The land in Piatt County in central Illinois is flat, and it’s easy to see for miles around Jerry Edwards’ house in a rural area north of Mansfield. In a few months, his view will include a wind farm, with two wind turbines close by.
“There will be a tower the size of the Gateway Arch back this way in where the green cover crop is,” Edwards said. “And then in the field, just east of it … there will be a second right out a mile from here.”
Edwards, who is the vice chairman of the Piatt County Board, was among those who voted down the project in March 2023. Then, just seven months later, the board reversed course and approved the Prosperity Wind Project in a 4-2 vote.
While Edwards voted no both times, he said that on the second vote, his fellow board members felt they had no choice but to approve the Apex Clean Energy project, which will bring up to 50 wind turbines over 20,000 acres of farmland across two townships.
That’s because of a new law passed by the Illinois General Assembly last year, setting statewide standards for wind and solar projects.
“In a nutshell, the governor, the Speaker of the House, and the head of the Senate basically had a gun held to their head, saying you are going to vote for this,” Edwards said, “or else you subjected the county to lawsuits that would break the county.”
Across the Midwest a tug of war is taking place over renewable energy projects, like the one in Piatt County.
In Iowa, Woodbury County all but eliminated the possibility of wind projects by increasing setbacks for turbines. The town of New Bloomfield, Missouri, adopted regulations barring solar farms within 1,000 feet of the city limits. In Buffalo County, Nebraska, commissioners unanimously voted for restrictions that require wind turbines be at least 3 miles from any dwelling and 5 miles from a town.
But Illinois and Michigan are pushing back, with new laws that make it hard for local governments to say no to green projects.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation in January, 2023 blocking outright bans on wind and solar projects by local governments. Northern Illinois University law professor Sarah Fox, whose specialty is the intersection of environmental law, property and land use, said the state needs more wind and solar farms in order to meet its goal of 100% clean energy by 2050.
“If you have local governments around the state, unwilling to commit to wind and solar and other things, then Illinois is not going to be able to get to those renewable energy goals that it set,” Fox said.
In Michigan, the state’s Clean Energy Future legislation, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last November, includes a provision that moves final authority for the permitting of large-scale renewable energy projects over to the Michigan Public Service Commission. Before that, such decisions were decided at the local township level.
A notable example is Montcalm County. In 2022, voters in four townships rejected referendums that would have allowed four wind turbine projects and one solar farm. Besides rejecting the wind and solar projects, voters also recalled township officials who had supported them.
Once Michigan’s new Clean Energy Future legislation takes effect this November, such referendums will have no effect. Laura Sherman, president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, predicts the new laws will do good things for her state’s environment, as well as its economy.
“This is going to open up the market, cut red tape, reduce restrictions for businesses, create jobs, and enhance economic opportunities,” Sherman said.
