Union County, IA
Wind and Solar Leasing in Union County, Iowa
Union County has hosted utility-scale wind energy since 2019-2020, but the more instructive story for a land buyer is what a 2023 citizen petition did to the county's ordinance since then. Here is the timeline, the current setback standards, and what a landowner near the wind farm footprint or a future project should know.
This page covers what's specific to Union County. For the general explanation, see the national guide.
The Southern Hills Wind Farm: 34 turbines since 2019-2020
In September 2019, the Union County Board of Supervisors approved MidAmerican Energy's permit request to build a wind farm in the northwestern part of the county, ultimately built as 34 turbines spanning both Union County and neighboring Adams County. Construction ran through 2020, under the county's original 2019 wind ordinance, road use agreement, and decommissioning plan -- the baseline framework the county has since revised more than once. If you're evaluating land in or near northwestern Union County, this existing wind farm is a fixed, built feature of the landscape now, not a proposal.
The 2023 citizen petition and the abeyance it triggered
In March 2023, a group of concerned Union County residents brought the Board of Supervisors a petition with more than 900 signatures asking for an abeyance -- a formal pause -- on any new industrial wind development, arguing the county needed to take a harder look at its 2019 ordinance before allowing further buildout. The Board granted an initial three-month abeyance to get through the county's budget process and take the request seriously, and that pause was extended multiple times as supervisors worked through the ordinance section by section rather than passing a quick fix. The practical result was that no new wind projects could move forward in Union County for a meaningful stretch of 2023 into 2024 while the ordinance was under active review -- worth knowing if you're assessing how quickly a future wind proposal near your land might actually proceed, since this county has shown it will pause new projects when residents organize around specific concerns.
Current wind ordinance standards: setbacks and the 2024 aircraft-lighting requirement
The Board approved amendments to the wind ordinance under Ordinance #73, with a second reading set for May 20, 2024. The amended ordinance requires new turbines to include functioning light-mitigating technology -- a sensor-based aircraft detection lighting system, required for any wind energy conversion facility receiving its certificate of site compatibility after January 1, 2024, so that obstruction lights activate only when an aircraft is actually approaching rather than running continuously. On setbacks, the ordinance distinguishes between participating and non-participating landowners: turbines must be set back at least 1,250 feet from the nearest participating residence, 1,500 feet from a non-participating residence or a church, and a full mile from any park. If you own land near a wind development area in Union County but haven't signed a lease or easement agreement, the 1,500-foot (non-participating) standard, not the 1,250-foot figure, is the one that protects your residence by default.
Solar: a separate 2021 ordinance with its own physical limits
Union County adopted a distinct Solar Ordinance (#74) in 2021, covering utility-scale solar energy systems separately from wind. Its core physical standards include a maximum solar panel height of fifteen feet when the panel array is at its maximum tilt, and a security fencing requirement of at least six feet but less than eight feet high around a project site to restrict public access. If you're evaluating a solar lease on your own land, or land near a proposed solar site, these figures set the baseline for what a compliant installation looks like, though a specific project's siting agreement may include additional negotiated terms beyond the ordinance's floor.
An organized, ongoing citizen voice: Protect Our Land's Future
Protect Our Land's Future is a Union County-based citizen group that grew out of the 2023 petition effort and continues to track wind and solar development in the county, organizing around property rights and the long-term future of local agricultural land and wildlife. Its continued activity is itself a useful signal for a prospective buyer: land-use decisions around wind and solar in Union County are not settled once and left alone, but remain a live, actively contested topic among residents. If you're weighing a purchase specifically because of, or in spite of, nearby wind or solar development, it's worth checking whether the group or the Board of Supervisors has any pending ordinance review or new project application under discussion before you close.
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- Permits Granted for MidAmerican Wind Farm in Union County — Radio Iowa (accessed 2026-09)
- Union County Officials Green Light MidAmerican Wind Farm Plans — KJAN (accessed 2026-09)
- Union County's Wind Energy Ordinance Ready for Public Input — KSIB Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Abeyance on Wind Energy Projects in Union County — KSIB Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Union County Wind Energy Abeyance Continues — KSIB Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Amendments to Union County's Wind Turbine Ordinance Pass First Reading — KSIB Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Union County Supervisors Close to Wrapping Up Wind Energy Ordinance Changes — KSIB Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Ordinance #73 - Wind Farm Amendment for Future Projects — Union County, Iowa Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Solar Ordinance #74 — Union County, Iowa Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Protect Our Land's Future - Union County, Iowa — Protect Our Land's Future (accessed 2026-09)
- 'Cap the Turbines' — Wind Watch (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09