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Whiteside 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 Whiteside County, county seat Morrison.
Check land in Whiteside 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 Whiteside County?
The MISO and PJM interconnection queues list 7 proposed projects in Whiteside County (3 solar, 3 wind, 1 battery storage), about 1,744 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Whiteside County
By capacity, wind leads in Whiteside County with 724 MW across 3 projects, followed by solar (3 projects, 655 MW) and battery storage (1 project, 365 MW). The largest is queue number AH2-376, a 365 MW battery storage request in the PJM queue, in study, filed Mar 2022, with a target in-service date of Oct 2027. Of the 7, 7 are still in study. 1 is in the MISO queue (Ameren territory) and 6 in PJM (ComEd territory), so Whiteside County straddles both grids. ComEd is the transmission owner named most often (6 of 7). The requests were filed between Sep 2019 and Sep 2022. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Sep 2022 to Apr 2028; 4 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. 4 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J2556MISO · Midamerican Energy Co. Mec · SUB 39 - CORDOVA 345.0kV | Solar | 300 | In study (Phase 1) | Sep 2022 | Jun 2026 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH2-376PJM · ComEd · Garden Plain 138 kV | Storage | 365 | In study | Mar 2022 | Oct 2027 |
| AH2-270PJM · ComEd · Garden Plain 138 kV | Wind | 300 | In study | Mar 2022 | Dec 2026 |
| AG1-462 - moved to TC1PJM · ComEd · Cordova 345 kV | Solar | 255 | In study | Oct 2020 | Oct 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| AF1-296 - moved to TC1PJM · ComEd · Garden Plain 138 kV | Wind | 212 | In study | Sep 2019 | Sep 2022 date passed; status per the operator |
| AG2-674PJM · ComEd · Quad Cities - Sterling Steel 345 kV | Wind | 212 | In study | Mar 2021 | Oct 2023 date passed; status per the operator |
| AI1-171PJM · ComEd · Garden Plain - Rock Falls 138 kV | Solar | 100 | In study | Sep 2022 | Apr 2028 |
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 Whiteside County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Whiteside 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 November 19, 2024 the Whiteside County Board approved a special use permit for Nexamp Solar LLC's LeFevre Road Solar Project, a 4-megawatt facility on 25 acres at 3493 W. LeFevre Road near Sterling, on a 13–9 vote with two abstentions. (Shaw Local (Sauk Valley))
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Whiteside 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 Morrison. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Whiteside County websiteSupervisor of assessmentsZoning and planning
Solar for homes and businesses in Whiteside 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 Whiteside 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).