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McHenry County, Illinois: solar, wind, and storage projects and permits

Queue data downloaded October 7, 2026 · Rules checked October 17, 2026

Proposed projects, county offices, and the state rules for a solar, wind, or battery storage project in McHenry County, county seat Woodstock.

Check land in McHenry 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 McHenry County?

The PJM interconnection queue lists 16 proposed projects in McHenry County (6 solar, 1 solar plus storage, 9 battery storage), about 3,572 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.

What stands out in McHenry County

By capacity, battery storage leads in McHenry County with 2,582 MW across 9 projects, followed by solar (6 projects, 940 MW) and solar paired with storage (1 project, 50 MW). The largest is queue number AH2-121, a 500 MW battery storage request in the PJM queue, in study, filed Feb 2022, with a target in-service date of Dec 2028. Of the 16, 16 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 Mar 2019 and Mar 2023. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Sep 2021 to Dec 2028; 11 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 11 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.

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 McHenry County require of a project?

Illinois law sets the ceiling: McHenry 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: In May 2026 the McHenry County Board approved two solar farms, one off Crystal Lake Road near McHenry (McHenry Solar Farm LLC) and one off Green Road near Harvard (3 A Energy LLC), after tie votes were broken by Chair Mike Buehler. The board had pulled the items from a bundle of zoning items for separate votes. (Northwest Herald (Shaw Local))

State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes

Who to contact in McHenry 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 Woodstock. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.

McHenry County websiteZoning and planning

Solar for homes and businesses in McHenry 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 McHenry County: Illinois agency list.