Cook 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 Cook County, county seat Chicago.
Check land in Cook 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 Cook County?
The PJM interconnection queue lists 8 proposed projects in Cook County (1 solar plus storage, 7 battery storage), about 952 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Cook County
By capacity, battery storage leads in Cook County with 908 MW across 7 projects, followed by solar paired with storage (1 project, 44 MW). The largest is queue number AG1-298 - moved to TC1, a 500 MW battery storage request in the PJM queue, in study, filed Sep 2020, with a target in-service date of Jun 2023. Of the 8, 8 are still in study. All of them are in the PJM queue, which covers the ComEd side of the state. The requests were filed between Oct 2019 and Sep 2022. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Jun 2023 to Dec 2027; 6 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 6 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG1-298 - moved to TC1PJM · ComEd · Calumet-Burnham 345 kV | Storage | 500 | In study | Sep 2020 | Jun 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| AF2-441 - moved to TC1PJM · ComEd · Burnham 138kV | Storage | 200 | In study | Mar 2020 | May 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
| AI1-155PJM · ComEd · Chicago Heights 138kV | Storage | 110 | In study | Sep 2022 | Jan 2027 |
| AH1-663PJM · ComEd · River EC 138 kV | Storage | 58 | In study | Sep 2021 | May 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH2-380PJM · ComEd · Matteson - East Frankfort 138 kV | Solar + storage | 44 | In study | Mar 2022 | Mar 2026 date passed; status per the operator |
| AF2-031PJM · ComEd · Calumet | Storage | 20 | In study | Oct 2019 | Dec 2027 |
| AH2-205PJM · ComEd · I.C. Air Rights 12.5 kV | Storage | 10 | In study | Mar 2022 | Mar 2026 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH2-206PJM · ComEd · I.C. Air Rights 12.5 kV | Storage | 10 | In study | Mar 2022 | Mar 2026 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 Cook County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Cook 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 Cook 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 Cook 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 Chicago. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Cook County websiteSupervisor of assessmentsZoning and planningCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Cook County
Illinois net metering, the Illinois Shines incentive, and HOA rules are the same statewide; ComEd 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 Cook 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).