Yes, I talked about it a bit here:
U S Falling Behind on Renewable Energy - Page 3
They've even suspended the 25% rebate program (up to $10k) for solar installs, while they review it. That really sucks, because the program was structured to ensure that they approved you *before* you built; unfortunately, there are people like me who then installed a solar PV system and now the state said "sorry, we're reviewing it"...
The text from the state reads:
State of Illinois said:
Dear Rebate Applicant:
We want to provide you with an update on the status of the Solar and Wind Rebate Program.
As you may be aware, in mid-January, facing an extraordinary budget crisis, Governor Rauner issued Executive Order 15-08, placing a spending freeze on all non-essential state agency funds, while a review is conducted by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB). During this freeze, the Illinois Office of Energy & Recycling has not been able to process rebate payments.
The GOMB review of our program funds continues, and, at this point, it is not clear when or if Fiscal Year 2015 rebates will be paid. We are sorry for the challenge this may present you and hope to be able to provide final direction regarding the status of your rebate in the very near future. In the meantime, if you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
We appreciate your patience and understanding, as the State takes necessary steps to address this unprecedented fiscal crisis.
Without this rebate, the payback in terms of power offset is going to be near 23-25 years, which far exceeds the inverter lifetime and comes near the panels' lifetime. Budgeting a replacement inverter about 15 years out means no return at today's energy pricing. Of course, I could make assumptions about power pricing, but then we have to talk about cost of money, inflation, etc.
Hopefully the state pays out the rebates that had been approved, but the lack of a program in Illinois in future years is going to really stem the growth of renewables here. Power is extremely cheap - Ameren/IP charges ~5-6c per kWh, my co-op charges ~9.5c, which makes it difficult for renewables to pay for themselves in distributed generation.
I don't blame them, our state is pretty f'ed up right now. Lavish pensions to state employees in an unsustainable program, along with decades of runaway spending have left the state in the worst economic condition of any state despite citizens carrying one of the largest combined tax burdens in the country. It sucks that I might have to eat the 25% incentive I was expecting, but we have to put the state on a better course than we've had over the past couple of decades.
