Target Audience: Very Small Businesses (VSB) and Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individuals (SEDI), though any business that meets the applicable borrower criteria above may apply. Borrowers must engage with an approved SSBCI lender.  

The State Small Business Credit Initiative provides access to low-interest financing for small business who may otherwise lack access to capital for eligible climate-related.

Loan Amount: $25,000 (minimum); $2,000,000 (maximum)

Interest Rate: 1-2%

Term: Up to 7 years  

Borrower Criteria:  

• No more than 750 employees; 
• Must operate in the State of Illinois;
• Be in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State;
• Clear of any back taxes; and
• No bankruptcies, judgements, or liens in the past 5 years.  

Eligible Projects  

• Clean air/clean water projects and wastewater treatment;
• Production/installation/servicing of wind/hydro/solar power equipment;
• Production/installation/servicing of electric vehicles and EV charging stations; 
• Clean energy generation, alternative fuels, and new battery technologies; 
• Energy conservation; 
• Biomaterial production and sustainable agricultural practices;
• Broadband expansion for rural and other underserved communities; and
• Other efforts providing environmental benefit/counter the impacts of climate change.  

Target Audience: Commercial building owners and developers 

C-PACE financing can be used by owners and developers to finance or refinance eligible improvements in connection with renovations of existing buildings and new construction for up to 25% of the value of the property.  

Amount: Typically $2.5 million; Max.  25% of total project  

Interest Rate: Lower than traditional loans, determined by ICB and local government  

Term: Up to 40 years  

Eligible Projects: 

Eligible improvements generally include fixtures, products, systems, equipment, devices, and materials intended for energy efficiency, renewable energy, resiliency, or water use; electric vehicle charging stations . Only available in counties and municipalities that have passed the Illinois Finance Authority’s enabling PACE ordinance. Projects located in Cook County are not currently eligible.  

Target Audience: Nonprofit, public, commercial, and multifamily residential building owners.

The Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund (EERLF) will introduce a specialized Bridge Loan to help non-profits and public entities finance energy efficiency audits and retrofits, building electrification, energy storage, and distributed generation projects.  These are short-term loans (12-18 months) intended to provide up-front financing for eligible energy efficiency projects, to be paid back upon receipt of certain federal and state incentives. These loans help “bridge” the financing delay for these projects. 

The bridge (construction) loans will be issued to finance costs eligible for federal tax credit refundable payments authorized under the IRA for publicly- and privately-owned commercial buildings, including those owned by nonprofits, and multifamily buildings with five or more units located in Illinois, which shall be repaid upon receipt of its refundable tax credit payment. For projects participating in the Illinois Solar for All (ILSFA) program, the Bridge Loan will also finance the portion of project costs eligible for the ILSFA project incentive, which shall be repaid upon receipt of the incentive payment.    

Eligibility criteria:  

An entity or individual which owns or operates a commercial or multifamily building which qualifies for refundable tax credit payments under the IRA, including for-profit entities filing a federal income tax return and governmental or not-for-profit entities eligible for Elective Pay. Also includes entities which also may qualify for a Illinois Solar for All project incentive.  Entities must be certified to receive federal funds and comply with utility-specific interconnection requirements.  

For commercial projects, including nonprofits, the Borrower must conduct the majority of its business in Illinois; this requirement is not applicable for projects in multifamily buildings). 

Each upgrade or retrofit must be recommended in a qualifying Energy Audit completed for a public- or privately-owned commercial building/structure located in Illinois. The project must address at least one of the following:  

• The energy efficiency of the building or facility
• The physical comfort of the building or facility occupants
• The quality of the air in the building or facility  

NOTE: Based on the criteria above, geothermal heating systems are eligible, but solar/PV systems would need to be paired with energy storage or designed to provide operation during utility electricity grid outage to be eligible.   

The project must also lead to at least one of the following outcomes:   

• Reduce the energy intensity of the building or facility of the Eligible Recipient.
• Improve the control and management of energy usage of the building or facility to reduce demand during peak times.    

Target Audience: 501(c)(3) organizations and other conduit borrowers.

IFA has statewide authorization to issue tax- exempt qualified private activity bonds to finance or refinance certain capital expenditures known as “qualified purposes” (see below) for 501(c)(3) organizations and other conduit borrowers, which provides these borrowers access to low-cost financing.  

As the conduit issuer, IFA acts an intermediary between the borrower and the lending institution and provides a federally tax-exempt status on the private activity bonds.  By providing this tax-exempt status, the Lender is incentivized to offer the 501(c)(3) borrower a lower interest rate on the bond, saving both the Lender and Borrower money in the long run.  

Bond Amount: Typically $5 million; No maximum  

Interest Rate: Lower than traditional loans, Determined by IFA/lender  

Term: Up to 40 years  

Eligibility Criteria:  

Qualified purposes for 501(c)(3) organizations generally include facilities such as hospitals, healthcare systems, continuing care retirement communities, universities, colleges, PreK-12 schools, student housing, museums and cultural institutions.  Small manufacturing facilities, water furnishing facilities, solid waste disposal facilities, surface freight transfer facilities, broadband projects and carbon dioxide capture facilities are among the qualified purposes for other conduit borrowers.  Tax-exempt financing permits terms of up to 40 years and allows financing of up to 100% of all project and closing costs. 

IFA is only the issuer of tax-exempt bonds; IFA is not a lending institution.  501(c)(3) organizations and other conduit borrowers that utilize IFA may work with banks, underwriters or placement agents of their own choosing and to assemble the team of professionals desired for any potential qualified purpose throughout Illinois. 

Target Audience: Small utilities seeking funding for electric grid resilience projects. 

Under Section 40101(d) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, USDOE is providing funds to states to create new grants programs focused on improving the resilience of their electric grids. The ICB will be responsible for distributing these grants in Illinois with a focus on targeting innovative approaches and funding gaps to improve reliability and resilience, particularly in disadvantaged communities that are least able to respond to power outages.  

Min. Award Amount: $150,000; Max. Award $8,000,000

Eligible entities include: 

• Electric grid operators;
• Electricity storage operators;
• Electricity generators;
• Transmission owner or operators;
• Distribution providers;
• Fuel suppliers; and
• Other relevant entities.

The State of Illinois has requested in its application and is working with the Secretary of Energy to approve the following additional eligible recipients:    

• Non-profit organizations;
• Units of local government;
• Critical facilities;
• Illinois Municipal Electric Association (IMEA); and
• Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) as eligible recipients.  

Subawards to eligible entities under this award can be used for activities, technologies, equipment, and hardening measures to reduce the likelihood and consequences of disruptive events, including:    

• weatherization technologies and equipment;
• fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems;
• monitoring and control technologies;
• the undergrounding of electrical equipment;
• utility pole management;
• the relocation of power lines or the reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors;
• vegetation and fuel-load management;
• the use or construction of distributed energy resources for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events, including microgrids; and battery-storage subcomponents;
• adaptive protection technologies;
• advanced modeling technologies;
• hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, of other systems; and
• the replacement of old overhead conductors and underground cables; and 
• other measures as determined or approved by US DOE.  

Target Audience: Residential solar customers participating in the Illinois Solar for All (ISFA) Residential (Small) subprogram, who would benefit from adding storage to their solar systems.  The Illinois Solar for All (ISFA) Residential Solar (Small) subprogram serves single-family and 1-4 unit multifamily buildings. 

The Storage forgivable loan program will provide up to $7,500 per household to add energy storage to solar photovoltaic systems, especially for households located in low-income or disadvantaged communities. The program will encourage the design of energy storage systems to work in concert with a solar array to provide a resilient source of power for the residence for 12 hours during an extreme heat or cold event or other grid outages . 

The Illinois Climate Bank will create a fund which can be accessed by Approved Vendors (AVs) and Designees working with residential customers or owners of residential multifamily buildings who are otherwise eligible for ISFA’s Residential (Small) subprogram.  Loans will have forgiveness provisions based on completion of solar installation, quality and completeness, and consumer savings. 

The Illinois Climate Bank will develop underwriting criteria that focus on the likelihood that the solar project will be installed.  Loans will be made available using a monthly or quarterly open application window, with decisions made on a competitive basis after the window closes. 50% of available funds will be reserved for projects serving eligible households with members age 65 years or older, reliant on electricity-dependent durable medical and assistive equipment and devices, or located in remote locations that are dependent on continuous access to power for life and safety (food, education, health, and safety).  The program will prioritize projects in areas identified as congested or experiencing a high proportion of outages by utility grid congestion and reliability maps.  

Maximum Award Amount: $7,500  

Term: 12-18 months 

Interest rate: Below-market, low-interest rate. 

Eligibility criteria:  

Priority will be given to eligible households in which there lives a person reliant on electricity-dependent durable medical and assistive equipment (DME) and devices.  Energy storage must be paired with the deployment of solar for households in low-income or disadvantaged communities. Projects located in utility territories where a distributed generation rebate is available must be designed to qualify for, and must apply for, that rebate, as well as any available tax credits. Projects must provide a resilient source of power for 12 hours continuously during an extreme heat or cold event, or other grid outages. 

Storage forgivable loans will be available to purchase and install behind-the-meter residential-scale battery storage systems in conjunction with ISFA-incentivized solar systems. Eligible equipment will include: 

• Batteries; 
• Smart inverters;
• Electric panel upgrades, which must be sized for whole home decarbonization; and
• Meter collars, where found to be more appropriate than a panel upgrade to the project’s technical requirements and cost effective. 

Target Audience: Approved Vendors (AVs) that need capital to offer residential lease-to-own solar systems that are eligible for incentives under the Illinois Solar for All (ISFA) Low-Income Residential (Small) and (Large) subprograms. 

The Illinois Climate Bank will launch a standard-offer Lease / Lease-to-own product(s) that would provide simple, easy-to-access financing for smaller and new solar contractors to offer to residential solar customers. The Illinois Climate Bank will create a revolving loan fund which can be accessed by eligible AVs to finance eligible activities. The Illinois Climate Bank will develop underwriting criteria that focus on the likely success of the contractor, as evidenced by their participation with ISFA programs, status as an equity eligible contractor under those programs, participation in other clean-energy-related economic development projects, and similar factors.  This program will enable smaller developers to compete with larger national developers that can facilitate in-house financing.  

Min. Award Amount: $5,000; Maximum Award Amount: $50,000  

Interest rate: Below-market. 

Eligibility:  

Lease-to-Own Loans will be available to AVs installing solar systems which have received Part 1 approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission under the ISFA Low-Income Residential (Small) and (Large) subprograms, but have not yet been completed and energized.  Because the US EPA definition of an eligible multifamily building1 differs from the ISFA program definition, multifamily projects will be screened and federal funds offered only to those that are eligible under the federal definition. Eligible AVs must have their principal office in Illinois and be very small businesses having fewer than 10 full-time employees. 

Projects must be eligible for ILSFA residential program, or otherwise eligible for Illinois Shines incentives and benefit a household in a low-income or disadvantaged community.