Ep 69: How IL Schools Are Saving ~$40k/yr in 2025

by Dakota Malone | May 8, 2025

SUMMARY: Dakota explains how the organization helps Illinois public schools save an average of $40,000 annually through community solar programs—at no cost and without installing solar panels. He highlights Illinois’ rapid growth in community solar capacity and emphasizes that projects are limited, making early participation crucial. The episode outlines the turnkey process his team offers to secure savings for schools, while also advancing sustainability and reducing reliance on strained public education budgets.

(0:00 – 0:20) Introduction: The Energy Crisis in Public Education

Dakota Malone opens the episode by introducing the core topic: how Community Solar Authority is helping Illinois public schools save an average of $40,000 annually through community solar. The podcast is designed to show schools how to access this vital, cost-saving energy program.

(0:21 – 1:00) Rising Energy Costs and Budget Strains

Public schools are facing increasing pressure on their budgets, often leading to program cuts that negatively affect students. Many schools are depleting their annual energy budgets within the first quarter. With Illinois planning utility rate hikes in 2025, schools are at greater risk of financial stress without intervention.

(1:01 – 1:38) Community Solar as a Turnkey Solution

Community Solar Authority provides large energy users—including schools—turnkey access to the community solar program. The initiative has already unlocked over $35 million in future energy savings. Dakota emphasizes the urgency of helping more schools secure available incentives before solar projects reach capacity.

(1:38 – 2:11) Addressing the Public Sector’s Energy Challenges

Dakota highlights that schools face real-world challenges like escalating electricity prices and rising demand. He reflects on the wisdom of “never stop learning” to frame the importance of educating schools about energy solutions. Their work is positioned as a way to protect educational quality by reducing utility costs.

(2:11 – 3:11) Program Stats and Results

Dakota outlines three key statistics from current rollouts:

Average Discount: 10% on 90% of qualified annual energy spending, secured by assessing bond ratings for eligibility as anchor tenants.
Average Completion Time: 90 days from start to finish, including data collection, board presentation, and contract execution.
Average Annual Savings: $40,000, with some schools projected to save up to $80,000. These savings improve district sustainability and operating profit.

(3:12 – 4:00) Explosive Growth of Community Solar in Illinois

Illinois has rapidly scaled its community solar infrastructure—from near zero in 2018 to over 400 MW in early 2025—thanks to strong incentives and equitable participation goals. Despite logistical challenges like interconnection delays, Illinois recently surpassed New York in total capacity and continues to lead nationally.

(4:00 – 4:40) A Finite Opportunity for Schools

Community solar projects are limited in size and cannot be oversubscribed. Schools are competing with other large energy users for access. Dakota warns that project capacity will tighten in coming years and encourages schools to act quickly to secure their place.

(4:41 – 5:22) Turnkey Support and Benefits for Schools

Community Solar Authority provides end-to-end support—from sourcing eligible projects to board-level approval. Participating schools benefit from:

Environmental leadership
Access to clean energy
Lower electricity costs without capital expenditure
No installation, ownership, or liability required

(5:22 – 5:42) Community Solar as Common Practice

Community solar is becoming standard in public sector energy strategies, especially in Illinois and New York. Dakota encourages schools to take proactive steps to integrate it into their budgets and sustainability plans.

(5:43 – 6:14) Getting Started: Steps for Enrollment

Dakota outlines the simple enrollment process:

Book a strategy call at communitysolarauthority.com
Share utility data and bond rating for eligibility
Review and approve a project through the board
Finalize a subscription agreement

Additional educational resources are available via email or LinkedIn.

(6:15 – 6:18) Conclusion

Dakota thanks listeners and closes the episode, encouraging continued engagement and action to bring energy savings and sustainability to Illinois public schools.

This episode showcases the urgency and feasibility of helping schools save on energy costs, while also highlighting the broader growth and impact of community solar in Illinois.

To listen to the full episode… go to Spotify to listen.

Want to CONNECT on LinkedIN? Go here

If you’re new to my channel, my name is Dakota Malone. I’m a co-founder of Community Solar Authority. We’re a commercial solar developer & consultant on a mission to streamline clean energy deployment.

We deliver turnkey access to community solar for large users of electricity, & our company has unlocked access to $20M+ in future electricity savings for our clients.

Today, we’re focused on educating municipalities, corporations, stakeholders- & other entities consuming lots of electricity to help them benefit from the trillion-dollar clean energy economy.

To our future procurement, facilities, & finance teams we speak to.. we’re here to serve you well with this content ahead of time so that we have a productive conversation when we meet.

Want to access enhanced sustainability & improved operating profit in 90 days?

Book a call and get started.
Here In Service,
Dakota

Read the transcript

(0:00 – 0:20)
Hey guys, this is Dakota Malone. Welcome back to another episode of Sustainability Strategies. Today, I want to dive into how we’ve helped Illinois public schools save an average of $40,000 a year using community solar, and this podcast is around accessing the energy program every public school needs.

(0:21 – 0:44)
We believe that the education sector should be focused on supporting students, not worrying about an energy budget. Yet public education is being squeezed more than ever on their annual budgets, which leads to program cuts and an overall worse experience in school for kids. On the energy side of the conversation, our team heard of schools blowing through their energy budgets for the year within the first quarter.

(0:44 – 1:00)
That’s when we started to explore working with schools. Now in 2025, Illinois is setting up for a rate hike across utilities that will make it even harder for schools to properly budget when they’ll now be paying more for the same service they’ve had. My name is Dakota Malone.

(1:01 – 1:18)
I co-founded Community Solar Authority. We work with large energy users and help them access the community solar program turnkey. We’ve unlocked access to over $35 million in future energy savings for our clients, and we’re focused on working with as many schools as possible to help them capture these available incentives while they’re here.

(1:18 – 1:38)
This podcast goes further into the work we’ve done so far to help our average Illinois public school client access $40,000 a year in savings on a $0 investment without installing solar. Let’s start by educating the education system. The reality is the public sector has more challenges in the energy space than ever before.

(1:38 – 1:51)
Rising electricity costs, rate hikes, and ever increasing demand are real world problems that need to be solved in the space. Something my father shared with me as a boy was simple, sage wisdom. Never stop learning.

(1:51 – 2:11)
May our work with schools display our commitment to ensure a bright future for students so that they get a proper education without the burden of unsustainable energy costs. I’d like to share some stats around the community solar rollouts we’ve done so far to help others get an idea of our process and outcomes. The average discount is 10%.

(2:11 – 2:28)
We qualify the schools we work with based on available bond ratings to secure an anchor position in community solar projects. This allows us to maximize the available discount and provide 10% savings across 90% of total qualified annual spending. Two, the average completion time is 90 days.

(2:29 – 2:52)
We work closely with our contacts at the school to make sure we collect all the data we need promptly presented at the board meeting and follow any purchasing requirements to finalize a community solar rollout in an average of 90 days. Lastly, the average savings unlocked is about $40,000 a year. The average Illinois school we’re supporting with community solar in 2025 is accessing $40,000 a year in set it and forget it savings.

(2:52 – 3:11)
This helps enhance business sustainability practices and improves overall operating profit at the district. We’re slowly improving our average savings numbers as we roll out to larger schools and districts. In fact, right now we have a proposal together that’s going through a board meeting this month that will reach an average of $80,000 a year in savings.

(3:12 – 3:27)
Next, let’s talk about the growth of Illinois community solar. Illinois has experienced significant community solar expansion in recent years. The state’s community solar capacity has grown from virtually non-existent in 2018 to over 400 megawatts by early 2025.

(3:28 – 4:00)
This growth has been fueled by ambitious renewable portfolio standards, strong incentive programs through the Illinois shines incentive and equity focused provisions that ensure participation from environmental justice communities. Despite interconnection challenges and wait lists for new projects, Illinois continues to rank among the top US states for community solar and in fact has recently surpassed New York. Below is a graph from Wood Mac that shows community solar growth across the U S and we are slowly seeing the nationwide adoption because of how successful the program has been in markets like New York and Illinois.

(4:00 – 4:24)
And for those listening, we are expecting to see continued community solar growth into 2026 and then slowly starting to decline into 2027, 28 and 29. Also, this is not accounting for new market growth, which is why I expect the growth of community solar to continue to surge. At the same time, it’s important to know that community solar projects are finite assets.

(4:24 – 4:40)
And once they’re filled, they’re unable to subscribe further utility accounts to that given project. Meaning there is not an endless amount of solar farms for Illinois schools to sign up for and take advantage of. And they are also dealing with every other large energy user who also wants to capture these available.

(4:41 – 5:22)
The benefit of working with community solar authority is that we can help deliver turnkey access to the community solar program, help you get it approved at your school and deliver all the work required to source a real project that will generate annual savings. The benefits of participating in community solar for your district include displaying environmental stewardship, supporting access to democratizing clean energy, accessing lower electricity costs that hedge inflation, avoiding any capex costs to participate and benefit from solar and avoiding any physical installations, ownership or liability. In conclusion, community solar is one of the most shovel ready U.S. clean energy programs to date in states like Illinois and New York.

(5:22 – 5:42)
It is becoming common practice to utilize in your energy strategy, especially in the public sector. If you’re an Illinois public school seeking to take advantage of the program and want to get started, here’s what next steps look like. One, visit community solar authority.com and book a complimentary strategy call with our team to see if we’re a good fit and make sure you’re all caught up to speed on education.

(5:43 – 6:14)
Two, we’ll look at your utility accounts, review your bond rating and perform an energy audit to determine how much you can save. From there, we’ll source you available community solar projects, and then we will send it through the board for approval and execute the agreement to finalize your community solar subscription. If you’d like to get additional information, including PDF documents on everything you need to know about community solar, you can shoot me an email today at dmaloneatcommunitiesolarauthority.com or you can check in on LinkedIn at linkedin.com slash in slash Dakota Malone.

(6:15 – 6:18)
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode and I will catch you on the next one.