Is Illinois's Renewable Energy Charge being repealed at the end of 2025, and does it apply to a solar energy provider's lease/electricity bill?

Plain-English summary

A business researching the Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge -- a small monthly per-account fee (as little as $0.05/month for residential accounts) that certain utilities have collected since 1998 -- asked two questions: is the charge expiring at the end of 2025 as originally scheduled, and does it apply to a solar energy provider that bills a customer for solar panel lease payments and electricity, when that same customer also still gets a separate bill from the utility that physically distributes the power?

On the first question, the Department gave a clear, direct answer: no, the charge isn't going away. Public Act 104-0010 (effective June 16, 2025) pushed the charge's scheduled repeal date from December 31, 2025 out to December 31, 2030.

On the second question, the Department explained who is actually on the hook to collect it. The charge is assessed by each public utility, electric cooperative, gas cooperative, or municipal utility that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the distribution of natural gas within Illinois, on each of ITS OWN customer accounts. If a business isn't one of those defined categories of utility/cooperative, or if it is one of those categories but doesn't actually engage in delivering electricity or distributing gas in Illinois, it isn't required to impose the charge itself. The Department also flagged an important related point: there's no exemption from the charge for a customer just because that same customer is separately being charged the Renewable Energy Charge by another utility -- so a covered utility or cooperative can't skip charging its own customer account on the theory that the customer is already paying it elsewhere.

Put together for a solar lease/PPA provider: if the provider isn't itself a public utility, electric/gas cooperative, or municipal utility engaged in delivering electricity or distributing gas, it doesn't need to add the Renewable Energy Charge to its own solar lease/electricity billing -- that charge instead continues to be collected by the customer's actual distributing utility on its separate bill, exactly as the customer is already experiencing.

What this means for you

Solar lease and PPA providers

You generally don't need to add the Renewable Energy Charge to your own customer billing unless you're yourself a covered public utility, electric/gas cooperative, or municipal utility that delivers electricity or distributes gas -- that obligation typically stays with the customer's separate distributing utility.

Utilities and cooperatives planning around the charge's "repeal"

Don't plan compliance systems around a December 31, 2025 sunset -- Public Act 104-0010 pushed that date to December 31, 2030. The charge remains a live monthly obligation on covered customer accounts.

Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives specifically

You have an ELECTION not to assess the Renewable Energy Charge (unlike public utilities, which must), but the tradeoff is that your customers then become ineligible for the Renewable Energy Resources Program -- weigh that before opting out.

Common questions

Q: Is the Illinois Renewable Energy Charge being repealed at the end of 2025? A: No. Its repeal date was extended by Public Act 104-0010 from December 31, 2025 to December 31, 2030.

Q: Does a solar lease company need to add this charge to its own bills? A: Generally not, unless the company itself is a public utility, electric/gas cooperative, or municipal utility engaged in delivering electricity or distributing gas in Illinois -- most solar lease/PPA providers aren't.

Q: If a customer already pays the charge through their regular utility bill, does that exempt them from paying it elsewhere? A: No -- there's no exemption from the charge based on a customer already being charged it by another covered utility or cooperative; a covered entity still must assess it on its own accounts.

Q: Can a municipal utility or electric cooperative opt out of collecting the charge? A: Yes, they may elect not to assess it -- but their customers then lose eligibility for the Renewable Energy Resources Program as a result.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• 20 ILCS 687/6-5 (Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge)
• 305 ILCS 20/13 (Energy Assistance Act -- residential/nonresidential account definitions)
• 220 ILCS 5/3-105 (Public Utilities Act -- public utility definition)
• 220 ILCS 30/3.4 (Electric Supplier Act -- electric cooperative definition)

Regulations:

• 86 Ill. Adm. Code 517.110 (municipal/cooperative election not to assess the charge)
• 86 Ill. Adm. Code 517.120-517.130 (charge remittance and reporting)

Source

• Landing page: Illinois 2025 Sales Tax Letter Rulings
• Original PDF: ST25-0066-GIL.pdf

Original ruling text

ST 25-0066-GIL 12/11/2025 ENERGY ASSISTANCE CHARGES
This letter discusses the Renewable Energy Charge. 20 ILCS 687/6-5. (This is a GIL). December 11, 2025 NAME COMPANY EMAIL Dear NAME: This letter is in response to your letter dated November 25, 2025, in which you requested information. The Department issues two types of letter rulings. Private Letter Rulings (“PLRs”) are issued by the Department in response to specific taxpayer inquiries concerning the application of a tax statute or rule to a particular fact situation. A PLR is binding on the Department, but only as to the taxpayer who is the subject of the request for ruling and only to the extent the facts recited in the PLR are correct and complete. Persons seeking PLRs must comply with the procedures for PLRs found in the Department’s regulations at 2 Ill. Adm. Code 1200.110. The purpose of a General Information Letter (“GIL”) is to direct taxpayers to Department regulations or other sources of information regarding the topic about which they have inquired. A GIL is not a statement of Department policy and is not binding on the Department. See 2 Ill. Adm. Code 1200.120. You may access our website at https://tax.illinois.gov/ to review regulations, letter rulings and other types of information relevant to your inquiry. The nature of your inquiry and the information you have provided require that we respond with a GIL. In your letter you have stated and made inquiry as follows: We are currently researching the Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge. This is imposed per 20 ILCS 687/6-5 which states: Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16-111 of the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/16-111] but subject to subsection (e) of this Section, each public utility, electric cooperative, as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act [220 ILCS 30/3.4], and municipal utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act [220 ILCS 5/3-105], that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois shall, effective January 1, 1998, assess each of its customer accounts a monthly Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge. The delivering public utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric or gas cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to the collection of the fee imposed by this Section. The monthly charge shall be as follows:

COMPANY/NAME
Page 2
December 11, 2025
(1) $0.05 per month on each account for residential electric service as defined in Section 13 of the Energy Assistance Act [305 ILCS 20/13]; (2) $0.05 per month on each account for residential gas service as defined in Section 13 of the Energy Assistance Act; (3) $0.50 per month on each account for nonresidential electric service, as defined in Section 13 of the Energy Assistance Act, which had less than 10 megawatts of peak demand during the previous calendar year; Based on the above, we have the following questions:

1. Is the Charge being repealed effective 12/31/2025?
2. If a Solar Energy Provider bills, for example, a retail customer a monthly bill
   for solar panel lease payments and electricity, is the account subject to the Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge, assuming the customer still receives a bill from the distributing utility? Thank you. DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSE: The Renewable Energy Resources and Coal Technology Development Assistance Charge (Renewable Energy Charge) is a charge collected by each public utility, electric cooperative, as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act (220 ILCS 30), gas cooperative, and municipal utility, as referenced in Section 3-105 of the Public Utilities Act (220 ILCS 5), that is engaged in the delivery of electricity or the distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois, upon each of its customer accounts. 20 ILCS 687/6-5. Effective June 16, 2025, Public Act 104-0010 extended the repeal date for the Renewable Energy Charge from December 31, 2025, to December 31, 2030. The delivering public utility, municipal electric or gas utility, or electric or gas cooperative for a self-assessing purchaser remains subject to the collection of the Renewable Energy Charge. Municipal electric or gas utilities and electric or gas cooperatives may elect not to assess the Renewable Energy Charge, but then their customers are not eligible for the Renewable Energy Resources Program. 20 ILCS 687/6-5; 86 Ill. Adm. Code 517.110. Public utilities subject to collecting the Renewable Energy Charge are defined at 220 ILCS 5/3-105. Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives subject to collecting the Renewable Energy Charge if they so elect are defined at 220 ILCS 5/3-105(b)(1) and 220 ILCS 30/3.4, respectively. If a business is not a public utility, electric or gas cooperative, or municipal utility, as those terms are used in 20 ILCS 687/6-5, or if it is one of these entities,

COMPANY/NAME
Page 3
December 11, 2025
but does not engage in the delivery of electricity or the distribution of natural gas within the State of Illinois, it is not required to impose the Renewable Energy Charge. There is no exemption from collecting the Renewable Energy Charge from a customer account based on that customer receiving electricity from and being charged the Renewable Energy Charge by another public utility, municipal utility, or electric cooperative. The Renewable Energy Charges collected from customers during the preceding month must be paid to the Department on or before the 20th day of each month. 20 ILCS 687/6-5(a), (d); 86 Ill. Adm. Code 517.120-517.130. For utilities or cooperatives engaged in the delivery of electricity or natural gas, the Renewable Energy Charge is paid using forms “RPU-6 - Assistance Charges Return for Electricity Distributers” and “RG-6 - Assistance Charges Return for Natural Gas Distributors.” I hope this information is helpful. If you require additional information, please visit our website at https://tax.illinois.gov/ or contact the Department’s Taxpayer Information Division at 800-732-8866. Very truly yours, Edward Mroczkowski Associate Counsel EM:slc