The Will County Board voted 14-7 to grant a fourth and final extension for a small solar farm planned near Peotone, keeping alive a project first approved back in 2023 even as at least one board member argued the developer should have to start the approval process over from scratch. The vote covers the 4-megawatt Prairie Solar facility, which is slated for roughly 56.8 vacant acres in Peotone Township, north of West Kennedy Road and east of Interstate 57, about a mile from the Will and Kankakee county line.
The project has bounced between owners and missed its own construction timeline more than once. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Trajectory Energy Partners originally owned Prairie Solar LLC when the county board unanimously approved the special use permit by a 21-0 vote in 2023. Ownership later transferred to Standard Solar Inc., and the special use permit's two-year clock began ticking down toward expiration. The board has already granted three earlier extensions to give the developer time to begin construction, and Standard Solar applied for a building permit in June before requesting this fourth and, per county rules, final extension in July.
A Permit Transfer Draws Board Pushback
Not every board member was comfortable letting a company that didn't originally win the permit keep benefiting from it. Julie Berkowicz, a Naperville Republican on the county board, argued the developer should have to come back before the board for fresh reconsideration rather than simply requesting extension after extension, and she said special use permits should not be transferable between companies in the first place, according to the same Tribune report.
Those objections ran into a legal reality that has reshaped county zoning power across Illinois. Board members questioned whether the state's renewable-energy law even applies to a project that has changed hands and gone years without breaking ground, but attorney Kevin Meyers told the board there is no case law addressing extensions specifically and that members could not reasonably deny them based on the state statute, the Tribune reported.
State Law Ties County Hands on Solar Siting
That legal bind traces back to Public Act 102-1123, which Governor JB Pritzker signed in January 2023 to set statewide siting standards for renewable energy and bar counties from adopting zoning rules stricter than the state's criteria, according to the Illinois State Association of Counties. The law stripped local governments of the ability to impose moratoria or tighter setbacks on wind and solar installations, and Illinois courts have since enforced it aggressively. In April, a Will County Circuit Court judge ordered the county board to approve special use permits for six previously denied solar projects, citing an appellate ruling that counties lack legal discretion to deny permits meeting state standards, per ArentFox Schiff — a decision that left board members facing potential contempt charges or fines if they defied the order.
Sherry Newquist, a Steger Democrat on the board, was among those who pointed to the 15 conditions attached to the project during the Prairie Solar debate. The board ultimately attached 15 conditions to the project even as it approved the extension, reflecting the narrow room members have to shape projects they cannot outright block under state law.
Construction Timeline and Local Reaction
Will County zoning administrator Marguerite Kenny told the board the Peotone site sits in a good location near the highway, and neither local residents nor Peotone officials objected when the project was first proposed. Standard Solar has said it has submitted the required building permit applications, completed detailed engineering designs and substantially advanced toward construction, according to the Tribune. The company says it needs the extension mainly to give the Manhattan Fire Protection District time to review its building permit application, and that the project is ready to begin construction as soon as that permit is approved. Will County allows up to four extensions on a special use permit, and staff noted in committee proceedings that this is the fourth and final extension Prairie Solar can receive, according to the Will County Land Use Committee.
A Small Project Amid a Bigger Fight
Prairie Solar's ownership transferred from Trajectory Energy Partners to Standard Solar in April 2026, while federal tax credit policies also delayed financing and equipment procurement for the project, as noted by Peotone Local when the board granted the project's third extension in March. Brookfield Renewable has said it would invest up to $2 billion in Scout Clean Energy and Standard Solar, according to Brookfield Renewable, which operates one of the largest clean power platforms in North America.
Prairie Solar's modest four-megawatt footprint is a far cry from the sprawling utility-scale fights now consuming the county board. In May, the board's Executive Committee voted 6-5 along party lines to advance Earthrise Energy's 6,099-acre Pride of the Prairie solar farm, a divide Shaw Local reported saw Republican members generally opposing expansive solar layouts while Democrats argued state law had tied the board's hands. That same month, a circuit court judge addressed local objectors' chance to cross-examine developers in a public hearing concerning the project, according to the Will County Board. The project spans nearly 6,100 acres across Manhattan, Green Garden and Wilton townships. A separate proposed solar farm near Crete had received preliminary commission approval and was still pending a final County Board vote.
The tension has spilled into Springfield. Under that same 2023 law, solar developers with county siting approval are subject to statewide renewable-energy siting standards, per the Illinois General Assembly.
