County Committee approves Eau Claire County plan that discourages commercial wind, solar, and data center development on farmland

EAU CLAIRE (WQOW) - Eau Claire County is moving forward with a plan to protect area farmland from being turned into large commercial wind and solar farms and data centers.

The Planning and Development Committee voted Tuesday night and unanimously approved recommending that the county board approve a farmland preservation plan. The updated Farmland Preservation Plan says it is the county’s objective to protect against construction of commercial wind and solar energy production, non-metallic mining, and data centers on farmland in the county.

If the county board approves, those goals would act as guidance for future development decisions.

County Board Supervisor Dane Zook says the protections are based on what they heard as priorities from area farmers, hoping to keep large commercial entities from using up land for agriculture.

“We do not really want, and the people in Eau Claire County do not want to see some entity come in here, build a bunch of big wind towers and make money off of it doing that,” Zook said.

The new plan would update how the county defines developments like data centers and commercial wind production. 

The current Farmland Preservation Plan is set to expire in 2027. Having a preservation plan in place allows the county to access certain tax credits for farmers through Wisconsin DATCP.

The Planning and Development Committee approved the plan Tuesday evening. Now the committee would recommend it be added to the county’s comprehensive plan by the County Board.

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