Wind and Solar Leasing in Mercer County, IL

Mercer County has moved from zero solar development to two distinct, real projects in the span of a few years -- one that sailed through as community solar, and one that needed a second, smaller application before the county would approve it. Here's what both show about how solar leasing actually plays out here.

This page covers what's specific to Mercer County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.

Goldenrod Solar: a community-solar project that moved quickly

The Goldenrod Solar Project, developed by Cultivate Power and now owned and operated by Generate Capital, sits on 38 acres of a 250-acre property near Viola owned by Bob and Annette Essary. At 5 megawatts, it's a community solar installation approved under the Illinois Shines Community-Driven Community Solar (CDCS) program rather than a large merchant utility-scale farm, and it opened to roughly 850 local subscribers with a ribbon-cutting in July 2025, projected to deliver about $5.8 million in community benefits (largely subscriber electric-bill savings) over 15 years.

Its relatively small footprint and community-solar structure appear to have kept this project out of the kind of contested hearings that followed the Alexis-area project below -- a useful reminder that not every solar lease in Mercer County looks the same, and the scale of a proposed project matters a lot to how smoothly it moves through county review.

The Alexis-area project: a bigger footprint, a harder fight

A separate, much larger project north of the Village of Alexis tells a different story. Birch Creek, a St. Louis-based solar developer, first proposed a roughly 300-acre solar farm; neighbors raised concerns about size, sightlines, and environmental impact, and the Mercer County Zoning Board of Appeals rejected that application. Birch Creek came back with a reduced 249-acre plan that included buffer plantings intended to screen the array from nearby homes, and the county approved the revised application around July 25, 2024 -- reportedly with construction expected to begin in 2026.

That back-and-forth matters for anyone evaluating land near a proposed solar site in Mercer County: a first rejection isn't necessarily the end of a project, and a developer can come back with concessions that change the outcome. If you're near a proposed site, following the Zoning Board of Appeals' hearing schedule directly is the only reliable way to track where a specific project actually stands.

What a Mercer County lease offer or nearby-land purchase should check

Illinois counties can't write solar-siting rules stricter than the statewide standard set by Public Act 102-1123 (55 ILCS 5/5-12020), effective January 27, 2023, which covers setbacks, height, vegetative screening, shadow flicker, sound, decommissioning, and drainage-district provisions, and which bars counties from imposing outright moratoriums. That statewide floor is part of why a rejected application, like the first Alexis-area proposal, can come back reworked rather than being permanently blocked -- confirm Mercer County's own current, specific siting provisions with the Zoning office rather than relying on the statewide minimum alone.

If you've received a lease offer, have an attorney review the decommissioning and land-restoration terms specifically -- these determine what happens to the parcel decades from now when the array or turbines come down. If you're buying land near either project instead, ask the Mercer County Clerk and Recorder whether any solar lease or easement is already recorded against the parcel or an adjoining one, and ask the Zoning office directly about the current status and any conditions attached to a nearby project's approval.

Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Mercer County, Illinois

Goldenrod Solar: a community-solar project that moved quickly

The Alexis-area project: a bigger footprint, a harder fight

What a Mercer County lease offer or nearby-land purchase should check

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