Energy Storage Procurement Workshops - 2025 Workshop Schedule Workshop Comments Meeting Materials In-Person Meeting RSVPs Energy Storage Procurement Workshops - 2025 Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) staff filed a report on energy storage procurement after hosting a series of workshops to better address rising energy demand and support Illinois’ energy transition as outlined in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). Storage technologies are designed to store excess electricity, better integrate renewable energy sources onto the power grid, and improve overall grid stability for a more reliable, cost-effective power system. In accordance with the Energy Storage Bill, the workshops were designed to help develop an initial process and model contract for the procurement of stand-alone utility-scale energy storage resources. The initial procurement should include no more than 1,500 megawatts of storage resources for the state. Read the full report from ICC staff. The ICC must vote to approve the report and its contents following review. Report and Recommendations ICC staff submitted the report to the Governor, General Assembly, and the Commission on May 1, 2025 to summarize the agency’s recent workshops and recommend the most effective procurement process, structure, and contract terms for a successful initial procurement. The Energy Storage Program Bill requires the report to include a model of a standard contract to be used by the Illinois Power Agency; an analysis of whether 1,500 megawatts is the appropriate size for initial procurement and whether additional procurements are valuable to Illinois; an assessment of minimum contract application requirements; recommendations for minimum equity standards; and a cost/benefit analysis for Illinois ratepayers, among several other considers. Report drafts, a standard contract, and appendices can be found below. Some documents were initially posted as Word files to allow stakeholders to submit track changes and edits for consideration. April 1, 2025 Draft Energy Storage Workshop Report April 1, 2025 Draft Energy Storage Workshop Report Appendix A: Indexed Storage Credit Standard Contract April 1, 2025, Draft Energy Storage Workshop Report Appendix A: Indexed Storage Credit Standard Contract – Redline from March 12, 2025 Draft April 1, 2025, Draft Energy Storage Workshop Report Appendix G: Cybersecurity Baseline May 1, 2025, Final Energy Storage Workshop Report Discussion Topics The Energy Storage Program Bill directs the report to include, at a minimum: A definition and key terms of contracting structures, including, but not limited to, tolling agreements and indexed credits, and whether they are used in other states; An assessment of changes to the contract structures, and the identification of appropriate signatories, used by other states necessary to fit the legal and regulatory structures of Illinois; Commercial terms required for the contract to be financeable without creating contractual obligations on the utilities that are not contingent on full and timely cost recovery; Contract structures that avoid a requirement that contracting utilities consider such agreement a lease under generally accepted accounting principles, or that such an agreement is reflected as debt on a contracting utility's balance sheet; Necessary or appropriate roles for the owner of an energy storage system selected in a procurement to, either directly or through a third-party administrator which may be an affiliate, be responsible for operation, maintenance, dispatch, and other operational functions of the energy storage system; Other allocations of rights and responsibilities between the winning bidder, the electric utility, and, if applicable, the third-party administrator; An assessment of whether a contract length different from 20 years is financeable, and whether other contract lengths would impact the net benefits of the storage procurement; A model of a standard contract, including contract terms and conditions, to be used by the Illinois Power Agency and its procurement administrator for the initial procurement; An analysis of whether 1,500 megawatts is the appropriate size for the initial procurement and whether additional procurements beyond August 2025 are valuable to Illinois taking into consideration the amount of projects in advanced stages of development and Illinois' need for storage energy systems in order to ensure it can meet its clean energy goals and to prevent or minimize any anticipated resource adequacy shortfalls; An assessment of the appropriate cost recovery and allocation structure that ensures electric utilities can recover all of the costs associated with the procurement of energy storage resources and any other costs associated with proposed utility participation; An assessment of the appropriate geographic location for the battery storage systems, including, but not limited to: Geographic split of the megawatts of capacity of the energy storage resources procured pursuant to this initial procurement between those interconnected to the Midcontinent ISO, Inc. and PJM Interconnection, LLC; and Potential benefits of procuring one or more projects within an area designated as an area of the State certified by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as an Enterprise zone or Energy Transition Grant Community; An assessment of minimum application requirements, such as having achieved interconnection milestones, including, but not limited to: Projects that have applied for approval for surplus interconnection service or to transfer existing capacity interconnection rights to the relevant regional transmission organization and have received a completeness determination following completion of the initial review process and whether it is beneficial if such projects are also collocated with a renewable energy resource; Projects interconnected to MISO, projects that have signed an interconnection agreement, or are in the MISO Generating Facility Replacement Process, or have provided the most current deposit in the MISO definitive planning phase (DPP) cycle 2021 or an earlier definitive planning phase cycle; or Projects interconnected to PJM Interconnection, LLC, projects that have received a Phase 2 study; An assessment of the impact of the costs and benefits to Illinois ratepayers of these issues related to this initial procurement; and Recommendations for the inclusion, or adaptation, of minimum equity standards and an equity accountability system to the procurement process. ICC staff also worked with interested stakeholders to further describe and expand upon these considerations as a part the workshops Schedule Visit the Schedules for a calendar of 2025 Energy Storage Workshops. Schedule Comments Visit the Workshop Comments for The Energy Storage Workshops. Comments Meeting Materials Visit the Meeting Materials page for agendas, presentations, and recordings for 2025 Energy Storage Workshops Meeting Materials Get Involved The Initial Forward Storage Procurement Process Workshops are open to the public and all interested participants. Join The Distribution List Staff Contact Information Please contact ICC Public Utilities Bureau Chief Jim Zolnierek with questions: Jim.Zolnierek@illinois.gov Background The Energy Storage Program Bill (Illinois House Bill 587 Senate Amendments 002 and 003) was passed by the General Assembly in January 2025 to amend of the Illinois Public Utilities Act. The legislation tasked the ICC with initiating a workshop process no later than February 1, 2025, to develop an initial forward storage procurement process and model contract for the procurement of utility-scale energy storage resources. The law further required ICC staff to prepare and submit a report to Governor J.B. Pritzker, the General Assembly, and the Commission no later than May 1, 2025. Read the Storage Procurement report here.