Morgan County approves Chapin solar project amid zoning, data center debate

A nearly 5-megawatt community solar project near Chapin moved ahead Monday, but the bigger fight in Morgan County is what kind of rural future the county is choosing. The project would sit along Neeleyville Road on about 85% of a 24-acre field leased from the Shireman family, putting neighbors, farmland and utility planning at the center of the county’s land-use debate.

Morgan County commissioners unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Solar Generation of New York, through SG Chapin PV, LLC, after Peter Yannikockas came before the board seeking the county’s backing. Residents in the room pressed him on how much vegetation screening would be built, how the site would be decommissioned if the project ends, and whether the company would remain committed for the long term. Yannikockas described the proposal as a community solar project, but the questions kept turning back to the same issue: what happens to the land after the panels go up.

The solar vote landed in the middle of a much larger policy review. The board was also weighing a six-month process for data centers and other rural development proposals, including wind, solar and battery storage. Dr. Michael Woods said he wanted more than a delay, calling for a fuller review with a checklist and specific questions for any company that wants to build in Morgan County, especially about environmental, water and power impacts.

That debate has drawn in Jacksonville resident Colleen Flynn, whose family farms in rural Morgan County. Flynn said she had collected 373 signatures on a petition seeking a November ballot referendum for a 12-month review period. The push reflects a county-wide question that goes beyond one project: whether Morgan County will keep deciding site by site or adopt a tougher standard before large energy and industrial users arrive.

Chairman Mike Wankel said the county could be ready to vote on a wind-and-solar ordinance by May 26, while a battery-storage ordinance probably will not be ready until October. The May 11 agenda already included a formal review of a solar, data and battery storage ordinance, showing that county officials are trying to build rules before the next wave of proposals lands.

The stakes are especially sharp in a county of 32,515 people, down from its 2020 census base of 33,567, with Jacksonville as the county seat. Illinois Shines, the state program that supports community solar and distributed generation, has helped drive projects like the Chapin proposal, and Illinois had more than 5,665 megawatts of operating solar capacity by February 2026. Morgan County also approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Central Illinois Land Bank Authority, a sign the board is trying to manage redevelopment, reuse and future growth through a broader local framework, not just one project at a time.