Will County Executive Committee Recommends 600 MW Pride of the Prairie Solar Project in 6-5 Split Vote

Will County Board Executive Committee Meeting | May 14, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board Executive Committee on Thursday, May 14, 2026, voted 6-5 to recommend approval of a special use permit for the Pride of the Prairie commercial solar energy facility, a 6,099-acre, 600-megawatt project spanning Manhattan, Green Garden and Wilton townships, despite a 1-4 denial recommendation from the county’s Planning and Zoning Commission two nights earlier and lengthy opposition from residents, township officials and an attorney representing adjoining property owners.

Pride of the Prairie Solar Project Key Points:

• The committee rejected a motion to postpone the vote until the application is deemed complete; that motion, made by Trustee Dan Butler and seconded by Dave Oxley, failed on a roll call.
• The recommended ordinance, ORD 26-109 / ZC-25-129, attaches six conditions to the special use permit, including a requirement that the applicant negotiate and execute a road use agreement with each affected township road district and post surety bonds before construction.
• According to the staff report, the concept site plan calls for 16,921 panels comprising roughly 1.19 million modules across 96 parcels, with a 35-year anticipated operating life that could extend to 50 years if all lease options are exercised.
• The full Will County Board is scheduled to take final action at its meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2026.

WILL COUNTY — The Will County Board Executive Committee on Thursday, May 14, 2026, voted 6-5 to recommend approval of the Pride of the Prairie commercial solar energy facility, sending the proposal to the full County Board over the objections of three affected townships, dozens of residents and the county’s own Planning and Zoning Commission, which voted 1-4 two days earlier to deny the special use permit.

The project, formally filed as ZC-25-129 / S-25-056 by Lincoln Solar Energy, LLC, would site a 600-megawatt facility across approximately 6,099 acres south of West Stuenkel Road, west of South 104th Avenue, east of South Gougar Road and north of West Wilmington-Peotone Road. According to the Will County Land Use Department staff report dated March 23, 2026, the applicant, Earthrise Energy PBLLC, has entered into lease agreements with 46 property owners covering 96 separate parcel identification numbers. The project’s concept site plan identifies 16,921 panels and 1,190,868 modules and proposes connection to the existing grid through the natural gas peaker plant operated by affiliates Earthrise Lincoln Interconnection LLC and Lincoln Generating Facility, LLC.

Public Comment Dominated by Opposition

More than a dozen residents and officials spoke against the project during public comment, with concerns ranging from steel-pile corrosion in hydric soils to property-value loss to inadequate identification of wetlands. Steven Becker, an attorney representing multiple clients with property adjoining the proposed footprint, asked the committee to preserve legal objections on the record, arguing the project violates due process and equal protection provisions of the state and federal constitutions and is preempted by federal farmland-preservation policy. Becker said the project’s LESA score of 236 placed the site in the “essential farmland” category, and he raised concerns about an estimated 300,000 galvanized steel posts being driven into hydric soils, which he said could leach zinc into the groundwater and the headwaters of Prairie, Forked and Hickory creeks.

Judy Mitchell, a Manhattan resident, read a statement on behalf of the Manhattan Township Board renewing its request that the County Board postpone the vote until state legislators have an opportunity to advance corrective legislation restoring local control under Senate Bill 25. Dean Christofilos, the Green Garden Township supervisor, told the committee the official reason his township opposes the project is that it is “not in compliance with our comprehensive land use map for solar facilities.”

Eileen Fitzer, a 76-year-old Manhattan widow, said she had lived on her property for more than 20 years and asked the board to “slow this down, halt, or delay approval of this project until further research is done and clear local protections are in place.” Jim Baltus, identified as the Manhattan Township road commissioner, told the committee the applicant had driven heavy equipment and pounded survey stakes on township roads posted at 12-ton limits without a road use agreement, and then removed the stakes without notice.

Representing the applicant during public comment, Earthrise Director of Development Robert Kalbouss said the application was complete and had been deemed so by the Land Use Department. “We delineated wetlands. We went above and beyond the requirements to delineate wetlands,” Kalbouss said. Benjamin Jacobi of Polsinelli, the project’s attorney, told the committee that a Will County circuit judge had dissolved a temporary restraining order in the case earlier that morning, removing what he called a “legal hurdle” that had required additional cross-examination at a continued planning commission hearing on May 12.

Cross-Examination, Conditions and the Postponement Motion

Will County Land Use Department planner Margarite Kenny told the committee the May 12 Planning and Zoning Commission session, ordered by the court, included a roughly three-hour cross-examination between Becker and Jacobi focused on the completeness of the application, wetlands and floodplain studies, solar materials and equipment, and lease agreements. The commission voted 5-0 to amend conditions 3, 5 and 6 to match language approved on April 23, 2026, for the Plum Valley solar project (ZC-25-139), then voted 1-4 to deny the underlying special use permit with all six conditions in place.

Condition 3 allows above-ground on-site power lines and utility connections to avoid pipelines and wetland areas and authorizes the applicant to use the CAB above-ground cabling system between panels as described at hearing. Condition 5 specifies that fire lanes and access roads shall be gravel per the request of the fire departments, with such lanes considered pervious under the Will County Code. Condition 6 requires the applicant to negotiate and execute a road use agreement with each affected township road district and post district surety bonds before commencement of construction or issuance of a site development permit.

Butler made an extended motion to postpone, citing five examples he said showed the application was incomplete under Will County Code section 155-9.245, including the absence of a stated number of arrays or racks, an incomplete identification of farmed wetlands and federally protected waters, and the lack of an updated consultation with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources regarding the short-eared owl, listed as endangered in Illinois. “I made a motion to postpone until all these obligations have been met,” Butler said. Oxley seconded.

An assistant state’s attorney advised the committee that the Land Use Department’s professional opinion controlled the completeness determination, citing the third district appellate court’s decision in Equity Solar Illinois v. County of Grundy, 2026 IL App (3d) 250289, which he said established that county discretion in commercial solar siting decisions is “minimized on the front end and limited on the back end of the process.” Kenny told the committee her professional opinion was that the application met county standards. The postponement motion failed on a roll call.

The Approval Vote

On the underlying motion to recommend approval, the executive committee voted 6-5. Members Butler and Frankie Pretzel both said they would oppose the recommendation, with Pretzel arguing the project’s scale was the central problem. “This board has approved 10 solar projects for every one that we’ve voted no on,” Pretzel said. “But lumped together, we’ve got 96 parcels, 300,000 posts.” Kelly Hickey, who voted to recommend approval, said that while she shared the concerns raised by residents, the state legislative framework left the county little discretion. “No matter how this committee votes today, no matter how the board votes on the 21st, there will be a solar field in this place,” Hickey said.

Republican Leader Jim Richmond and several other members questioned the long-term consequences. “I’m a young man,” Richmond said. “In the 80s, there was discussion of super funds. I’m gonna put my Nostradamus hat on right now, and I’m going to predict that in 2040, the super funds will be cleaning up these messes.”

The project must comply with Illinois Public Law 102-1123 and 55 ILCS 5/5-12020, which the staff report described as requiring counties to hear commercial solar siting requests within 60 days of a complete application and decide them within 30 days of the close of the public hearing. The applicant has signed an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement with the Illinois Department of Agriculture dated September 26, 2025, and is required to provide financial assurance for deconstruction under that agreement. A drain tile map and conservation plan developed with the Will-South Cook Soil and Water Conservation District will be required at the site development permitting stage.