Two years ago, Illinois had adopted a landmark clean energy law that called for building vast amounts of renewable power. At the same time, 15 counties with some of the most land available for wind and solar had passed, or were about to pass, restrictions on new development that made the state’s goals more difficult to reach. Something had to give.
That something came last month, when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that took away the ability of local governments to limit or ban wind and solar power, a measure that follows similar actions in California and New York. Now, officials from places that had restricted development of renewables projects—like Ford County, located in the rural area between Chicago and Champaign-Urbana—are livid about what they view as a power grab by majority Democrats. “My concern is for the health, safety and general welfare of our citizens, something the state has seemingly lost sight of,” said Cindy Ihrke, vice chairman of the Ford County Board.
“This bill takes away a county’s ability to regulate siting in each of our unique areas,” she added. “What is good for one county is not always good for the one next door.” Supporters of the law respond that they had little choice but to take action because local governments have relied on misleading or false information about the safety and economics of renewable energy to pass rules that are not in the public interest. The law has intensified the conflict rather than helping to heal it, and similar debates are happening across the country.