Solar energy is becoming the green energy source of choice for many homeowners. If you are thinking about installing solar panels or any distributed generation asset, be sure to contact your electric cooperative. 

Kankakee Valley REMC member-consumers who install distributed generation must follow the cooperative’s guidelines when interconnecting to the power grid.  If the connection is not done to the approved national standards, you — a member of the public — or our line crew could get hurt.   

To ensure all national standards are being met and that safety is being maintained, we ask that you complete an interconnection application. This application provides us with details about your system. Upon approval of the interconnection application, you will receive an interconnection agreement.   

In addition, we also require that member-consumers with distributed generation assets to have a $1 million liability policy naming Kankakee Valley REMC as the additional insured on the policy.  This policy must be on file at our office and be updated annually or your distributed generation unit will be subject to disconnection. We enforce this policy to ensure the safety of the public and our employees who must maintain the power lines on which your system is interconnected. 

After KV REMC is notified that your distributed generation unit has passed all jurisdiction inspections, a KV REMC representative will conduct an additional inspection on the unit to verify it meets all safety requirements before it is placed into service.  

It is important that you follow the process outlined by KV REMC to ensure that your system gets approved and can be placed on the net-billing rate.  Visit https://www.kvremc.com/services/alternative-energy for details.