Clean energy projects soar in Illinois following state takeover of zoning rules

DANVILLE, Ill. — Last year, a national renewable energy company requested a permit to build a 180-megawatt solar installation on more than 1,400 acres in Vermilion County that could power around 160,000 homes a year.

The Vermilion County Board responded in June 2024 by promptly denying the Mural Energy project proposed by REV Renewables, which has built 27 solar arrays across the U.S.

The company filed a lawsuit against the county, saying the action was illegal. In August, over a year later, the project received its permit — but not from the board.

It was issued by a judge through a court order.

STATE CONTROL OVER LOCAL OPPOSITION

A judge ruled Illinois House Bill 4412, passed by lawmakers in 2023, allows county boards to vote on permits, but bans local governments from outright prohibiting wind and solar projects.

The law established statewide siting, zoning and setback standards for commercial-size wind and solar projects, and local county ordinances can’t be more restrictive than the state-level setback standards.

Before the legislation, Illinois counties had total authority on siting and zoning clean-energy projects.

Following a 2021 Illinois law that invested millions to incentivize development and pledged to make Illinois 100% carbon free by 2050, many counties had ramped up restrictions or implemented outright bans on solar and wind.

Two years later, state lawmakers responded by approving the siting law to stop local officials from holding up projects that would help Illinois reach its clean-energy goals, explained Sarah Fox, a Marquette University Law School associate professor who researches environmental policy and land use.

“Any county that potentially thought these wind or solar farms might be coming, a ban was probably something on the table to discuss,” she said. “Which is why we see the state getting involved here.”

Officials in rural counties like Vermilion, where energy companies are aggressively pursuing large-scale projects, have pushed back hard against the state overriding their authority, explained Jeff Danielson, vice president of advocacy of the Clean Grid Alliance.

Some have attempted to circumvent state control by charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for siting permits. In Ogle County, officials in February voted to increase the application fee for commercial solar and wind projects from a maximum of $25,000 to a fixed cost of $100,000.

Other counties have tried to kill projects through means such as assessing fees through road-use agreements to put financial strain on developers, according to Danielson.

“There are a handful of counties where it was clear that they were not going to honor the spirit of the law,” he said.

Now, after approving two bills aimed directly at bolstering clean energy in Illinois, legislators in October passed a third that further encourages development and makes it harder than ever for counties to oppose solar and wind projects.

SPEEDING UP GREEN ENERGY

The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act is sweeping legislation that sets new policy for the state’s entire energy sector, reducing utility rate hikes, strengthening the state’s power grid and expanding renewable energy sources.

It also includes multiple provisions that expedite solar and wind projects to avoid lengthy lawsuits that can hold up construction for years.

That includes establishing a process for siting disputes between counties and developers. Instead of heading to a courtroom for traditional litigation, siting decisions are now adjudicated by an administrative law judge.

The judge conducts a streamlined hearing and issues a non-binding report on whether the project complies with the state’s siting law. That report is sent to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which makes the final determination and issues a siting certificate if the project meets requirements.

The new process aims to reduce legal costs while allowing local officials to provide input and force a project to be reviewed if they think it violates state law, explained Danielson with the Clean Grid Alliance.

The act also imposes a new “reasonableness” requirement for siting and building permit application fees. For wind and solar projects, siting fees can’t exceed $125,000 and building permit fees max out at $75,000.

Local governments can also now only charge the “reasonable” costs of improving and repairing roadways used for construction. County officials are barred from imposing fees unrelated to the project.

The law also updates siting and construction requirements for wind and solar projects that aim to protect landowners and neighbors from unwanted side effects.

Wind turbines must be sited so that shadow flicker doesn’t exceed 30 hours per year for any occupied community building or nearby residence. To reduce glare, solar panels can’t exceed 20 feet in height. And developers must submit a farmland drainage restoration plan to be completed when construction is finished.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has yet to sign the legislation, but he has pledged to do so.

In total, the provisions create unified, statewide siting requirements that make it crystal clear how projects can be developed in Illinois, explained Danielson. For solar-and-wind companies, that consistency makes the state an attractive place to build, he said.

“We think that the sum total of the actions in the omnibus energy bill will mean that Illinois has one of the most certain permit processes of any state in the Midwest,” Danielson added.

GOING ‘BANANAS’

The impact of Illinois’ concerted push since 2021 to increase clean energy development is clear.

In 2024, following approval of the state siting law, solar projects skyrocketed and nearly quadrupled the state’s solar-energy capacity from around 800 megawatts in 2023 to nearly 3,000 megawatts, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The association projects the state will add nearly 12,700 megawatts of solar over the next five years, marking a 1,700% increase from this year and ranking Illinois fifth in the nation for new capacity.

Those numbers wouldn’t be possible if counties still maintained control of siting energy projects, argued Fox with Marquette University.

“If you’re trying to be carbon neutral by 2050 and you have a lot of these facilities being blocked, then you’re just not going to be able to achieve those goals,” Fox said.

That’s what’s happening in states such as Indiana and Iowa, where counties have total authority on zoning solar-and-wind projects. In multiple instances, companies have had to abandon projects or sue after officials implemented a ban or revoked a permit in the middle of development.

Danielson argued those policies essentially allow counties to make clean energy illegal simply based on the fact that some local residents don’t like the projects. Often, he said, the opposition stems not from opinions on energy policy, but political viewpoints.

In the face of climate change and a rapidly evolving global energy market that’s quickly moving toward renewables, that has dangerous consequences for the nation’s energy future, Danielson contended.

“People may have had experience with NIMBY — not in my backyard,” Danielson said. “But I would argue we’re in a BANANA state of mind right now — build absolutely nothing anywhere near anybody.”

“If you can’t build anything to manage your energy needs, then the rest of your economy is going to suffer.”