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Fulton 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 Fulton County, county seat Lewistown.
Check land in Fulton 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 Fulton County?
The MISO and PJM interconnection queues list 7 proposed projects in Fulton County (3 solar, 2 solar plus storage, 1 wind, 1 battery storage), about 1,921 MW in all. 2 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Fulton County
By capacity, solar leads in Fulton County with 1,151 MW across 3 projects, followed by solar paired with storage (2 projects, 370 MW) and battery storage (1 project, 200 MW). The largest is queue number J2186, a 821 MW solar request in the MISO queue, in study (Phase 2), filed Jun 2022, with a target in-service date of Oct 2024. Of the 7, 5 are still in study and 2 have a signed agreement. 6 are in the MISO queue (Ameren territory) and 1 in PJM (ComEd territory), so Fulton County straddles both grids. Ameren Illinois is the transmission owner named most often (4 of 7). The requests were filed between Apr 2019 and Sep 2025. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Jun 2021 to Jun 2029; 5 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 5 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J1383MISO · Ameren Illinois · Ipava 138 kV Substation | Solar | 150 | Agreement signed | Apr 2019 | Aug 2022 date passed; status per the operator |
| J1199MISO · Ameren Illinois · Duck Creek 345kV Substation | Solar + storage | 20 | Agreement signed | Apr 2019 | Jun 2021 date passed; status per the operator |
| J2186MISO · Ameren Illinois · Ipava-Maple Ridge 345kV (4573) | Solar | 821 | In study (Phase 2) | Jun 2022 | Oct 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
| J2390MISO · Ameren Transmission Company Of Illinois · Ipava 138kV | Solar + storage | 350 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | Sep 2028 |
| J3167MISO · Ameren Transmission Company Of Illinois · Ipava 138 kV Substation | Solar | 180 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | Jun 2026 date passed; status per the operator |
| J4199MISO · Ameren Illinois · Canton South | Storage | 200 | In study | Sep 2025 | Jun 2029 |
| AI2-364PJM · ComEd · Brokaw - Lanesville 345 kV (CIR Increase) | Wind | 200 | In study | Mar 2023 | Apr 2023 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 Fulton County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Fulton 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.
Recent local action: On March 26, 2025 the Fulton County Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5–0 to adopt a finding of fact and issue the construction permit for Buckheart Creek Solar 1, LLC's commercial solar energy facility. (Fulton County ZBA minutes)
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Fulton 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 Lewistown. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Fulton County websiteSupervisor of assessmentsZoning and planningCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Fulton 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 Fulton 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).