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Henry 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 Henry County, county seat Cambridge.
Check land in Henry 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 Henry County?
The MISO and PJM interconnection queues list 4 proposed projects in Henry County (2 solar, 2 wind), about 640 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Henry County
By capacity, wind leads in Henry County with 500 MW across 2 projects, followed by solar (2 projects, 140 MW). The largest is queue number J3699, a 300 MW wind request in the MISO queue, in study (Phase 2), filed Apr 2024, with a target in-service date of Apr 2028. Of the 4, 3 are still in study and 1 is suspended. 2 are in the MISO queue (Ameren territory) and 2 in PJM (ComEd territory), so Henry County straddles both grids. ComEd is the transmission owner named most often (2 of 4). The requests were filed between Jul 2017 and Apr 2024. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Oct 2024 to Sep 2028; 1 of them has 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 1 target in-service date below has 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J3699MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · SUB 39 - OAK GROVE 345.0kV | Wind | 300 | In study (Phase 2) | Apr 2024 | Apr 2028 |
| J2614MISO · Ameren Illinois · Mercer 161kV | Wind | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | Sep 2028 |
| AI2-060PJM · ComEd · Kewanee - E.D. Edwards 138 kV | Solar | 70 | In study | Feb 2023 | Oct 2024 date passed; status per the operator |
| AD1-031PJM · ComEd · Kewanee - E.D. Edwards 138 kV | Solar | 70 | Suspended | Jul 2017 | Jun 2027 |
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 Henry County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Henry 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: Henry County's Planning & Development Committee agenda for May 12, 2026 listed case 26-03 SU, North Pope Solar, a special use permit request for a commercial solar energy system under Article 8 (AG-1 Agriculture) Section 8.3 of the county zoning ordinance and Appendix C Section 3.06. (Henry County Planning & Development Committee agenda)
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Henry 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 Cambridge. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Henry County websiteCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Henry 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 Henry 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).