Solar panels seen at a Will County solar facility. (Gary Middendorf – gmiddendorf@shawmedia/Gary Middendorf)
Plans for a 6,100-acre solar complex scattered across three townships in Will County will be presented at a public hearing on Monday.
The Pride of the Prairie Solar plan is one of two solar complexes covering about 8,500 acres that will be considered at two county meetings in the week ahead.
Both are proposed by Earthrise Energy.
Pride of the Prairie Solar would be built on 96 different properties in area generally southeast of the village of Manhattan.
The area includes Manhattan, Green Garden and Wilton townships.
The public hearing is at 5:30 p.m. in the Renaissance Center at 214 N. Ottawa St. in downtown Joliet.
The Renaissance Center is located at 214 N. Ottawa St. in downtown Joliet. (Gary Middendorf)
The Monday hearing will be conducted by the Will County Board Zoning and Planning Commission.
It will be followed on Thursday by a meeting of the Will County Board Land Use and Development Committee, which will review the Pride of the Prairie Solar plan and a Plum Valley Solar plan.
The Plum Valley Solar project would cover 2,400 acres in Crete, Monee, Will, and Washington townships.
The Land Use and Development committee will meet at 11 a.m. at the Renaissance Center.
The meetings have been moved to the Renaissance Center, which has a banquet hall, to accommodate what is expected to be a large public turnout for the solar proposals.
“We want to make certain that the meeting room is spacious enough to host the number of residents who may be interested in these two solar projects,” County Board Speaker Joe VanDuyne said in a news release announcing that the Thursday meeting has been moved to the Renaissance Center.
Will County Board Member Joe Van Duyne (Gary Middendorf)
More information on the projects is available at the Will County Board website at www.willcountyboard.com. Those who visit the website should click on the OneMeeting Agenda portal under Meetings and then scroll down to Land Use and Development Committee, according to Van Duyne’s news release.
State law designed to encourage the development of solar power has stripped local government’s zoning authority over such projects, although they still are submitted to county boards for approval.
Local resistance to the spread of solar panels over farm fields, however, has led to growing opposition from Will County Board members, particularly Republicans representing rural areas.
Resistance is growing as the projects get bigger.
What once were called solar farms at hundreds of acres are being reconsidered as industrial power plants as they reach thousands of acres.
In September 2024, the Land Use and Development Committee recommended that the full county board reject a plan by energy company Acciona to convert 3,600 acres in Custer and Reet townships to solar farms.
Acciona took its plan to the full county board but eventually withdrew it amid widespread opposition from neighbors of the proposed solar complex.
Bob Okon covers local government for The Herald-News

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