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Winnebago 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 Winnebago County, county seat Rockford.
Check land in Winnebago 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 Winnebago County?
The PJM interconnection queue lists 7 proposed projects in Winnebago County (4 solar, 3 battery storage), about 1,444 MW in all. 0 have a signed interconnection agreement.
What stands out in Winnebago County
By capacity, battery storage leads in Winnebago County with 765 MW across 3 projects, followed by solar (4 projects, 679 MW). The largest is queue number AH1-564, a 430 MW battery storage request in the PJM queue, in study, filed Sep 2021, with a target in-service date of Jun 2025. Of the 7, 7 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 2021 and Mar 2022. Target in-service dates for those not yet under construction span Oct 2023 to Jul 2027; 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the table: the queue number is the operator's ID for the request (MISO J-numbers, PJM AE/AF/AG-numbers); operators do not publish developer names in these files.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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AH1-564PJM · ComEd · Rockford II 138 kV | Storage | 430 | In study | Sep 2021 | Jun 2025 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH1-234PJM · ComEd · Wempletown 345 kV | Solar | 224 | In study | Sep 2021 | Nov 2025 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH1-232PJM · ComEd · Wempletown 138 kV | Solar | 175 | In study | Sep 2021 | Jul 2025 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH1-233PJM · ComEd · Wempletown 138 kV | Storage | 175 | In study | Sep 2021 | Jul 2025 date passed; status per the operator |
| AH2-338PJM · ComEd · Wempletown 138 kV | Solar | 160 | In study | Mar 2022 | Jul 2027 |
| AH2-339PJM · ComEd · Wempletown 138 kV | Storage | 160 | In study | Mar 2022 | Jul 2027 |
| AG2-516PJM · ComEd · Pecatonica 138kV | Solar | 120 | In study | Mar 2021 | Oct 2023 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 Winnebago County require of a project?
Illinois law sets the ceiling: Winnebago 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 October 22, 2025 the Winnebago County Board Zoning Committee voted 3–2 to recommend approval of an ordinance granting site approval for a 10 MW commercial solar energy facility on about 140 acres at 8016 Spring Creek Road, Rockford, proposed by Rockford Brook A, LLC and Rockford Brook B, LLC (TotalEnergies), after the Zoning Board of Appeals recommended denial 2–5. (Winnebago County Zoning Committee minutes)
State siting standardsFarmland agreement (AIMA)Property taxes
Who to contact in Winnebago 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 Rockford. A drainage district, if the land is in one, must receive the developer's drainage plan.
Winnebago County websiteCounty engineer and highways
Solar for homes and businesses in Winnebago 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 Winnebago 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).