Wind and Solar Leasing in Montgomery County, Indiana

Montgomery County has told wind developers no and solar developers maybe. Apex Clean Energy's 300-megawatt Roaming Bison wind project died here in 2019 under a 2-mile turbine setback ordinance, while ENGIE's roughly 200-megawatt Copper Box Solar project was still fighting for rezoning approval as of mid-2026. Here's what's documented about each.

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

Wind: a 300-megawatt project the county effectively zoned out of existence

Apex Clean Energy proposed the Roaming Bison Wind project near Waynetown in Montgomery County at a scale of 300 megawatts, with a power purchase agreement already lined up to sell the output to Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) as part of that utility's broader shift away from coal generation. Organized local opposition, including a group operating under the name "No Wind Montgomery County," pushed county commissioners toward a detailed regulatory response rather than an outright ban: a February 2018 ordinance (Ordinance 2018-4) first tightened noise standards for Wind Energy Conversion Systems, and a follow-on ordinance then set a minimum 2-mile setback for turbine bases from neighboring property lines and public road rights-of-way.

A 2-mile setback is severe by wind-industry standards -- reporting on the dispute noted that even a much smaller half-mile setback would put nearly the entire county off-limits to turbine siting, so a full 2-mile requirement effectively foreclosed the project. By 2019, Roaming Bison was dead. If you own land that was once inside or near the project's proposed footprint, that setback ordinance -- not the original project economics -- is almost certainly why it never got built, and the same ordinance would apply to any future wind proposal in the county today unless it's since been revised.

Solar: a different rulebook, and a currently unresolved rezoning fight

Montgomery County treats solar differently from wind in its own zoning code: commercial solar energy systems are permitted specifically within agricultural overlay districts and industrial zoning districts, subject to a 500-foot setback from the property lines of nonparticipating landowners -- a distinctly tighter standard than the state's own recommended 250-foot setback from dwellings on nonparticipating property. Residential and commercial solar built to serve the owner's own energy use, rather than sell power at utility scale, is exempt from these commercial-scale requirements.

ENGIE North America is the developer behind Copper Box Solar, a project sized around 200 megawatts -- enough to power an estimated 32,000 to 33,000 homes -- representing roughly a $300 million investment and about 250 temporary construction jobs, sited across roughly 1,800 acres of privately owned land in Madison and Union Townships. Of that total footprint, about 890 acres are planned for the fenced solar arrays and electrical equipment themselves, with the balance devoted to setbacks, buffers, access roads, and vegetative screening. The project has not had an easy path: an earlier iteration drew an unfavorable recommendation from the Montgomery County Advisory Plan Commission, and the developer returned with a revised rezoning petition covering 19 parcels, with a public hearing scheduled for August 2026. As of this page's last review, the project remained in the zoning and permitting phase, with its ultimate approval genuinely uncertain.

What this means if you own or are buying land here

If you're a landowner in Madison or Union Township who has been approached about a solar lease connected to Copper Box Solar or a similar future project, know that the county's own ordinance already sets real limits on where a commercial system can even be sited (agricultural overlay or industrial districts only) and how close it can come to a neighbor's property line (500 feet) -- your parcel's zoning district matters before lease terms do. If you've been approached about a wind lease anywhere in the county, understand that the 2-mile turbine setback from neighboring property lines has already proven capable of killing a fully-financed, utility-backed 300-megawatt project once, and would apply to any new proposal today.

If you're buying land near Copper Box Solar's Madison or Union Township footprint specifically, confirm the project's current rezoning status directly with the Montgomery County Plan Commission before assuming either that it will proceed as proposed or that it has been rejected -- as of this page's last review the outcome was still pending. And if you're buying land anywhere near Waynetown that was once inside the Roaming Bison project area, treat that history as informational rather than a live risk, since the project is dead under current zoning rules.

Wind and Solar Leasing in Montgomery County, Indiana

Wind: a 300-megawatt project the county effectively zoned out of existence

Solar: a different rulebook, and a currently unresolved rezoning fight

What this means if you own or are buying land here

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