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Cloudy with occasional rain late. Areas of dense fog. Low 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Updated: December 27, 2025 @ 1:35 pm
The Lee County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to regulate commercial wind, solar and battery projects in 2025.
Solar panels in a rural area.
The Lee County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to regulate commercial wind, solar and battery projects in 2025.
Solar panels in a rural area.
It took a lot of work — planning, discussions, input from professionals, experts and residents — and many, many conversations.
But the Lee County Board of Supervisors was able to craft and approve an ordinance to regulate commercial wind, solar and battery projects in 2025.
The ordinance was crafted to ensure Lee County residents and green energy business wishing to form partnerships with landowners for wind, solar, and battery energy projects would have a detailed set of rules from the county regulating how such projects could operate and to establish protections for any neighboring properties.
The supervisors passed the ordinance in May following several months of discussions, consultations with experts and interested parties, and town hall meetings. These would allow the public, green industry business representatives and others, all beginning in 2024, to make sure their thoughts and concerns were heard before settling on the final draft of the ordinance.
“The purpose of this Ordinance is to establish a set of minimum standards for the siting, placement, construction, installation, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of utility-scale Wind, Solar and Battery Energy Systems, in order to protect the public health, safety and community welfare of the residents of Lee County,” county officials stated at the time of the ordinance’s passage.
The ordinance covers a wide range of regulations pertaining to green energy projects and partnerships with local property owners, including the following:
But, the ordinance does not apply to individual property owners seeking to install wind, solar or battery energy installations for their own personal use.
In the lead-up to the ordinance’s passage, the supervisors stated that the point of the ordinance was to provide protections for non-participating landowners from any possible impacts from neighboring projects, as well as protections for landowners that are entering into such dealings with green energy companies so as to ensure they do not get taken advantage of.
“(The Board of Supervisors) recognized that significant interest in Lee County for wind and solar energy products, Lee County’s proximity to significant energy transmission lines, as well as a fairly significant amount of open space, made us a prime candidate for these projects,” former District 2 Supervisor Tom Schulz told attendees of a town hall meeting on the ordinance proposal at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Montrose in January.
“Add to that our lack of natural gas resources in this area and the fact that one of the largest manufacturers of blades for wind energy projects is located here, there are many reasons why this is being looked at.
“When we undertook this initially, we understood some undeniable truths: the government of the State of Iowa is very, very, very much in favor of these projects.”
Schulz added that, in the past, counties in Minnesota and Illinois had passed regulations that either restricted or banned wind and solar projects only to have their state governments intervene and enforce statewide regulations instead.
“Statewide regulation, in the view of the board, as it existed at the time, was a very bad idea because it would not allow the proper protection for citizens of Lee County,” Schulz said. “That brings us to our current draft proposed ordinance…
“We’re quite cognizant of the things that have happened in some other areas where these projects have gone south in a very bad way, and where landowners and adjacent property owners were left hanging.
“We are attempting, very strongly in this ordinance, to protect those people.”
“This ordinance looks at wind, solar, and battery storage,” District 4 Supervisor Garry Seyb said at that January town hall.
“There are several projects. There is not just a single project right now in Lee County. There are multiple wind projects that are being looked at, multiple battery projects that are being looked at, and multiple solar projects that are being looked at, one of which has already been completed in Lee County as most of you know, a 900 acre solar project that was done by Alliant and completed in the green bay bottom of the Denmark area…
“This is an attempt to make sure that we are doing what we need to do in our estimation of protecting adjoining landowners who may or may not be supporting projects, but also for those landowners who do wish to support a project and are potentially going to gain from having those on their ground, that they also have that opportunity as well.”
The supervisors later acknowledged that the Iowa Legislature may pass statewide laws in the future overruling any laws and ordinances established by Iowa counties, and stated that the passage of Lee County’s ordinance could be seen as reasonable and fair to both participating landowners and their non-participating neighbors, and potentially eliminate the need for statewide laws.
Prior to the ordinance’s passage, District 4 Supervisor Garry Seyb acknowledged the debates among Des Moines County residents wishing to see changes made to their county’s solar and wind energy project ordinance, particularly wishing to see greater setback boundaries between participating and non-participating properties.
Seyb said they have already looked at what Des Moines County has been talking about: “a lot of what (they’ve discussed) we have addressed, talked about, or discussed.
“The numbers that they’re using are not the numbers that we used. But I think we hit a lot of what is being discussed (in Des Moines County).”
The supervisors also stated they had not received any comments on the ordinance from the public nor any solar and wind energy businesses, other than the input they had received at their public meetings.
“I think that it’s important that we get as much (regulation possible) in place protecting both sides,” said District 5 Supervisor Ginger Knisley.
“And then down the line, as the industry changes, we can make amendments. But I think it is important to get the ordinance in place.”
A week after the ordinance was passed, the supervisors also passed a resolution establishing fire safety and emergency response standards for wind and solar energy systems in Lee County.
The resolution formalized the roles and responsibilities of fire departments operating within Lee County in the event of any emergencies involving solar and wind energy setups.
“The priority of this is the safety of the citizens of Lee County,” Fort Madison Fire Chief Chad Hannum told the supervisors at the time, regarding the resolution.
“The renewable energy sector (ordinance), as we know, you guys have been working on for a long time, and (more projects) are coming.
“Any type of call that would be associated with these systems is going to be technical in nature. It’s not (a situation) where the alarm goes off and we’re there for 30 or 45 minutes and then we go back home. It’s going to be a very detailed (operation).”
The fire and safety resolution designated the following fire departments as those responsible for responding to any emergency incidents at any solar or wind energy project sites within their geographic service areas:
Among those fire departments, the resolution dictates that each department which responds to any wind or solar energy-related fires or emergencies within their geographical service areas shall lead any necessary emergency responses and coordinate mutual aid as required.
The Fort Madison Fire Department will lead as the provider of any high-angle rope rescue and confined space services for all wind and solar-related incidents.
Lee County EMS will serve as the primary medical transport provider should any wind or solar-related medical emergency occur. If they are unavailable, the fire department within the jurisdiction will be responsible for coordinating an alternative medical services provider.
“I’m here representing not just the firemen of Fort Madison, but the firemen of Lee County,” Hannum said.
“(We) absolutely do not want any firemen to get hurt in any way, shape, or form, either today or 20 years down the road.”
The resolution also outlines emergency service fee schedules and cost-recovery rates, including those of fire, high-angle and confined space rescues, as well as standby services, mutual aid and damaged equipment costs.
Operators of any solar or wind facilities will also be required to provide annual training at no cost to the fire departments, including fire suppression and rescue techniques specific to green energy systems.
“This ordinance provides avenues to support the renewable energy sector as they are wanting to come to Lee County,” Hannum said. “They’re already here.
“But it also protects the fire departments (and) allows them some avenues to recover costs since these incidents will be a long-term phase.”
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Overcast. Areas of patchy fog. High 53F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.
Cloudy with occasional rain late. Areas of dense fog. Low 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Rain early…then remaining cloudy with showers and windy conditions developing in the afternoon. Thunder is possible early. Morning high of 56F with temps falling sharply to near 25. S winds shifting to WNW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
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