Wind and Solar Energy Leasing in Randolph County, Indiana

Riverstart Solar Park: a $242 million project, and a first-of-its-kind ordinance

In July 2020, Randolph County Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a new solar-siting ordinance to accommodate what would become Riverstart Solar Park -- a roughly $242 million, 200-megawatt project developed by EDP Renewables across roughly 1,400 acres in the county's southwest corner, using about 670,000 solar panels. Reporting at the time described the ordinance as Indiana's first solar rule to mandate pollinator-friendly groundcover: rather than the mowed turf grass typical under most solar installations, the ordinance requires native meadow grasses and pollinator-friendly wildflower forbs and/or clover under and around panels, both at Riverstart and at any future solar project the county approves.

Riverstart began commercial operation in 2021 and was, at the time, the largest solar facility in Indiana by generating capacity. The completed project has also incorporated sheep grazing on part of the site, an agrivoltaic arrangement combining continued agricultural use with solar generation on the same acreage -- a detail that's become part of how the project is presented publicly as an example of solar development that keeps land in some form of farm use rather than removing it entirely.

The project kept growing -- a 100-MW third phase, and a proposed fourth

Riverstart didn't stop at its initial build-out. EDP Renewables completed a further 100-megawatt phase, Riverstart III, in April 2025 -- reported as Amazon-backed, part of the company's renewable-energy procurement -- as part of what's been described as a three-phase build-out totaling roughly 300 megawatts across the broader Riverstart project area. The company has also discussed a further roughly $250 million, 150-megawatt Riverstart IV. Treat these later-phase figures as reflecting the state of the project as of the most recent reporting available rather than a fully confirmed, audited current total, since this research pass could not locate a single up-to-date master summary reconciling every phase's capacity and acreage.

The county said no to a later, nearby project -- a real, documented denial

Not every subsequent EDP Renewables proposal in Randolph County has been approved. Commissioners voted unanimously against the proposed site for a separate 125-megawatt project referred to as "Riverstart II," planned for the Modoc area, following a public hearing that ran more than 90 minutes in which every speaker other than EDP's own representatives spoke in opposition. Commissioners cited two specific concerns in denying it: part of the proposed land was zoned agriculture-limited and would have needed a variance, and at least one commissioner said directly that the area had reached a point where renewable development felt too concentrated -- "I think it's just too much in one area," as reported. This is a genuinely useful data point for anyone evaluating a solar lease offer in the county: Randolph County's commissioners have shown they will deny a specific site plan under the same general ordinance framework that approved Riverstart's original phases, so county approval should never be assumed as a formality regardless of how established the county's solar-siting reputation has become.

What this means for a landowner or buyer

If you own farmland in Randolph County and are weighing a solar lease offer, ask directly whether your parcel's current zoning classification would require a variance for the proposed use -- exactly the issue that helped sink the Riverstart II location near Modoc -- and don't assume that because Riverstart's earlier phases were approved, a new proposal nearby will be treated the same way, especially if it would add to an already-concentrated cluster of renewable projects in one part of the county. Also confirm the ordinance's current pollinator-groundcover and any other siting requirements directly with the Area Planning Commission, since Article XIX has continued to be amended since its original 2020 adoption.

If you're buying land near the existing Riverstart footprint or near Modoc specifically, ask the Area Planning Commission whether any additional phase remains under active proposal, and check with the County Recorder for any solar-lease easement already recorded against a specific parcel -- an existing easement generally survives regardless of what happens with a separate, later project proposal elsewhere in the county.