Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Lee County, Illinois

Illinois's first wind farm, plus three more built since

Mendota Hills Wind Farm, built between June and November 2003 near the village of Paw Paw, was the first utility-scale wind farm built anywhere in Illinois. It originally ran 63 Gamesa G52-800 kW turbines; in 2019 the turbine count dropped to 29 while nameplate capacity actually rose to 76 MW, and the project is now owned by Leeward Renewable Energy.

GSG Wind, spanning Lee and LaSalle Counties near West Brooklyn, came online in 2007 with 40 turbines across more than 3,000 acres. Leeward Renewable Energy repowered the project between 2022 and 2024, decommissioning all 40 original turbines and building 26 new GE turbines rated at 80 MW combined -- completed January 25, 2024, generating roughly 50% more energy from a smaller physical footprint, with more than 600 tons of decommissioned metal and fiberglass recycled or reused rather than landfilled.

Shady Oaks (later expanded as Shady Oaks II) is owned by Algonquin Power & Utilities through its Liberty subsidiary, with a nameplate capacity around 118 MW and JPMorgan Chase purchasing roughly 70% of the project's output under a power purchase agreement. The original Shady Oaks project was developed by Ireland-based Mainstream Renewable Power, sold to Goldwind International in 2011, and acquired by Algonquin in 2013 for $148.9 million, with Shady Oaks II approved by the county board in 2020.

Big Sky Wind, spanning Bureau and Lee Counties, was originally built around 2012 with 114 Suzlon S88-2.1 MW turbines. A major 2022 repowering, led by White Construction, decommissioned five turbines outright and replaced 109 more with 104 Vestas V120-2.2 MW turbines plus five Vestas V110-2.2 MW turbines -- boosting the project's annual output by roughly 60%. Vitol acquired the project in 2021 and invested more than $250 million in the repowering; Potentia Renewables took over operations in late 2024.

If you're buying land in Lee County -- whether or not the listing mentions it -- pull the parcel's recorded documents at the Lee County Recorder's office and ask specifically whether any wind lease, easement, or collector-line agreement is recorded against it. These agreements don't always show up in a standard title-search summary and don't necessarily change how the surface looks or is farmed day to day.

A fifth wind project in development, and one of uncertain status

Enel Green Power is developing Bison Meadows Wind in western and central Lee County: fewer than 50 turbines are planned, with roughly 7,000 acres already secured in leases and commitments and multiple meteorological evaluation towers built as of mid-2021. The project is targeting commercial operation by the end of 2029.

Separately, a 2021 news report described RWE Renewables proposing a $300 million, 200 MW wind farm spanning Bradford, Lee Center, and Viola townships, with 48 to 66 turbines and construction potentially beginning as early as late 2024. This research pass could not find confirmation that this project proceeded past that 2021 proposal stage -- if you're evaluating land in these specific townships, ask the Lee County Zoning & Planning Office directly whether any application tied to this project is still active, since its current status could not be independently confirmed.

Three solar projects, one of them enormous

Steward Creek Solar, originally developed by Hexagon Energy, was acquired by TerraForm Power in early 2026 and is planned at up to 1.56 gigawatts across roughly 9,500 acres in Alto and Willow Creek townships -- among the largest solar photovoltaic projects in the United States. TerraForm has an agreement with Commonwealth Edison and PJM Interconnection to connect the first 600 megawatts to the grid; Phase 1 construction is targeted for 2027 with commercial operation in 2029, and Phase 2 follows with construction in 2028 and operation in 2030.

Prairie Brome Solar, a considerably smaller 180 MW project on about 1,816 acres in Alto and Reynolds townships, received a special-use permit from the Lee County Board in June 2026 -- described in local reporting as the smallest of the three solar projects working through the county.

South Dixon Solar, developed by a Duke Energy subsidiary (South Dixon Solar LLC), has been in development in South Dixon Township since 2020: a $450 million, 500 MW project on roughly 3,838 leased acres, still in pre-construction and awaiting grid interconnection approval as of the most recent reporting found.

The state law limiting what Lee County can require

A county-by-county ordinance isn't the whole picture. Public Act 102-1123 (signed January 27, 2023) rewrote 55 ILCS 5/5-12020 of the Counties Code to set statewide ceilings on commercial wind and solar siting -- setbacks, turbine height, decommissioning obligations, drainage, and agricultural-land treatment -- so Lee County's own rules can be no stricter than that state floor allows, and the county cannot impose an outright moratorium on new wind or solar projects.

We were not able to independently confirm Lee County's own current, specific setback distances or decommissioning-bond formula during this research pass, since direct access to the county's zoning site was blocked. Given how much wind and solar development has already occurred or is proposed here, confirm current, specific ordinance language directly with the Lee County Zoning & Planning Office before relying on any particular figure.

If you've been offered a lease, or are buying land already under one

If you're the landowner being approached about a new lease: understand that Lee County's ordinance (bounded by the PA 102-1123 statewide ceiling) sets the regulatory floor on setbacks and decommissioning, not the lease's financial terms. Payment structure and escalation, term length and renewal options, easement scope (turbine or panel footprint only, or also access roads, collector-line corridors, and setback buffers on surrounding acreage you'd otherwise farm normally), and who bears decommissioning cost if the developer becomes insolvent are all matters of private contract -- worth reviewing with an attorney experienced in wind and solar leases before signing.

If you're buying land already subject to a recorded wind or solar lease or easement -- tied to any of the projects above -- pull the actual recorded document from the Lee County Recorder rather than relying on a listing summary. Confirm what portion of the parcel is actually restricted, whether the lease/easement transfers automatically to you as the new owner (most wind and solar leases are structured to run with the land), what ongoing payments (if any) you'd be entitled to, and whether financial security for eventual decommissioning is actually in place for that specific project.