The Illuminating Company Solar

Who This Page Is For

Use this guide if your bill says The Illuminating Company (also known historically as Cleveland Electric Illuminating / CEI) — FirstEnergy’s Greater Cleveland operating company. The PUCO tariff territory covers distribution service in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Summit, and Trumbull Counties. Confirm the address on the PUCO map; parts of Cuyahoga County can also be Ohio Edison, and parts of the City of Cleveland are Cleveland Public Power.

City permits, neighborhoods, and the CPP vs Illuminating split are covered on solar in Cleveland, Ohio. Sibling FirstEnergy utilities: Ohio Edison solar and Toledo Edison solar.

Not Illuminating Company? See AEP Ohio solar, AES Ohio solar, Duke Energy Ohio solar, or Columbus Division of Power solar.

Illuminating Company vs Cleveland Public Power

The Illuminating Company is a PUCO-regulated investor-owned utility. Cleveland Public Power (CPP) is a separate municipal utility serving parts of the City of Cleveland with its own solar interconnection application. An Illuminating Company interconnection approval does not apply to a CPP meter, and the reverse is also true.

Read the utility name on the bill before you start paperwork. This page is only for Illuminating Company / FirstEnergy delivery customers.

Illuminating Company Interconnection

The Illuminating Company uses FirstEnergy’s shared Ohio Retail Interconnection portal with Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison. Typical residential designs follow Level 1: ≤ 25 kW, inverter-based, certified, with a posted $50 application fee. Level 2 and Level 3 fees and capacity bands are posted on the same page.

Required package pieces include the site plan, one-line diagram, application fee, later Level 1 Short Form Agreement, Net Energy Metering Rider application, and third-party inspection documentation. FirstEnergy notes that bi-directional meter installation can take several weeks after the Net Energy Metering Rider application is in place, and that excess-generation credits are not tracked until that meter is set.

Illuminating Company interconnection mail: Attn: CEI Interconnection, 6099 Angola Road, Holland, OH 43528. Technical email: CEI_interconnection@firstenergycorp.com. Meter and billing: customer service 1-800-589-3101. Statewide interconnection standards: OAC Chapter 4901:1-22.

Illuminating Company Rider No. 17 — Net Energy Metering

The Illuminating Company’s PUCO No. 13 book includes Rider No. 17 Net Energy Metering Rider (Original Sheet No. 93, effective October 27, 2009, still listed in the current tariff table of contents). Eligibility matches Ohio’s customer-generator definition: solar and other listed resources on the premises, parallel operation, primarily to offset the customer’s own use.

Billing mechanics match the FirstEnergy Ohio sibling riders: net delivered kWh are billed under the applicable rate schedule’s energy charges; net excess kWh in a billing period are credited using energy charges of the Generation Service Rider (GEN), accumulate as bill credits, and may be refunded on written request up to an annual twelve-month true-up.

FirstEnergy’s FAQ restates the consumer version: one-for-one offset up to energy delivered in the period; excess at the applicable generation component. We do not publish an Illuminating Company export ¢/kWh. FirstEnergy also states there is currently no company-sponsored rebate for customer-owned self-generation. Statewide rules: OAC 4901:1-10-28. Timing of other programs: Ohio solar incentives.

What Appears on an Illuminating Company Bill

Confirm the delivery company line reads The Illuminating Company (not Ohio Edison, CPP, AEP Ohio, or Duke). Note the residential rate schedule, competitive-supplier status if any, and twelve months of kWh history for sizing discussion under the statewide 120% historical-usage net-metering test.

Upload a statement for bill analysis. Panels overview: Ohio solar panels.

Options We Compare for Illuminating Company Customers

We compare Propel, cash, loan, and PPA for Illuminating Company homes. See solar financing in Ohio and solar batteries in Ohio.

IRC 25D is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. We confirm current federal timing when we quote.

Illuminating Company Solar — FAQs

My Cleveland address — is it always The Illuminating Company?

No. Many Cleveland-metro homes are Illuminating Company, but City of Cleveland pockets may be Cleveland Public Power, and some Cuyahoga County areas may be Ohio Edison. The bill and PUCO map decide.

Is excess solar credited at the full stacked residential rate?

Not under Rider No. 17’s excess formula. Net excess uses Generation Service Rider (GEN) energy charges. Self-consumed solar still offsets usage at the house before it shows as export.

Which interconnection email do I use?

CEI_interconnection@firstenergycorp.com for The Illuminating Company — not the Ohio Edison or Toledo Edison inboxes.

Official Sources

• FirstEnergy Ohio Retail Interconnection (CEI contacts, Level 1 fees, portal)
• FirstEnergy Ohio interconnection FAQ
• The Illuminating Company P.U.C.O. No. 13 Schedule of Rates (territory; Rider No. 17 / Sheet 93)
• OH Net Energy Metering Rider – Application for Service
• OAC 4901:1-10-28
• OAC Chapter 4901:1-22

Last reviewed: September 2026. Illuminating Company tariffs and FirstEnergy fees can change.