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Macon 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 Macon County, county seat Decatur.
Check land in Macon 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 Macon County?
The MISO interconnection queue lists 8 proposed projects in Macon County (1 solar, 1 solar plus storage, 1 wind, 3 battery storage, 1 gas, 1 type not listed), about 1,585 MW in all. 3 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Macon County
By capacity, battery storage leads in Macon County with 500 MW across 3 projects, followed by gas (1 project, 325 MW) and solar paired with storage (1 project, 200 MW). The largest is queue number J1839, a 325 MW gas request in the MISO queue, agreement signed, filed Jun 2020, with a target in-service date of Jan 2027. Of the 8, 5 are still in study, 2 have 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. Ameren Illinois is the transmission owner named most often (4 of 8). The requests were filed between Mar 2018 and Apr 2024. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Apr 2023 to Sep 2028; 2 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 2 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J1115MISO · Ameren Illinois · Latham - Oreana 345kV Line | Wind | 200 | Under construction | Mar 2018 | Sep 2021 |
| J1839MISO · Ameren Illinois · Decatur ADM North 138 kV | Gas | 325 | Agreement signed | Jun 2020 | Jan 2027 |
| J1677MISO · Ameren Illinois · Leghorn 345 kV | Solar | 180 | Agreement signed | Jun 2020 | Apr 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| J3417MISO · Ameren Illinois · Oreana | Storage | 300 | In study (Phase 2) | Apr 2024 | Sep 2028 |
| J2388MISO · Ameren Transmission Company Of Illinois · Faraday | Solar + storage | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | Sep 2028 |
| J2383MISO · Ameren Transmission Company Of Illinois · Faraday | Storage | 100 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | May 2027 |
| J2375MISO · Ameren Transmission Company Of Illinois · Faraday | Storage | 100 | In study (Phase 2) | Sep 2022 | May 2027 |
| J2656MISO · · 4LATHAM-4N DEC E 138 kV | Not listed | 180 | In study | Sep 2022 | May 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 Macon County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Macon 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: Macon County's Planning and Zoning downloads page posts a draft battery energy storage system ordinance, titled "Macon County BESS Ordinance (Draft)," along with special use permit applications for Finley Creek Solar, Spring Creek Solar, Greenswitch Wind Farm and Illini Wind 2. (Macon County Planning & Zoning downloads)
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Macon 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 Decatur. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Macon County websiteSupervisor of assessmentsZoning and planningCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Macon 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 Macon 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).