By Nick Reiher

Recently, Farmers Weekly Review was fortunate enough to be among a handful of media chosen by the New York Times to share its investigative piece on warehousing and how it as affected our way of life.

I was told by the project leader they share such pieces with media partners in the particular area of focus. The main writer of the piece, a Bolingbrook native, said she noticed our coverage of warehousing >cough NorthPoint< and said there was no way she could leave us out of the media share.

I told her I appreciated that very much, adding that in her new job with the Sun-Times/WBEZ, they might want to keep an eye on solar farms and data centers. She gave me a thumbs-up.

Which is what our County Board gave to the 6,100-acre solar farm – thought to be the largest in Illinois – ironically named “Pride of the Prairie.”

Couple things about that: Much of the only prairie left in the county is part of the nationally protected Midewin Tallgrass Prairie and areas owned by the Forest Preserve District of Will County.

And judging by the comments from those living around the massive solar farm plan, there’s not much pride, either.

Will County has its share of solar farms already. In fact, they’ve approved more than they’ve rejected. That count likely will increase since the Illinois Legislature in 2023 approved a bill that stripped counties and municipalities of most of their oversight for solar farms.

They did this, I am told by state Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., because one downstate county rejected all solar farm plans outright.

OK, but we’ve had three years for counties and municipalities to fight it. Fight to get back more of the zoning restrictions they had prior to 2023.

A legislator told me the environmental lobby has been a strong opponent of giving more authority back to the locals. That pushback makes it rough to change the law.

I do believe solar energy can be a viable supplement to our power grid; as did many of the opponents who spoke on Pride of the Prairie. But this one is large enough that it should have been broken down into smaller, individual plans. Not 90 parcels linked by rights-of-way.

Yet, turning down any solar farm plan risks the county being taken to court, as they were with six they rejected in 2024 and 2025. A judge overturned those rejections, and the County Board had to approve them.

Pride of the Prairie was not one of them. The County Board did not have to approve that one by court order. Some board members said they had to follow the law of the land set in Springfield, lest they be sued again. And taxpayers will have to foot the bill.

Yet, the county likely will be sued again by a group out of Green Garden Township that convinced a local judge there needed to be another county Planning and Zoning Commission hearing that allowed opponents to cross-examine developers.

As it did the first time, the P&Z recommended the full County Board reject Pride of the Prairie. The smaller, 2,400-acre Plum Valley Solar Farm sailed through. Same developer. Smaller plan.

So solar farm developers pretty much have their pick of where they want to build in Will County and throughout Illinois. So long as the landowners, often farmers, want to sell, or can be coerced to do so.

Tying the hands of local officials is not the way to build a partnership with environmentalists. Locals say they are willing to work to place solar farms in suitable areas. I strongly recommend state legislators give them the authority to do so.

 

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmer Weekly Review.