Wind and Solar Leasing in Clinton County, Indiana

The E.ON proposal, and a moratorium that predates most of Indiana's current wind debates

The project behind Clinton County's wind moratorium was a substantial one on paper: E.ON, a Chicago-based renewable energy developer, proposed investing roughly $250 million in a wind farm spanning somewhere between 35 and 52 turbines, with generating capacity described as enough to power about 50,000 Indiana homes. E.ON's pitch included a reported $30 million benefit to the county itself and $25 million to participating landowners spread across a 30-year period -- real money that made the county's decision to hold the project back a genuinely contested one locally, not an easy call.

Rather than approving the project, Clinton County commissioners put a moratorium on wind farm applications in place starting in February 2017 -- notably earlier than when most Indiana counties began adopting formal wind ordinances or moratoriums in response to statewide development pressure, which suggests Clinton County was an early mover on wind resistance rather than following a broader trend. The moratorium wasn't a one-time decision either: at a September 2019 public hearing at the Frankfort library that drew a crowd largely wearing red to signal opposition, commissioners voted again to keep it in place, effectively reaffirming the county's 2017 posture after more than two years and continued developer interest.

Solar tells a different story -- treat the two separately

Don't assume Clinton County's wind posture applies equally to solar. The county's Area Plan Commission has adopted its own solar ordinance and has separately discussed a solar farm overlay district -- concrete steps toward a workable local framework for solar that the county has not taken for wind. If you've received a solar lease inquiry specifically, the relevant question isn't whether the wind moratorium affects you (it doesn't, directly) but whether the solar ordinance's terms -- setbacks, decommissioning requirements, and whatever overlay-district process exists -- actually accommodate the parcel and project being proposed to you.

Evaluating a lease offer against a moratorium that has already outlasted one project

If a developer approaches you today about a wind lease in Clinton County, the E.ON history is worth raising directly with them: this is a county where a well-funded, specific proposal sat behind a moratorium for years without resolution, and where public opposition organized effectively enough to shape a second commissioners' vote after the first. Before signing any wind lease option here, ask your attorney to confirm what happens to your payment and the agreement's term if the county's moratorium (or a successor ordinance) still blocks the project when the option period ends, and ask the developer directly what, if anything, has changed in the county's posture since 2019 that makes them confident this proposal will fare differently. For solar, by contrast, focus your due diligence on the actual terms of the county's adopted solar ordinance rather than assuming the same resistance applies.