Designing and Administering the First Utility-Scale Energy Storage Procurement in Illinois

Public Act 104-0458, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA), was signed into law on 8 January 2026 and became effective 1 June 2026. CRGA directs the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) to conduct competitive procurement events to support the development of new utility-scale energy storage projects, stating that the deployment of energy storage systems is “necessary to successfully integrate high levels of renewable energy, to avoid the creation and increase of carbon emissions from electric generation sources, and to ensure affordable, stable, clean, reliable, and resilient electricity.”

NERA, in its role as the procurement administrator for the IPA, developed a standard contract and competitive bid procurement process for the first utility-scale energy storage procurement conducted under CRGA. The procurement utilized an Indexed Storage Credit (ISC) contract with an indexed, two-way settlement structure. NERA administered the initial procurement for the selection of energy storage resources to execute standard contracts with either Ameren Illinois Company (AIC) or Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd), depending on the location of the resource. Selected projects are required to comply with prevailing wage and other labor and equity standards under Illinois law.  

On 1 September 2026, the Illinois Commerce Commission approved the results of the initial procurement to support the development of 520 MW of storage resources for AIC and 80 MW of storage resources for ComEd. The procurement marks Illinois as the first state in the nation to execute ISC contracts for utility-scale energy storage, with additional procurements to be conducted in 2027 and 2028.