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Rock Island 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 Rock Island County, county seat Rock Island.
Check land in Rock Island 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 Rock Island County?
The MISO and PJM interconnection queues list 7 proposed projects in Rock Island County (1 solar, 2 solar plus storage, 4 battery storage), about 1,192 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Rock Island County
By capacity, battery storage leads in Rock Island County with 660 MW across 4 projects, followed by solar (1 project, 284 MW) and solar paired with storage (2 projects, 248 MW). The largest is queue number J3525, a 300 MW battery storage request in the MISO queue, in study (Phase 2), filed Apr 2024, with a target in-service date of Sep 2028. Of the 7, 7 are still in study. 4 are in the MISO queue (Ameren territory) and 3 in PJM (ComEd territory), so Rock Island County straddles both grids. Midamerican Energy Co. Mec is the transmission owner named most often (4 of 7). The requests were filed between Sep 2020 and Apr 2024. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Oct 2023 to Sep 2028; 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J3525MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · SUB 47 | Storage | 300 | In study (Phase 2) | Apr 2024 | Sep 2028 |
| J3660MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · Oak Grove 161 kV sub | Storage | 200 | In study (Phase 2) | Apr 2024 | Jun 2028 |
| J2738MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · SUB 17 | Solar + storage | 128 | In study (Phase 1) | Sep 2022 | Feb 2025 date passed; status per the operator |
| J2552MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · SUB 39 - CORDOVA 345.0kV | Storage | 80 | In study (Phase 1) | Sep 2022 | Jun 2026 date passed; status per the operator |
| AG1-553 - moved to TC1PJM · ComEd · Cordova 345 kV | Solar | 284 | In study | Sep 2020 | Dec 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| AG2-517PJM · ComEd · Cordova Energy Center 345kV | Solar + storage | 120 | In study | Mar 2021 | Oct 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| AG2-675PJM · ComEd · Cordova 345 kV | Storage | 80 | In study | Mar 2021 | Oct 2024 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 Rock Island County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Rock Island 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: Rock Island County's zoning code, Section 154.659 (ordinance passed May 16, 2023), permits commercial solar energy facilities as a special use in the Agricultural, Suburban Estates and Industrial districts, with a 20-foot maximum panel height, a 150-foot setback from non-participating dwellings and a 50-foot setback from public road rights-of-way. (Rock Island County Code § 154.659 Solar Energy Systems)
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Rock Island 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 Rock Island. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Rock Island County websiteZoning and planningCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Rock Island 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 Rock Island 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).