).

Seller shall Deliver RECs to Buyer to satisfy the Delivery Year Requirement in each Delivery Year (June – May).  Delivery Year Requirement is defined in Section 1.32 of the Indexed REC Contract. RECs generated by the Project in excess of the Delivery Year Requirement for any Delivery Year are deemed Excess RECs; the amount of RECs that Seller fails to Deliver to satisfy the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year is deemed the Shortfall Amount. It is an event of default if (i) Seller fails to meet the Delivery Year Requirement for five (5) or more years, and (ii) the Shortfall Amounts (as the term is defined in the Indexed REC Contract) cumulatively equals or exceeds 3.5 times the Annual Quantity.

Excess RECs:

• If the Delivery Year Requirement is already met, then any RECs generated by the Project in excess of the Delivery Year Requirement for any Delivery Year are deemed Excess RECs. Such Excess RECs shall remain the exclusive property of Seller, to be utilized in Seller’s sole discretion. For avoidance of doubt, such Excess RECs are not eligible for payment by Buyer except as provided in Section 2.3(f)(ii). In the event that the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year has been met and Excess RECs are Delivered to Buyer such Excess RECs shall be disposed pursuant to Section 2.3(f).
• Excess RECs may be used for purposes of reducing Shortfall Amounts. Please review Section 4.1(k) of the Indexed REC Contract for more information.

Shortfall Amounts:

• In the event that Seller fails to Deliver the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year, the amount of RECs that Seller fails to Deliver to satisfy the Delivery Year Requirement for a Delivery Year shall be deemed the “Shortfall Amount”. Please review Section 4.1(f) of the Indexed REC Contract for more information.
• Regarding flexibilities related to Shortfall Amounts, please see FAQ-Indexed-REC-48

There are several flexibilities related to delivery under the Indexed REC Contract; however, including, but not limited to:

• The Annual Quantity in the Indexed REC Contract related to a utility-scale solar project or a brownfield site photovoltaic project is subject to a degradation factor that is calculated using the Degradation Rate designated by the Bidder within the Part 2 Proposal. The Delivery Year Requirement calculation is set forth in Section 1.31 and 1.32 of the Indexed REC Contract.
• Seller must deliver a quantity of RECs that meets the Delivery Year Requirement in each deliver year, the failure to meet any Delivery Year Requirement through the first two (2) full Delivery Years (i.e., first two (2) full June through May periods as well as any prior stub period) shall not constitute a Shortfall Amount.
• As described in Section 9.2 it is an event of default under the Indexed REC Contract if: (i) Seller fails to meet the Delivery Year Requirement for five (5) or more years, and (ii) the Shortfall Amounts (as the term is defined in the Indexed REC Contract) cumulatively equals or exceeds 3.5 times the annual quantity.
• Section 9.2(k) outlines the process for a Seller to request a waiver excusing Shortfall Amounts or a portion of such Shortfall Amounts from the IPA. Approval of waivers to Shortfall Amounts may be granted by the IPA on a case-by-case basis upon a demonstration of good cause by Seller to the satisfaction of the IPA at its sole discretion. Good cause may include long-term changes in weather patterns, serial defects in the Project’s components, and other events outside of the control of Seller that impact the Project’s ability to meet its Delivery Year Requirement. The approval of any such requests shall be at the IPA’s sole discretion.
• There is flexibility on Project size changes after contract award subject to the term of the Indexed REC Contract.
• There is an option for Seller to indicate a percent of the project’s output it elects to commit to the Buyer under the applicable Indexed REC contract so as to allow for a third party off-taker to procure a portion of the project’s output that is not committed to the Buyer under the applicable the Indexed REC contract. Please review Section 2.3(b) of the Indexed REC Contract for information regarding the Project Committed Percentage and the Standing Order.
• A process for Seller to make manual transfer of RECs to the Buyer(s) for the purpose of reducing Shortfall Amounts incurred in one or more Delivery Years, which may include RECs that were generated in excess of prior Delivery Year Requirements and RECs that were not previously committed to the Buyer(s). Please review Section 4.1(k) of the Indexed REC Contract for information regarding the manual transfer of RECs for purposes of reducing Shortfall Amounts.

A Seller that does not opt to commit to an Equity Level (%) greater than the MES of 14% should not submit the P1 Equity Level Insert (#P1-5) with the Part 1 Proposal.

The map must include a boundary line around the entire Project site and not just the parcels of land that have been secured at this time or the location of the panels. There is no requirement to provide the location of the panels or other equipment on the map. Please be aware that, as stated in Section IV.4.4. of the RFP Rules, “If the Project is selected by the evaluation in this RFP and approved by the Commission, the map of the Project site provided by the Bidder in its Proposal will become part of the Indexed REC Contract.  With each REC delivery, the Seller will be required to represent that at least 50% of the Project is located within the physical location, identified by the boundary line, provided in the Proposal.  The boundary line may contain additional land than the parcels of land that have been secured at the time of the Proposal.”

As stated in section I.3.11 of the Indexed REC RFP Rules “Projects with winning Bids approved by the Commission will be assessed a Supplier Fee per REC that reflects the cost of conducting the procurement event less the total of the Bid Participation Fees. The exact amount of the Supplier Fee per REC will be announced no later than two (2) business days before the Bid Date. Payment of the Supplier Fees to the IPA by the Bidder or Seller will be due within seven (7) business days after Commission approval of the Bids.”

The Supplier Fee is a one-time payment and is not a recurring payment each delivery year for the term of the Indexed REC Contract. If a Project is selected through the Indexed REC RFP and is approved by the ICC, and if the annual quantity won for the Project is 1,000 RECs and the exact amount of the Supplier Fee per REC announced is $1, then the Supplier Fees due to the IPA within seven (7) business days would be $1,000.

Please note, in the Part 1 Proposal, the Officer of the Seller is required to make a representation that the Project has reached the appropriate development milestones to fully expect that the Project will deliver its first REC to each Company by a date consistent with terms of the Indexed REC Contract. In the Part 1 Proposal, an RFP Bidder will also be required to provide documentation to demonstrate adequate project maturity. The RFP Bidder must provide, if available for the Project, one of the following:

• the Queue/OASIS ID from PJM and a copy of the completed System Impact Study from PJM for the Project; or
• the Project Number from MISO and a copy of the Preliminary System Impact Study under Definitive Planning Phase 1 (“DPP 1”) under the DPP-2020-Cycle 1 or a later study cycle; or
• the Project Number from MISO and a copy of the fully executed interconnection agreement for the Project; or
• a fully executed interconnection agreement with a utility for the Project.

If none of the information bulleted above is available for the Project, or if the Bidder cannot provide a document that shows that the Project is further in the interconnection process, then the Bidder must: (i) if available, provide the Queue/OASIS ID from PJM, the Project Number from MISO, or the applicable ID/Number associated with the Project under the interconnection process with a utility; (ii) describe the stage of development of the Project applicable to the point of interconnection (including providing the name of the regional transmission organization or utility with which the Project plans to interconnect; e.g., PJM, Ameren, etc.) and to the size of the Project; and (iii) demonstrate control for a portion of the Project site as described in Paragraph IV.7.3.

According to Paragraph IV.7.3 of the RFP Rules, a “A Bidder that demonstrates site control to meet the requirements of Paragraph IV.7.1, must do so for a portion of the Project site that covers an area of at least 40 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale wind project, an area of at least 4 acres times the Project size for a utility-scale solar project, or an area of at least 3 acres times the Project size for a brownfield site photovoltaic project.  For example, if the Project size for a utility-scale wind project is 10 MW, then the Bidder must demonstrate control for 400 acres included in the Project site.”

The Indexed REC RFP is to only procure renewable energy credits from a project that is qualified and selected under the RFP. The Indexed REC Contract does not include delivery or payment for energy, capacity, or any other product related to the Project. Each Bidder is responsible for the sale of other products related to the Project including energy and capacity.

If the Project is located in a state adjacent to Illinois and has been pre-approved by the Illinois Power Agency (“IPA”) to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance based on public interest criteria, the Bidder must provide evidence of this determination with the Part 1 Proposal by upload to the online form or by email to Illinois-RFP@nera.com. The Part 1 Proposal, including this evidence and all other required supporting documentation, is due by 12PM (noon) CPT on Monday, June 30^th.

Please submit the evaluation spreadsheet to the IPA by email to ipa.contactus@illinois.gov as soon as practicable. The IPA may take up to two (2) business days to review. The evaluation spreadsheet is available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Adjacent State Facility Eligibility” here, and is dated February 23, 2024.

Under the Indexed REC Contract if the Project is proposed to be located within an Energy Transition Community Grant Area under the RFP, at least 50% of the Project must be located within such Energy Transition Community Grant Area(s) associated with the plant(s) or mines(s) as identified in the RFP and reflected in the Site Description in the Product Order. The Energy Transition Community Grant Area(s) associated with the plant(s) and/or mine(s) identified by you in the Part 1 Proposal and reflected in the Site Description in the Product Order are not subject to change throughout the term of the Indexed REC Contract, regardless of any updates that may be made to the list of ETCG areas in the future.

The annual quantity in the Indexed REC Contract related to a utility-scale solar project or a brownfield site photovoltaic project is subject to a degradation factor that is calculated using the Degradation Rate designated by the Bidder within the Part 2 Proposal. Please note that the Delivery Year Degradation Factor is different from the Degradation Rate as these terms are defined in the Indexed REC Contract.

For utility-scale solar and brownfield site photovoltaic Projects, the Bidder must provide a Degradation Rate up to 1% for the Project, rounded to two decimals, within the Part 2 Proposal.

The Delivery Year Degradation Factor for a utility-scale solar or brownfield site photovoltaic project, means 1 for Delivery Year 0 and Delivery Year 1, and means the result obtained from subtracting the Degradation Rate from the prior year’s Delivery Year Degradation Factor for all subsequent Delivery Years; where Delivery Year 1 is first full Delivery Year within the Acceptable Vintage Period.

Exhibit F-1 of the Indexed REC Contract provides an illustrative example of the Delivery Year Requirement calculation for a utility-scale solar or brownfield site photovoltaic Project using a Degradation Rate of 0.5%.

There is no degradation factor that is applicable to utility scale wind projects and hydropower projects.

Yes, this is possible. Cash posted as performance assurance may be replaced with a letter of credit under the Indexed REC Contract. The request for cash to be returned may be made to each company following the posting of an acceptable Letter of Credit to each of the companies. It is Seller’s responsibility to ensure Seller’s Performance Assurance is maintained pursuant to Article 7 of the Indexed REC Contract.

Under the Indexed REC RFP Rules there is no requirement for where a Project must be interconnected or deliver its energy. The Project must either be in Illinois or in a state adjacent to Illinois. However, please note that a Project that is located in a state adjacent to Illinois must meet the public interest criteria specified in Section 1-75(c)(1)(I) of the IPA Act by submitting data about the Project to the IPA and obtaining pre-approval from the IPA that the Project is eligible for Illinois RPS compliance.

Yes, the Bidder may request to confirm the amount of Bid Assurance Collateral required to be posted with each Company by email to the Procurement Administrator.

A Bidder will have the opportunity to update the Degradation Rate for purposes of the Product Order of the Indexed REC Contract after the submission of the online Part 2 Form. Any update must be provided no later than 12 PM (noon) on the day after the Procurement Administrator notifies a Bidder that the Bidder has Bids that the Procurement Administrator identifies as winning Bids. Please see paragraph VI.2.14 of the RFP Rules, which states “By 6 PM on the Bid Date, the Procurement Administrator will contact the Representatives of each Bidder with Bids identified by the Procurement Administrator as winning Bids to the Commission to ensure that the contact information of such Representatives remains correct and up-to-date. If the Procurement Administrator notifies a Bidder that the Bidder has Bids that the Procurement Administrator identifies as winning Bids, and if the Bidder did not fully complete the Contract Inserts, the Bidder will be required to provide all information required by the applicable Contract Inserts promptly after such notification occurs and no later than 12 PM (noon) on the day after such notification is received by the Bidder. The Bidder may also update the Degradation Rate for purposes of the Product Order of the Indexed REC Contract, if needed, by this time. The Companies prepare the Indexed REC Contract documents.”

As defined in the IPA Act, “Strike price” means a contract price for energy and renewable energy credits from a project. The strike price ($/MWh) in the Bid and the Index Price ($/MWh) that corresponds to the Index Hub selected in the bid form will be used for purposes of calculating the REC Monthly Price, defined in the Indexed REC Contract (e.g. if MISO-IL Hub is selected in the bid form as the Index Hub for the Project, then the Index Price for purposes of calculating the REC Monthly Price will be the hourly Real-Time LMP for the MISO-IL Hub).

The REC Monthly Price applicable to the Project with respect to a Vintage month shall be calculated as follows. The REC Monthly Price Hourly Component is the product of (a) the result obtained by subtracting the Strike Price from the Index Price of such hour and (b) the MWh actual generation of the Project for such hour. The REC Monthly Price for a Vintage month shall be calculated by dividing (a) the sum of all REC Monthly Price Hourly Components in such Vintage month by (b) the MWh actual generation of the Project for such Vintage month, and rounding to the nearest cent. The REC Monthly Price may be either positive or negative. Payment is made from Seller to Buyer if the REC Monthly Price is positive and payment is made from Buyer to Seller if the REC Monthly Price is negative.

Please review the Indexed REC Contract for additional information: https://nera-content-media.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ipa/FINAL_Indexed_Renewable_Energy_Credit_Agreement_28_MAY_2025_e0593ae7dc.pdf

There is no requirement to utilize Equity Eligible Contractors (EECs) to meet the Minimum Equity Standard. As defined in the Indexed REC Contract, “Minimum Equity Standard” means specific requirements provided in Section 1-75(c-10) of the IPA Act, for which a minimum percentage of the Project Workforce must consist of Equity Eligible Persons or Equity Eligible Contractors”.

A Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) of 14% will apply under the Indexed REC Contract to a Project selected through this RFP if the Date of First Operation is on or after December 15, 2022, or for a Modernized or Retooled Hydropower Project, if the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date, as defined in the Indexed REC Contract, is on or after December 15, 2022. At least 14% of the Project Workforce in each applicable delivery year shall be Equity Eligible Persons or Equity Eligible Contractors, as these terms are defined in the Indexed REC Contract. The MES applies for each delivery year in which Construction Activities are carried out through the Date of First Operation, or if the Project is a Modernized or Retooled Hydropower Project, through the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date.

For Contracts executed under this Summer 2025 Indexed REC RFP, the minimum percentage indicated in the Product Order for the Minimum Equity Standard shall not change during the Term of the Indexed REC Contract.

Please review paragraph IV.3.1 of the RFP Rules and Section 6.4 of the Indexed REC Contract for additional information.

A Bidder may submit a Part 1 Proposal for a Project, and later decide to not submit a Part 2 Proposal for that Project. The Bid Participation Fee of $500 will not be refunded.

If a Bidder submits Proposals for multiple Projects, but ultimately decides not to present a Part 2 Proposal for all of the Projects that qualified through a successful Part 1 Proposal, such Bidder should notify the Procurement Administrator by email at Illinois-RFP@nera.com, with the list of Projects for which the Bidder will not be submitting a Part 2 Proposal as early as practicable and no later than the Part 2 Date. The Procurement Administrator will refer to this list of Projects submitted by the Bidder in conjunction with the Part 2 Proposals submitted in order to determine if the Bidder has provided sufficient bid assurance collateral to all Companies.

For the Bidder to be able to submit Bids on its Project(s), the Bidder must have submitted bid assurance collateral to all Companies in an amount that is sufficient given the Project size for each of the Bidder’s Projects. If the Bidder fails to provide bid assurance collateral to one or more of the Companies or if the Bidder provides bid assurance collateral to all Companies but the amount of the bid assurance collateral for one or more of the Companies is insufficient given the Project size across all of the Bidder’s Projects, the Part 2 Proposals for all of the Bidder’s Projects will be considered deficient.

If you bid and win in the RFP, the RECs from your winning Project will be allocated by the Procurement Administrator to the Companies in pre-specified proportions (27.09% to AIC, 72.67% to ComEd, and 0.24% to MEC). As such, it is contemplated that you will sign three contracts, one with each of AIC, ComEd, and MEC. Each Indexed REC Contract is administered separately and independently by each of Companies, as such the Performance Assurance is determined for each of AIC, ComEd, and MEC independently.

The amount of the Performance Assurance is defined in Section 7.1 of the Indexed REC Contract. “The amount of such Seller’s Performance Assurance shall be equal to the positive difference, if any, between: (a) the Collateral Requirement (or Increased Collateral Requirement, if applicable); and (b) the Collateral Threshold, as estimated by Buyer (“Performance Assurance Amount”).”

For an entity that is not eligible for unsecured credit under the Indexed REC Contract, Collateral Requirement means, (a) with respect to a Utility-Scale Wind Project or a Hydropower Project, an amount equal to four dollars ($4) times the Annual Quantity and which shall be reduced for the last Delivery Year, if applicable, to reflect an amount equal to the product of the Delivery Year Requirement for the last Delivery Year and four dollars ($4); provided that if the Collateral Requirement is calculated to be less than $20,000, then the Collateral Requirement shall be $20,000; and means, (b) with respect to a Utility-Scale Solar Project or a Brownfield Site Photovoltaic Project, an amount equal to ten dollars ($10) times the Annual Quantity and which shall be reduced for the last Delivery Year, if applicable, to reflect an amount equal to the product of the Delivery Year Requirement for the last Delivery Year and ten dollars ($10); provided that if the Collateral Requirement is calculated to be less than $20,000, then the Collateral Requirement shall be $20,000.

A Seller with a Project with an approved Bid must meet the creditworthiness requirements under the Indexed REC Contract within fifteen (15) business days of the Illinois Commerce Commission decision on the results of the procurement event.

The amount of bid assurance collateral required for a Project is determined separately for each Company as detailed below. As described in Paragraphs V.2.3 and V.2.5, a Bidder that submits Proposals for multiple Projects may post bid assurance collateral by effecting a single wire transfer to each Company or a single Pre-Bid Letter of Credit to each Company for all Projects. In this case, to determine the amount of bid assurance collateral across all Projects, for each Company the amount of bid assurance collateral for each Project should be calculated as described below and then the amounts, each already rounded up to the nearest $100, should be summed across all Projects.

• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for AIC is $1,600/MW for a Wind Project and Hydropower Project and $5,500/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for ComEd is $4,000/MW for a Wind Project and Hydropower Project and $13,000/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project.
• The amount of bid assurance collateral required for MEC is $400/MW for a Wind Project and Hydropower Project and $1,000/MW for a Solar Project and Brownfield Project.

For the Bidder to be able to submit Bids on its Project(s), the Bidder must have submitted bid assurance collateral to all Companies in an amount that is sufficient given the Project size for each of the Bidder’s Projects. There is no cap on the amount of bid assurance collateral tendered to each utility.

A Bidder must select an “Index Hub”, either MISO-IL Hub or PJM-NIHUB, for each Project for which a Bid is submitted in the bid form. The Index Hub is not used in the evaluation of bids. The Index Hub is used for purposes of payment under the Indexed REC Contract.

No. According to the RFP Rule Section V.5.6, a Bidder shall choose an “Indexed Hub”, either of PJM-NIHUB or MISO-IL, and this selection is independent and regardless of whether the project is or will be interconnected with MISO or PJM.

An MES Report should be submitted by all Sellers for all Projects for which the Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) applies, as indicated in the Product Order, regardless of whether Construction Activities have been performed in the applicable delivery year.

As described in Section 6.4 of the Indexed REC Contract, after the conclusion of a delivery year regardless of whether Construction Activities have been performed, and no later than July 15 immediately succeeding such delivery year, Seller shall submit to the IPA an MES Report. If the Date of First Operation of the Project as recorded by PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a Hydropower Project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) occurred prior to the date that is thirty (30) days of the Commission Bid Approval Date, then the MES Report shall be submitted as soon as practicable on or around the date that is thirty (30) days after the Commission Bid Approval Date. The MES Report shall include data on actual performance compared to the information previously submitted as well as any major differences from the previously submitted MES Compliance Plan for such delivery year. These differences could include information such as new and innovative ways to provide employment opportunities to low-income participants and residents within the Environmental Justice Communities.

Under the Part 1 Proposal, the Seller must certify that the project has been installed or will be installed by a “qualified person[s] in compliance with the requirements of Section 16-128A of the Public Utilities Act and any rules or regulations adopted thereunder.” (Citing 20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c)(7)).

As stated in Section 2.5.2.4 of the IPA’s 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan, “The Illinois Commerce Commission has adopted administrative rules for the certification of utility-scale [solar] and distributed generation installers under Section 16-128A of the PUA. The Commission has specifically defined the terms “qualified person” and “install” for both categories of projects. Any entity seeking to develop new photovoltaic projects in Illinois should be aware of the Commission’s Part 461 rules (governing installers of utility-scale photovoltaics), Part 468 rules (governing distributed generation installers) and the certification process more generally.” The Illinois Commerce Commission has regulatory authority over solar installers in Illinois; questions related to the interpretation of the Commission’s administrative rules are best directed to the Commission.

For utility-scale solar projects, the definitions of “install” and “qualified person” for project installations, and details for utility-scale solar installer certification under Section 16-128A of the PUA (220 ILCS 5/16-128A) and 83 Ill. Adm. Code 461 (“Part 461”) are accessible here.

For distributed generation facilities, the definitions of “install” and “qualified person” for project installations, and details for distributed generation facilities installer certification under Section 16-128A of the PUA and 83 Ill. Adm. Code 468 (“Part 468”) are accessible here.

Under the Indexed REC RFP, a brownfield site photovoltaic project that is co-located with another facility on a greenfield site must disclose this fact in Section 3 of the online Part 1 Form. Additionally, as part of the Part 1 Proposal, the Bidder will be required to confirm that the Project being proposed under the Indexed REC RFP has or will have a separate revenue quality meter from the co-located project, is entirely contained within the brownfield site, and will have its own account within PJM EIS GATS or M-RETS. A Bidder can make these additional confirmations in Section 11 of the online Part 1 Form or by email to the Procurement Administrator. The Project must meet all other Proposal requirements in Sections IV and V of the RFP Rules as well and the Procurement Administrator may require additional information during the evaluation of the Proposal once it has been submitted.

For the avoidance of doubt, the MWh hourly generation that must be provided under Section 6.1 of the Indexed REC Contract for which the REC Monthly Price Hourly Component is calculated must be from the Project as measured by the Project’s Revenue Quality Meter and not from any other electric source.

Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”) are the sole product being procured in the Indexed REC RFP.  Upon the effective date of Public Act 102-0662, as described in Section 1-75(c)(1)(G)(v), “for all competitive procurements and any procurements of renewable energy credit from new utility-scale wind and new utility-scale photovoltaic projects, the Agency shall procure indexed renewable energy credits and direct respondents to offer a strike price.”

The 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2024 Long-Term Plan”), issued on April 19, 2024 in accordance with the Illinois Commerce Commission order, discusses the indexed REC model enacted through Public Act 102-0662. In particular in Section 5.4.4, the IPA states that “from a bidder’s standpoint, this Indexed REC approach offers clear advantages. Given the limited market for energy-alone off-take agreements in Illinois and the inability for the IPA to offer bundled Power Purchase Agreements, an Indexed REC price structure offers bidders the revenue certainty of a bundled contract without exposing default supply rates to potentially uneconomic hedges. From the standpoint of developing the most possible renewable energy at the lowest possible cost, this approach offers advantages back to the state of Illinois as well; if bidders receive full revenue certainty at the Strike Price amount, then risk premiums built into bids should be reduced relative to a fixed-price REC delivery contract, allowing for the development of more renewable energy generation at a lower RPS budget impact”

For more information, please refer to the 2024 Long-Term Plan, available on the IPA’s website here and the Final Materials for the Indexed REC RFP here.

In order for a Project located in a state adjacent to Illinois (Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan) to be pre-approved to be eligible for Illinois RPS compliance, the bidder must submit an evaluation spreadsheet to the Illinois Power Agency by email to ipa.contactus@illinois.gov. The evaluation spreadsheet is available on the IPA’s website, under the header “Adjacent State Facility Eligibility” here, and is dated February 23, 2024. Please complete the fields in yellow. Once the required fields in yellow have been inputted, the spreadsheet generates a preliminary score subject to review by the IPA. The minimum score needed to qualify is 60.

The Minimum Equity Standard is a minimum percentage of an applicant’s project workforce that must be comprised of Equity Eligible Persons. Please see additional FAQs below for definitions of “Project Workforce” and “Equity Eligible Person.”

The Equity Accountability System is the umbrella suite of policy levers and standards included in the Illinois Power Agency Act that advance “priority access to the clean energy economy for businesses and workers from communities that have been excluded from economic opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to disproportionate levels of pollution, and have disproportionately experienced negative public health outcomes” (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c-10)). The Equity Accountability System includes the Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”), the reserved category in the Adjustable Block Program for Equity Eligible Contractors (“EECs”), and the requirements developed by the Agency to ensure “that competitive procurement processes, including utility-scale solar, utility-scale wind, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects, advance the equity goals” of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c-10(3))).

The IPA, through its 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“Long-Term Plan” or “Plan”), developed requirements for utility-scale projects bid into competitive procurements for indexed REC contracts that require those projects to meet the Minimum Equity Standard and provide additional prioritization for projects that employ a higher percentage of Equity Eligible Persons (“EEPs”) than that required by the MES. Thus, the MES (and the associated Compliance Plan) and the equity prioritization mechanism constitute the pieces of the Equity Accountability System applicable to bidders in competitive procurements, and those steps constitute full compliance with the Equity Accountability System.

The IPA created a Minimum Equity Standard (MES) webpage to provide the most up to date MES related documents, educational resources, and training materials related to MES Compliance Plans and waiver requests. Please visit the IPA Minimum Equity Standard webpage here: https://ipa.illinois.gov/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/minimum-equity-standard.html

In particular, the IPA posted an MES Compliance and Waiver Request Training Presentation applicable to utility-scale solar and wind projects under the header “MES Educational Resources”.

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (“CEJA”) defines an equity eligible person as:

1. Persons who graduate from or are current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program, the Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section 16-108.21 of the Public Utilities Act;
2. Persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system;
3. Persons who were formerly incarcerated; [or]
4. Persons whose primary residence is in an equity investment eligible community. (20 ILCS 3855/1-10).

A person may fall into multiple categories or only one; a person does not need to have participated in a CEJA- or FEJA-funded training program in order to be an EEP if they qualify under one of the other categories.

An “equity investment eligible community” is defined by CEJA as:

1. 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
2. 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. (20 ILCS 3855/1-10).

A map of R3 Areas can be found here, a map of environmental justice communities can be found here, and the Equity Investment Eligible Community Map that combines EJ and R3 areas can be found here.

The 2024 Long-Term Plan, as approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission, adopts the following definition of “project workforce”:

Employees, contractors and their employees, and subcontractors and their employees, whose job duties are directly required by or substantially related to the development, construction, and operation of a project that is participating in or intended to participate in the IPA-administered programs and procurements under Section 1-75(c) of the IPA Act. This shall include both project installation workforce and workforce in administrative, sales, marketing, and technical roles where those workers’ duties are performed in Illinois. For purposes of this definition, ‘directly required by or substantially related to’ shall be construed to be any direct employee of the Approved Vendor, Designee, or Indexed REC contract holder, or any contractor and its employees whose contract exceeds 5% of the REC Contract value. Employees of contractors below that threshold may be counted toward the MES on a voluntary basis, but then all contractors below the 5% of REC contract value threshold must be included. (2024 Long-Term Plan at 356-357).

The MES applies to the project workforce, so if the MES is 14%, EEPs must make up 14% of the project workforce. Therefore, compliance with the MES is based on number of workers or employees, not the work hours performed by those employees.

CEJA requires that applicants comply with the MES through a Compliance Plan submitted at the start of the delivery year. Section 1-75(c-10)(1)(A) directs that:

At the start of each delivery year, the Agency shall require a compliance plan from each entity participating in a procurement program of subsection (c) of this Section [1-75] that demonstrates how they will achieve compliance with the minimum equity standard percentage for work completed in that delivery year. (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c-10)(1)(A)).

Competitive procurements are required by Section 1-75, and therefore applicants to those procurements must submit a Compliance Plan under the law.

The Compliance Plan is meant to ensure that applicants are making a concerted effort to hire EEPs and contribute to the equity goals of CEJA. The law requires participants to complete a Compliance Plan, which contains the elements outlined above, and directs the Agency to ensure that competitive procurements advance the equity goals of CEJA. As laid out by the statute, CEJA envisions the EAS as a method to create “priority access to the clean energy economy for businesses and workers from communities that have been excluded from economic opportunities in the energy sector, have been subject to disproportionate levels of pollution, and have disproportionately experienced negative public health outcomes.” (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c)(10)). Accounting for generations of such exclusion and disproportionate harms requires buy-in from all stakeholders and coordination between the public sector and private sector actors. The IPA hopes that all participants in competitive procurements take this policy seriously and contribute sincere efforts to creating a more equitable clean energy economy in Illinois.

No. As provided in the Indexed REC RFP Rules, only if a Bidder optionally elects to commit to an Equity Level (%) greater than the Minimum Equity Standard of 14% is a plan required at the time of bid. In this case one of the requirements includes:

[The] Bidder must provide a narrative plan to meet the Equity Level (%) provided in the Part 1 Proposal. The narrative plan must include the following items:

• a narrative description of how the Seller will ensure that at least the Equity Level (%) will be met;
• a statement of intent to comply with all necessary requirements set forth in Public Act 102-0662 relating to the Minimum Equity Standard and agreement to comply with certain obligations, including hiring a diverse project workforce and working with Equity Eligible Contractors, where applicable;
• the total projected number of workers related to Construction Activities up to the point of the Date of First Operation, or up to the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a Modernized or Retooled Hydropower Project;
• plans for the use of Equity Eligible Contractors, if applicable;
• Seller classification (i.e., Minority-owned business enterprise, Woman-owned business enterprise, Disabled-owned business, Veteran-owned business, Small business, etc.), if applicable;
• the qualifying Equity Eligible Person category/categories the Seller seeks to hire, if known; and
• a communication plan for local outreach to increase the utilization of Equity Eligible Persons and Equity Eligible Contractors.

Many of these elements may be repeated in the eventual Compliance Plan submitted after a contract has been awarded to a selected bid. Given that the strike price for a project that submits an Equity Level (%) greater than the Minimum Equity Standard of 14% will be reduced for purposes of bid ranking, additional assurances should be provided that the Bidder will meet this commitment.

As provided in paragraph IV.3.1. of the Final Rules for the Indexed REC Procurement Event:

• An officer of the Seller must acknowledge that if the Date of First Operation for a Project is on or after December 15, 2022, a Minimum Equity Standard of 14% applies to the project workforce for each delivery year in which construction activities are performed through the date of first operation for a utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, brownfield site photovoltaic, or New Hydropower Project; or through the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a Modernized or Retooled Hydropower Project; and that there are reporting requirements described in Section 6.4 of the Indexed REC Contract.

No additional documentation or information is required at the time of bid.

CEJA directs the IPA to develop an Energy Workforce Database in consultation with the Department of Commerce and Economic Development that consists of a searchable database of vendors, suppliers, and contractors that are minority and women-owned business enterprise certified or are certified as EECs. The IPA’s Energy Workforce Equity Portal is designed to help connect clean energy companies with Equity Eligible Persons looking to work in the clean energy sector in Illinois. Developers of clean energy projects, such as developers of utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, and brownfield site solar projects, can use this portal to advertise clean energy jobs and to search for Equity Eligible Persons seeking employment, as Equity Eligible Persons register on the portal. Developers can also use the portal to apply to qualify as an Equity Eligible Contractor. Please visit the IPA Energy Workforce Equity Portal here.

Phase I of the portal was launched on January 31, 2023 and includes:

• Information on qualifications and requirements for job seekers to become Equity Eligible Persons.
• A form for applying to be certified as Equity Eligible Person.
• A listing of Equity Eligible Persons who have volunteered to identify themselves to potential clean energy companies.
• Information on job postings from clean energy companies for which they are recruiting Equity Eligible Persons.
• Information on workforce training programs administered by DCEO.
• Equity Investment Eligible (EIE) Community Map that can be utilized by anyone to determine if they or someone else reside in an identified equity investment eligible community.
• Information on Equity Eligible Contractors participating in the IPA’s Adjustable Block Program.
• FAQs outlining commonly asked questions and answers on the portal.
• A user guide to help clean energy companies and Equity Eligible Persons navigate the portal easily.

Phase II of the Portal, launched in Summer 2023, includes enhancements to help facilitate more inclusive participation in the clean energy workforce. Additional information can be found on the Portal’s Resources page.

The IPA hosted a training for participants to get acquainted with the portal and its various functionalities. This includes advertising jobs and searching for Equity Eligible Persons seeking employment, as they register on the portal. The training is available here.

The Energy Workforce Equity Database should serve as a tool for applicants to find EEPs, but may not include the entire universe of available EEPs seeking clean energy work, since it will only list EEPs that voluntarily add their information to the database.  The Database is still in development and applicants should not assume they will be able to rely solely on the Database to find EEPs to meet the Minimum Equity Standard.

The Department of Commerce and Economic Development (“DCEO”) has awarded funding for FEJA-funded workforce training programs, the management of which passed to DCEO under CEJA. CEJA also created several new workforce training programs to be managed by DCEO.

Please monitor the DCEO CEJA website for updates from the Department on its job training programs.

The IPA encourages applicants to utilize all possible means for identifying, recruiting, and hiring EEPs, especially those that qualify by virtue of their status as formerly incarcerated, a graduate of the foster care system, or a resident of an equity investment eligible community. The Long-Term Plan outlined several strategies that may be useful:

• Working with State-approved job training and workforce development programs to recruit EEPs and provide evidence of outreach
• Maintaining applications of individuals not selected for an opening for contact regarding future project openings
• Participating in job fairs and related local community events to recruit a diverse workforce
• Utilizing the Energy Workforce Equity Database
• Outreach on various platforms of targeted social media, engagement in direct outreach to relevant associations or organizations to notify them of the project opportunity. (2024 Long-Term Plan at page 362-363).

The IPA cannot provide advice to bidders regarding the specifics of a recruitment strategy or point an entity toward specific organizations or events where it might recruit EEPs.

Under Section 6.4 of the Indexed REC Contract, to demonstrate compliance with the MES the following reports must be submitted to the IPA , if applicable pursuant to Section 6.4(a) of the Indexed REC Contract;

1. MES Compliance Plan. The first MES Compliance Plan shall be submitted to the IPA within thirty (30) days of the Commission Bid Approval Date regardless of whether Construction Activities have been performed or will be performed in that delivery year. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Date of First Operation of the Project as recorded by PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) occurred prior to the date that is thirty (30) days of the Commission Bid Approval Date, then the MES Compliance Plan shall not be required. Subsequently, by June 1 of each delivery year, Seller shall submit to the IPA an MES Compliance Plan demonstrating how Seller will achieve compliance with the Minimum Equity Standard in such delivery year. The MES Compliance Plan shall include: (a) a narrative description of how Seller will meet the Minimum Equity Standard and a statement of intent to comply with equity accountability standards for the applicable delivery year and to hire a diverse project workforce including Equity Eligible Persons and Equity Eligible Contractors; (b) projected number of workers and the demographic breakdown by race, gender, and participation in job training or workforce development programs, or other means of compliance with the standard for Equity Eligible Persons; (c) plans for the use of Equity Eligible Contractors, if  applicable; (d) Seller classification (i.e., Minority-owned, Woman-owned, Disabled-owned, Veteran-owned, Small Business, etc.), if applicable; (e) communication plan for local outreach to increase the utilization of Equity Eligible Persons and Equity Eligible Contractors; and (f) status of any corrective actions or adjustments from the prior delivery year’s MES Compliance Plan.
2. Mid-Year MES Confirmation. No later than December 1 of each delivery year, Seller shall provide to the IPA a statement confirming that Seller is on track to meet the Minimum Equity Standard and that there exist no impediments for Seller to meet the Minimum Equity Standard for such delivery year. If Seller is unable to provide such confirmation, Seller shall explain why it is unable to meet the Minimum Equity Standard for such delivery year. The Mid-Year MES Confirmation shall be submitted to IPA via email at the email address provided in Exhibit B or submitted in accordance with procedures established by the IPA. If the Date of First Operation of the Project as recorded by PJM-EIS GATS or M-RETS (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) occurred prior to the date that is thirty (30) days of the Commission Bid Approval Date, then the Mid-Year MES Confirmation shall not be required.
3. MES Report. After the conclusion of a delivery year regardless of whether Construction Activities have been performed, and no later than July 15 immediately succeeding such delivery year, Seller shall submit to the IPA an MES Report. If the Date of First Operation of the Project as recorded by PJM-EIS GATS or MRETS  (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) occurred prior to the date that is thirty (30) days of the Commission Bid Approval Date, then the MES Report shall be submitted as soon as practicable on or around the date that is thirty (30) days after the Commission Bid Approval Date. The MES Report shall include data on actual performance compared to the information previously submitted as well as any major differences from the previously submitted MES Compliance Plan for such delivery year. These differences could include information such as new and innovative ways to provide employment opportunities to low-income participants and residents within the Environmental Justice Communities.

The Seller must submit the reports required by Section 6.4 Minimum Equity Standard of the Indexed REC Contract to the IPA separately for each such Project.

A Minimum Equity Standard of 14% will apply under the Indexed REC Contract to a Project selected through this RFP if the Date of First Operation (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) is on or after December 15, 2022, regardless of whether the project is located in Illinois or an Adjacent State.

An “Equity Eligible Persons” means persons who would most benefit from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination, specifically: (a) persons who graduate from or are current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, the Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, the Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program, Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multi-cultural jobs program created in paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(3) of Section 16-108.12 of the Public Utilities Act; (b) persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system; (c) persons who were formerly incarcerated; (d) persons whose primary residence is in an Equity Investment Eligible Community as defined in Section 1-10 of the IPA Act as further clarified in the IPA’s long term renewable resources procurement plan as approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in ICC Docket No. 23-0714.

As defined in the Indexed REC Contract, “Project Workforce” means employees, contractors and their employees, and subcontractors and their employees whose job duties are directly required by or substantially related to the development, construction, and operation of the Project that is participating in the IPA-administered programs and procurements under Section 1-75(c) of the IPA Act. This shall include both project installation workforce and workforce in administrative, sales, marketing, and technical roles where those workers’ duties are directly related to the Project subject to the following. For purposes of this definition, “directly required by or substantially related to” shall be construed to be any direct employee of Seller, or any contractor and its employees whose contract exceeds 5% of the REC Contract Value. Employees of contractors below that threshold may be counted toward the MES on a voluntary basis, but then all employees of all contractors below the 5% of REC Contract Value threshold must be included. Persons working in administrative, sales, marketing and technical roles, shall be included in the project workforce only if their duties are related to the Project and performed in Illinois. The project installation workforce shall be included in the “Project Workforce” and must meet the MES regardless of location.

Please note, CEJA provides that the Agency may utilize its discretion in rare circumstances to grant a waiver of the MES (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c-10)(4)(E)).  In describing the criteria for granting such a waiver, the statute provides that the Agency may do so “where the applicant provides evidence of significant efforts toward meeting the minimum equity commitment, including: use of the Energy Workforce Equity Database; efforts to hire or contract with entities that hire eligible persons; and efforts to establish contracting relationships with eligible contractors.” (20 ILCS 3855/1-75(c-10)(4)(E) (emphasis added)). The IPA posted waiver request forms to the Minimum Equity Standard webpage here:  https://ipa.illinois.gov/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/minimum-equity-standard.html. As described in the waiver request form, requestors must receive at least 20 points to qualify for a waiver.

A Minimum Equity Standard of 14% will apply under the Indexed REC Contract to a Project selected through this RFP if the Date of First Operation (or the Hydropower Refurbishment Completion Date if the Project is a hydropower project that is newly Modernized or Retooled) is on or after December 15, 2022.

The remedies related to a failure to meet the percentage requirement of the Minimum Equity Standard (i.e., 14%) is described in Section 10.1.5.4 of the IPA’s 2024 long-term renewable resources procurement plan (the “Long-Term Plan”) as approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission in ICC Docket No. 22-0714, which is pasted below for your convenience. Further, please also note that Section 1-75(c-30) of the IPA Act provides the following: “……If the Agency concludes the entity has not met or maintained its minimum equity standards required under the applicable subparagraphs under subsection (c-10), the Agency shall deny the entity’s ability to participate in procurement programs in subsection (c), including by withholding approved vendor or designee status.”

As set forth in Section 6.4(d) of the Indexed REC Contract, “no other remedies are contemplated under the Indexed REC Contract for Seller’s failure to comply with the Minimum Equity Standard requirements”. As such, failure to meet the percentage requirement of the Minimum Equity Standard is not an event of default leading to contract termination or forfeiture of the performance assurance under the Indexed REC Contract.

As noted above, and for your convenience, Section 10.1.5.4 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan provides that:

“If the Agency determines that an Approved Vendor, Designee, or Competitive Procurement Supplier has failed to comply with any of the requirements set forth by the Agency, or any contract, the entity will be notified and may face disciplinary action. The Agency will impose consequences for violations by program participants, including but not limited to:

1. Notice of Potential Violation
2. Suspension of the entity’s ability to submit project applications to IPA programs or to participate in competitive procurements during the remainder of the delivery year.
3. Repeated violations could potentially result in the Approved Vendor or Designee becoming suspended from the IPA’s programs for an entire delivery year or more. Competitive Procurement Suppliers could likewise be barred from participation in future competitive procurement events.
4. Provision of Mid-year Progress information

If the entity does not submit a Compliance Plan or if the Compliance Plan fails to meet the required Minimum Equity Standards after the chance to resubmit, it will receive a Notice of Potential Violation (NOPV). If the entity doesn’t submit an edited Compliance Plan or the revised Compliance Plan still does not pass after receiving an NOPV, it will be issued an official warning letter from the Agency. If the entity does not submit an edited Compliance Plan or the revised Compliance Plan still does not pass after receiving a warning letter, it will be issued suspension letter. Suspensions of an Approved Vendor or Designee in the Adjustable Block Program will be noted on the program website’s lists of Approved Vendors and Designees as well listed on the disciplinary actions report and in the Energy Workforce Equity Database”

Please see Section 6.4 of the Indexed REC Contract as well as the FAQs page for additional information on the MES including requirements, compliance plans, and waiver requests.

The Bidder determines the full and minimum quantities of RECs to include in the Bid for a given Project. These quantities may represent a portion of the RECs from a Project. For a utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, or brownfield site photovoltaic project, the full quantity must not exceed the Maximum Bid Size. The minimum quantity must not exceed the full quantity. The RECs from each Project selected through this RFP will be allocated by the Procurement Administrator to the Companies in pre-specified proportions (27.09% to AIC, 72.67% to ComEd, and 0.24% to MEC).

Importantly, for a utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, or brownfield site photovoltaic project in the Part 1 Proposal, a Bidder must provide the size of the Project in MW (AC rating), rounded to two (2) decimals, which in turn determines the area for which the Bidder must show site control, the amount of bid assurance collateral posted with the Part 2 Proposal, and the Maximum Bid Size. The size of the Project must be the total size of the Project and not a portion of the Project capacity.

Additionally, please note that under the Indexed REC Contract, the Seller will specify a Project Committed Percentage. The Project Committed Percentage means the percentage of the Project’s Actual Production to be used for purposes of the Standing Order. Please review Section 2.3(b) of the Indexed REC Contract for information regarding the Project Committed Percentage and the Standing Order.

For utility-scale wind and solar projects, under the Indexed REC Contract, the Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) applies for each delivery year in which Construction Activities are carried out through the Date of First Operation.

As defined in the Indexed REC Contract, Construction Activities “means activities related to the Project that includes not only construction, but also any maintenance, repair, assembly, or disassembly work performed on equipment whether owned, leased, or rented and all construction work performed by Seller, including its contractors and subcontractors, relating to construction, maintenance, repair, assembly, or disassembly work in relation to the Project; and in the case of a Hydropower Project that is newly Modernized or Retooled, Construction Activities shall also include activities set forth in Section 1.75.”

The IPA’s 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2024 Long-Term Plan”) provides for a Summer 2025 procurement of RECs from new utility-scale wind projects, new utility-scale solar projects, new brownfield site photovoltaic projects, and new hydropower projects at an existing dam or modernized or retooled hydropower projects at an existing dam (the “Summer 2025 Indexed REC RFP”). The schedule for the Summer 2025 Indexed REC RFP is posted to the Calendar page of the procurement website. Bidders may begin submitting qualification materials for projects in June and bids will be due on August 1, 2025.

The IPA’s 2024 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2024 Long-Term Plan”) further provides for a Fall 2025 procurement of RECs. Please see Section 5.6 of the 2024 Long-Term Plan, Table 5-5 in particular, for the proposed schedule for competitive procurements. Procurements to be conducted after 2025 will be considered in the 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (“2026 Long-Term Plan”).

The only changes in the revised Draft Indexed REC Contract posted on April 30, 2025 relative to the Draft Indexed REC Contract posted on April 16, 2025 are to Section 5.4 Cost Recovery. The changes can be easily seen in the redline posted to the procurement website here: https://nera-content-media.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ipa/Redline_Updated_Section_5_4_of_Indexed_REC_Contract_30_APR_2025_3e626e15ac.pdf

As part of the Part 2 Proposal, the Seller must certify that the Bid constitutes a binding and irrevocable offer to supply the annual quantity of RECs from the Project selected in the evaluation and the Seller agrees that, if the Project is selected in the RFP and the Seller’s Bid on that Project is approved by the Commission, the Seller will execute the Indexed REC Contracts with all Companies as instructed by the Procurement Administrator. If the Bid for a Project is selected by the evaluation procedure and approved by the Commission, and the Seller fails to execute the Indexed REC Contract, a Company may draw upon the letter of credit or a Company may draw upon a cash deposit. If bid assurance collateral was submitted for multiple Projects and a draw is required on the bid assurance collateral for one of the Projects, the amount of the draw would not exceed the amount that would have been required as bid assurance collateral for that Project alone.

In addition, please refer to Indexed FAQ-3.

The Company may draw upon the letter of credit or a Company may draw upon a cash deposit if: (i) the Bidder or a Seller has disclosed information relating to the Proposal for a Project publicly or to any other party (excluding disclosures required by a federal, state, or local agency, or by a court of competent jurisdiction) before the Illinois Commerce Commission has rendered its decision on the results of the procurement event; or (ii) the Bidder or a Seller has made a material omission or misrepresentation in the Part 1 Proposal or the Part 2 Proposal for a Project submitted in connection with the procurement event; or (iii) a Seller has failed to execute the applicable supplier contract for a Project within three (3) business days of being notified that the Illinois Commerce Commission has approved the Bid on that Project or has failed to meet the creditworthiness requirements of the applicable supplier contract within fifteen (15) business days of such Illinois Commerce Commission decision; or (iv) the Bidder or a Seller has failed to pay to the Illinois Power Agency the applicable Supplier Fee for a Project within seven (7) business days of being notified that the Illinois Commerce Commission has approved the Bid on that Project.

Please see paragraph VI.2.16. of the RFP Rules. At the time of Commission approval of a procurement event, the names and contact information of winning Bidders, the average of the winning Bid prices, and the business address and nameplate capacity of the Project are made public. Additionally, as approved under the 2024 Long-Term Plan, the Annual Quantity of RECs for Projects selected and approved by the Commission will also be released as long as the confidentiality of individual winning Bid prices is maintained. The Public Utilities Act states that participants in the procurement process will maintain the confidentiality of all other supplier and bidding information.

The results from previous procurement events can be found on the procurement website. If you click on the “Previous RFPs” link on the left-hand side of the home page, you can find a list of previous procurements. Within each procurement’s archived page you can locate the procurement results.