by Maggie Dougherty, Capitol News Illinois September 14, 2026 Article Summary Illinois regulators conducted the first battery storage procurement event required by energy legislation that became law this year. More battery storage is needed if the state is to meet its decarbonization goals while…
Illinois state regulators have completed the inaugural energy storage procurement auction under the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, securing 600 megawatts of new utility-scale capacity set to operationalize by 2030. Managed by the Illinois Power Agency, the selection yields enough capacity to supply roughly 500,000 households, representing more than four times the state's existing 141 megawatts of utility-scale storage reported by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
The auction aimed to secure 1,038 megawatts split across two regional grid networks: 450 megawatts in central and southern Illinois under the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, and 588 megawatts in the northern ComEd territory managed by PJM Interconnection. Bidding exceeded target volumes in MISO territory by awarding 520 megawatts across four developments, while PJM territory yielded a single 80-megawatt project, falling short of its goal due to rigid statutory rules and regional interconnection queue delays.
The June legislation establishes a total statutory mandate of at least 3,000 megawatts of energy storage brought online by late 2030. Additional auctions planned for 2027 and 2028 will feature modified guidelines, including permitting hybrid solar-plus-storage and wind-plus-storage designs rather than restricting submissions exclusively to standalone batteries.
In parallel with utility-scale efforts, residential implementations are expanding under the law's virtual power plant framework. Solar developer SOLRITE Energy entered the market to deploy zero-upfront-cost rooftop solar and battery systems for Ameren and ComEd customers. The firm aims to deploy between 500 and 1,000 combined residential systems in the state by the end of the year, with a target of at least 5,000 additional units in 2027.
Originally reported by Mahomet Daily on Sep 15, 2026.
