YearEndReport

For Program Year 2024-25, at least 10% of the project workforce for each entity participating in the llinois Shines program must be composed of Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs). With the exception of Equity Eligible Contractors (EECs), all Approved Vendors (AVs) and Designees participating in the 2024-25 Illinois Shines Program Year must comply with this requirement. For more information on the Minimum Equity Standard, please visit https://illinoisshines.com/equity-accountability-system-hub/.

The MES Year-End Report is intended for your organization to document compliance with this requirement. Required data and information include:

AV/Designee Information
Project workforce total
Project workforce demographic information
Equity Eligible Person total, including proof of EEP eligibility and any supporting documentation (e.g., proof of residency in an EIEC)
Outreach efforts employed to recruit EEPs
Job training program graduate hiring data, Illinois-based workforce diversity data

Please complete the following to submit your MES Year-End Report for review by the Program Administrator. Asterisks indicate required sections. Any supplemental documents, including Equity Eligible Person attestations and supporting documentation, should be uploaded to the form, or saved to your organization’s secure SharePoint folder. Please reach out to mes@illinoisshines.com if you have trouble accessing your folder.

Please be prepared to complete this form in a single session since this form does not provide a "save for later" option.

Failure to submit an MES Year-End Report by July 15, 2025 will result in escalation to the Program Administrator’s Consumer Protection Team, consistent with Sections X.C-D of the Consumer Protection Handbook. Failure to comply may risk future good standing in the Program and may result in disciplinary action.

Please note that the MES Year-End Reports, once submitted, will become public records that may be subject to disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140); as such, if any information within this MES Year-End Report should be protected from disclosure, please indicate what information, if any, is proprietary, privileged, or confidential, and the disclosure of that information would cause competitive harm. Any personally identifiable or private information contained in EEP attestations and supporting documents will be held confidential and exempt from disclosure under Sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

1. Submitting Company Name

2. AV and/or Designee ID #(s):

3. Name of Person Completing Form

4. Job Title of Person Completing Form

5. Email of Person Completing Form

6. During the 2024-25 Program Year (June 3, 2024 – May 30, 2025), did your organization submit projects to Illinois Shines, perform construction on a previously Part I approved project, conduct any sales or marketing activity for projects that have been or will be submitted to the Program, manage subscriptions for a community solar project that holds a REC contract (including projects approved prior to the passage of CEJA), maintain a project on a waitlist, or otherwise conduct business on a project seeking or that holds a REC contract?

If you answer ‘no’, you do not need to complete the rest of the form. Choosing ‘no’ to this question will complete your submission. The Program Administrator will verify your entity’s non-participation and, if confirmed, no further action in regard to the MES will be required from your organization for Program Year 2024-25.

7. During the 2024-25 Program Year (June 3, 2024 – May 30, 2025), did your organization hire any new employees that work on Illinois Shines? This can include full-time, part-time, contractors, or any other type of employee. If you answer no, the Program Administrator may request documentation verifying that your organization did not do any hiring or contracting activity during the Program Year.

7a. Please provide an explanation of the circumstances that led your organization to not hiring during the Program Year. Be sure to indicate any efforts you made in contacting EEPs, even if it did not result in hiring.

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

Illinois-based, Illinois Shines Project Workforce Data

Please exclude employees/workers of Designees that your organization worked with on projects this year. For the purposes of the MES, "project workforce” includes: Employees, contractors and their employees, and subcontractors and their employees, whose job duties are directly required by or substantially related to the development, construction, and operation of a project that is participating in or intended to participate in the IPA-administered programs and procurements under Section 1-75(c) of the IPA Act. This shall include both project installation workforce and workforce in administrative, sales, marketing, and technical roles where those workers’ duties are performed in Illinois. For purposes of this definition, ‘directly required by or substantially related to’ shall be construed to be any direct employee of the Approved Vendor, Designee, or any contractor and its employees whose contract exceeds 5% of the REC Contract value. Employees of contractors below that threshold may be counted on a voluntary basis, but if the Approved Vendor or Designee includes at least one such contractor whose contract is less than 5% of the REC Contract value, then all contractors below the threshold must be included. 

Workforce Diversity

Please enter all applicable answers numerically e.g. “0” instead of “none.”

8. Total number of employees/workers on Illinois Shines projects during the 2024-25 Program Year.

Race

White

Black or African American

Hispanic or Latinx

Asian

American Indian or Alaska Native

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Two or more races

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Gender Identity

Male

Female

Non-Binary

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Disabled

Disabled

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Employment Status

Full-Time

Part-Time

Temporary/Seasonal

Independent Contractors

8e. Residential zip codes of all employees in the company’s Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce.

If preferred, please upload a list or document containing zip codes of all employees to the field below.

Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs)

9. Total number of EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce for the 2024-25 Program Year.

An Equity Eligible Person (“EEP”) is a person that “would benefit most from equitable investments by the State designed to combat discrimination,” and CEJA provided four specific characteristics that would qualify a person as an EEP:

Graduates or current or former participants in the Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, Clean Energy Contractor Incubator Program, Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program, Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program, or the Clean Energy Primes Contractor Accelerator Program, and the solar training pipeline and multicultural jobs program created by FEJA
Persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system
Persons who were formerly incarcerated
Persons whose primary residence is in an equity eligible investment community
Only individuals who fit within these criteria will count as Equity Eligible Persons.

10. Does your company work with any EEC subcontractors?

10a. Please list the names of the EEC subcontractors

10b. How many of the EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce are employed by an EEC subcontractor?

The Agency will count Equity Eligible Persons employed by an EEC-certified subcontractor, including the Equity Eligible Person majority-owner, 1.5 times in calculating compliance with the MES.

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

Total number of EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce: 0

11. Please provide the total number of EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce that qualify as EEPs based on each of the following eligibility criteria. For individuals that are self-registered as EEPs in the Energy Workforce Equity Portal, and for whom eligibility criteria is unknown to the employer, please include them in the final number. Make sure that the numbers provided in this section add up to the total number of EEPs in your Illinois project workforce provided at the top of this section. Please enter all answers numerically e.g., “0” instead of “none”.

Graduates or current or former participants of qualifying workforce training program(s)
Persons who are graduates of or currently enrolled in the foster care system
Persons who were formerly incarcerated
Persons whose primary residence is in an equity eligible investment community
Individuals self-registered in Energy Workforce Equity Portal, or eligibility criteria unknown

Please provide the total number of EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce that belong to each of the following demographic and employment classifications. Make sure that the totals provided in this section add up to the total number of EEPs in your Illinois project workforce referenced below. Please enter all answers numerically e.g., “0” instead of “none”.

Total number of EEPs in your Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce: 0

Race

White

Black or African American

Hispanic or Latinx

Asian

American Indian or Alaska Native

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

Two or more races

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Gender Identity

Male

Female

Non-Binary

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Disabled

Disabled

Did not self-identify/not disclosed

Employment Status

Full-Time

Part-Time

Temporary/Seasonal

Independent Contractors

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

EEP Verification

13. 1 Please complete the table below with names of all EEPs in your total project workforce, and indicate the method used to verify their eligibility. Please provide the full names of individuals in your total Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce who have registered as EEPs in the Energy Workforce Equity Portal and provide the full name of individuals you would like to count as EEPs that have not registered as such in the Energy Workforce Equity Portal. Energy Workforce Equity Portal. Follow the directions below to ensure proper certification of those individuals as EEPs.

For any EEPs in your organization’s total Illinois-based Illinois Shines project workforce who are not registered in the Energy Workforce Equity Portal as EEPs, forward the attestation link below for signature by the EEP. Completed attestations should be uploaded by the Approved Vendor/Designee within their form submission, or to their secure MES SharePoint folder by the Year-End Report deadline. Please note: supplemental documentation is required for EEPs who qualify based on graduation from a participating workforce training program, or whose primary residence is located in an Equity Investment Eligible Community. Acceptable documentation is described below. All personally identifying information and private information will be held confidential.

The EEP attestation can be downloaded here:
https://illinoisshines.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/EEP-Attestation-Form-v250411.pdf

For EEPs who qualify based on graduation or current participation in a qualifying workforce training program, please provide either an acceptance letter from the training provider or a certificate of completion, where available, from the training provider.
For EEPs who qualify based on primary residence, please provide one of the following: the individual’s driver’s license, state ID, pay stub, utility bill, lease, mortgage agreement, or other similar documentation for the Program Administrator to verify the individual’s address.

Line items have been populated below based on the amount of EEP's stated in question 9. Please complete all items.

13a. I have uploaded all required EEP attestations and supplemental documentation above and/or have verified EEP registration in the Energy Workforce Equity Portal for all EEPs listed.

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

14. Job Training Graduate Hiring for Development of Illinois Shines Projects

Please enter all applicable answers numerically e.g. “0” instead of “none.”
This data is being collected for use by the Illinois Power Agency. Participation in these programs does not necessarily qualify an individual as an EEP. Note that participation in the Craft Apprenticeship Program does not qualify an individual as an EEP.

Program(s)

Solar Training Pipeline Program

Craft Apprenticeship Program

Multi-Cultural Jobs Program

Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program

Illinois Climate Works Pre-apprenticeship Program

Returning Residents Clean Jobs Training Program

Other

Employment Status

Full-Time

Part-Time

Temporary/Seasonal

Independent Contractors

Average Wage ($/hour in format 00.00)

Partnerships and Outreach

15. If your company is an Approved Vendor, please list any Designees your company works with.

16. If your company is a Designee, please list any Approved Vendors or Nested Designees your company works with.

17. Please list any non-EEC subcontractors your company works with.

18. Did you partner with Equity Eligible Contractor Approved Vendors or Designees.

Equity Eligible Contractors are designated as such on the AV/Designee directories found on our Program website: https://illinoisshines.com/find-an-av-or-designee/

18a. Please list the name(s) of the EEC AVs or Designees.

19. Please report steps taken to implement the plan for local outreach to increase the utilization of EEPs and EECs as outlined in the organization’s MES Compliance Plan submitted in June, 2024. Please also report any ways in which the approach outlined in the Compliance Plan changed over the course of the Program Year.

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

Narrative Feedback

Please use this opportunity to share your feedback with the Program Administrator and Illinois Power Agency.

19. What efforts has your organization undertaken to recruit/hire trainees from FEJA and CEJA training programs? Please include any particular challenges or successes you had.

20. Did you hire graduates from any training programs other than those listed above (Solar Training Pipeline Program, Craft Apprenticeship Program, and Multicultural Jobs Programs)? If so, please list which programs the graduates came from.

21. What efforts has your organization undertaken to hire EEPs or engage EECs? Please include any particular challenges or successes you had.

22. How has your company approached meeting the MES? Have there been any obstacles?

24. Please upload any additional supplemental documentation you would like to attach to your MES Year-End Report. This may include documentation showing good faith effort to comply with the MES, as described in the Safe Harbor guidance (for small businesses with less than 10 employees that hired new staff during the Program Year). . (Maximum 5 uploads)

Please identify if any responses above contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information, the disclosure of which would cause competitive harm.

Illinois-based, Illinois Shines Project Workforce Data

Workforce Diversity

Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs)

EEP Verification

Partnerships and Outreach

Narrative Feedback

Please complete required Fields

Section Totals Must Match