Wind & Solar Leasing in Will County, IL: The 2026 Court Fight

Will County's solar story in 2026 isn't really about turbines or panels going up -- it's about a court deciding how much say the County Board actually has in the first place. A circuit court ordered six denied solar permits approved, and the board then approved one of the largest solar projects in county history. Here's what that means if you're near a project or being offered a lease.

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

The ruling that changed what the county could actually do

In March 2026, the Illinois Appellate Court's Third District decided Equity Solar Illinois v. County of Grundy -- the first, and to date only, appellate decision interpreting the solar-siting provisions of Public Act 102-1123, the 2023 state law governing how counties handle commercial wind and solar permits. The court held that when a proposed solar project meets all the state's own siting requirements, a county does not have discretion to deny it: counties cannot rely on ordinary zoning considerations -- compatibility with surrounding land uses, impact on property values, or general community-welfare concerns -- to reject a compliant commercial solar or wind special-use permit application. Grundy County reportedly intends to appeal the ruling further.

This matters directly for Will County because it was one of the first places the ruling got tested in practice. In April 2026, a Will County circuit court applied Equity Solar directly to a set of previously denied applications, granting summary judgment and ordering the County Board to approve special-use permits for all of them by April 17, 2026. The board complied. If you own land near a solar project the county previously denied, don't assume that denial is permanent -- the legal ground has shifted, and a denied project may well come back.

What actually got approved: Plum Valley and Pride of the Prairie

Among the batch of solar projects the court ordered approved, the Plum Valley Solar Project -- developed by Sparrow Management, LLC -- is a 260-megawatt facility spanning roughly 2,258 acres across Monee, Crete, Washington, and Will Townships. That's a substantial single project, and it's a useful reference point for the scale of what's now moving through Will County's approval process under this new legal framework.

Separately, in May 2026 -- after committee deliberations that reportedly deadlocked on a split vote before final approval -- the Will County Board approved a considerably larger project: a roughly 6,100-acre solar complex reported under the name "Pride of the Prairie," developed by Earthrise, spanning 96 different properties across Manhattan, Green Garden, and Wilton Townships. Local coverage described it as nearly the size of O'Hare Airport and the largest solar project the county had approved to date. Opponents reportedly planned a separate lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state law that now limits the county's discretion here -- worth watching if you're near this specific project, since its ultimate footprint could still change depending on how that challenge plays out.

If your land is inside or near one of these project footprints

Because Plum Valley and Pride of the Prairie together touch parcels across Monee, Crete, Washington, Will, Manhattan, Green Garden, and Wilton Townships, a meaningful number of Will County landowners may find themselves inside or adjacent to a project boundary without necessarily realizing it from a standard listing description. If you're evaluating land in any of these townships, ask the Will County Land Use Department directly whether a specific parcel sits inside a mapped project area, and pull the parcel's recorded documents at the Will County Recorder's office to check for any existing solar lease, easement, or collector-line agreement -- these don't always surface in a routine title search.

Given that the underlying legal framework is still actively being litigated (Grundy County's planned appeal of Equity Solar, and the reported separate challenge to Pride of the Prairie's approval), a project's current legal status is genuinely more fluid here than in a county where development has been settled for years. Confirm directly with the county, not just a listing agent, whether any project near your target parcel has cleared all appeals or remains subject to active litigation.

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

If you're the landowner being approached about a new solar lease: understand that the Equity Solar ruling affects the county's ability to deny a compliant project, not the terms of your own lease contract. Payment structure and escalation, term length and renewal options, easement scope (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 remain entirely matters of private negotiation -- worth reviewing with an attorney experienced in solar leases before signing, regardless of how favorable the current legal climate is for developers generally.

If you're buying land already subject to a recorded solar lease or easement tied to Plum Valley, Pride of the Prairie, or another Will County project -- pull the actual recorded document from the Will 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, 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.

Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Will County, Illinois

The ruling that changed what the county could actually do

What actually got approved: Plum Valley and Pride of the Prairie

If your land is inside or near one of these project footprints

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

Ready to talk to someone who knows land?