Competitive Procurements

As part of administering the Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), the Illinois Power Agency supports the development of utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, and brownfield site photovoltaic (brownfield solar) projects through conducting competitive procurements for Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from proposed projects. Under a competitive procurement event, bidders proposing projects compete primarily on the basis of lowest price to secure a REC delivery contract, with that contract providing revenue certainty underpinning the project’s development.

The IPA’s approach to support for these projects has had three phases: first, in 2010, a series of bundled (REC and energy) long-term power purchase agreements (LTPPAs) were issued to utility-scale wind and solar projects through a competitive procurement event. These LTPPAs were 20-year contracts and helped facilitate the development of new projects in Illinois and adjacent states.

Next, after the adoption of FEJA in 2017, the IPA provided fixed-priced 15-year REC delivery contracts through a series of “forward procurement” events. REC prices under those contracts are fixed across the entire delivery term, with Sellers under those contracts free to contract for the sale of energy independent from the IPA.

Beginning in 2022, the Agency’s procurement of RECs from utility-scale wind and solar projects now utilizes an Indexed REC pricing approach established by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The Indexed REC approach features a floating REC price, with REC prices changing over time based on indexes of wholesale market energy prices (and thus rising when assumed wholesale market energy revenues are lower, but falling – including potentially becoming negative – when energy prices rise).

Explore the Competitive Procurements visualizations to gain insights on energized and under development utility-scale wind, utility-scale solar, and brownfield site photovoltaic projects supported by the IPA.