Clay County, Illinois: solar, wind, and storage projects and permits
Proposed projects, county offices, and the state rules for a solar, wind, or battery storage project in Clay County, county seat Louisville.
Check land in Clay CountyOpens the land report with the map on the county; click a spot for its flood, wetland, habitat, line-distance and parcel check.
What energy projects are proposed in Clay County?
The MISO interconnection queue lists 6 proposed projects in Clay County (4 solar, 2 battery storage), about 1,100 MW in all. 2 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Clay County
By capacity, solar leads in Clay County with 800 MW across 4 projects, followed by battery storage (2 projects, 300 MW). The largest is queue number J813, a 275 MW solar request in the MISO queue, under construction, filed Jun 2017, with a target in-service date of Sep 2020. Of the 6, 4 are still in study, 1 has a signed agreement and 1 is under construction. All of them are in the MISO queue, which covers the Ameren Illinois side of the state. The requests were filed between Jun 2017 and Jan 2025. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Apr 2023 to Sep 2028; 3 of them have already passed, which means those schedules slipped.
A listing means a developer asked the grid operator to study connecting a project; many are never built, and the status column says where each one stands.
Reading the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files. Connection is the transmission owner and, where listed, the substation or line; "Other_" is the operator's own placeholder. In study (Phase 1/2) are MISO's definitive-planning study phases; "moved to TC1" means a PJM request was carried into Transition Cycle 1; "CIR Increase" is a request to add capacity rights to an existing project; "LRTP" names a MISO long-range transmission project. For PJM rows, MW is the figure in the megawatt column of PJM's public queue export; PJM also tracks maximum facility output and capacity rights separately, so a project's study documents can show a different number. 3 target in-service dates below have already passed while the request is still open: operators keep the developer's last reported date until the developer changes it, so a past date means the schedule slipped, not that the project was built.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Queue number and connection | Type | MW | Stage | Requested | Target in-service iThe in-service date the developer gave the grid operator. Developers set and change it, many projects slip, and some are never built. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J813MISO · Ameren Illinois · Louisville South Substation 138kV Line | Solar | 275 | Under construction | Jun 2017 | Sep 2020 |
| J1679MISO · Ameren Illinois · 7XENIA - 7MTVERNW 345.0kV | Solar | 125 | Agreement signed | Jun 2020 | Apr 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| J2379MISO · · Xenia | Storage | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | Nov 2026 |
| J2033MISO · Ameren Illinois · 7XENIA - 7MTVERNW 345.0kV | Solar | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Aug 2021 | Apr 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
| J3811MISO · Ameren Illinois · 4KINMUNDY S - 4TANNER 138.0kV | Solar | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Apr 2024 | Sep 2028 |
| J2197MISO · Ameren Illinois · Xenia | Storage | 100 | In study (Phase 2) | Jan 2025 | Oct 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
Sources: MISO generator interconnection queue and PJM interconnection queue, downloaded October 7, 2026; withdrawn and operating projects are left out, and the operators do not publish developer names. What the stages mean.
What can Clay County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Clay County must approve a commercial wind or solar project that meets the state standards, must finish its public hearing within 60 days, and may not ban them in agricultural or industrial zones (55 ILCS 5/5-12020); battery storage has had its own statewide standards since June 1, 2026 (55 ILCS 5/5-12024). Land inside a city or village falls under municipal zoning instead.
Local rules: as of October 17, 2026, we found no 2024–2026 county board action on solar, wind, or battery storage posted on Clay County's website or reported by local news. That does not mean the county has no ordinance: the state standards above apply everywhere, and the county zoning office can say whether a local ordinance or special use process exists.
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Clay County
Assessment questions go to the supervisor of assessments, special use applications to the zoning office, and road use agreements to the county engineer; the county seat is Louisville. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Clay County websiteSupervisor of assessmentsCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Clay County
Illinois net metering, the Illinois Shines incentive, and HOA rules are the same statewide; Ameren Illinois sets the application steps here: Illinois home and business solar rules · utility application links.
State and federal reviews
Illinois EPA stormwater coverage, IDNR's EcoCAT review, historic preservation review, and federal wildlife screening can apply to a site in Clay County: Illinois agency list.
Get the land report for a spot
Flood zone, wetlands, nearest power line, soils, and more for any point. Parcel acreage fills in automatically in Texas and 26 other states (not Illinois, which has no statewide parcel layer).