Lee County Board votes 11-3-3 to approve Steward Creek project in Alto, Willow Creek townships
By Alexa Zoellner
March 22, 2024 at 2:18 pm CDT
This is a preliminary site drawing for phases 1 and 2 of the Steward Creek Solar project. The project is a utility-scale, ground-mounted commercial solar energy facility planned to be built in Alto and Willow Creek townships. Phases 1 and 2 each are designed to produce 600 megawatts. (Photo provided by Lee County Zoning)
DIXON – Phase two of what could end up as one of the largest solar facilities in the U.S. got a green light from the Lee County Board on Thursday.
Lee County Board members voted 11-3-3 to issue a special-use permit to Hexagon Energy LLC, a Virginia-based company doing business in Illinois as Steward Creek Solar LLC, for phase two of a 1,200-megawatt commercial solar energy facility in Alto and Willow Creek townships.
“Phase two will produce enough clean energy to power approximately 116,300 homes and generate approximately $3.9 million in annual local tax revenue, totaling approximately $87 million over the 35-year project term,” according to Hexagon Energy’s special-use permit application.
The first two phases of Steward Creek each are designed to produce 600 megawatts – phase two also includes a 150-megawatt battery-energy storage system – and together will cover about 9,000 acres, according to the application.
The project boundaries are Ogle County to the north, DeKalb County to the east, Route 30 to the south and Interstate 39 to the west.
Lee County Board Vice Chairman Tom Kitson and board members Mike Book, Dean Freil, Ron Gascoigne, Keane Hudson, Mike Koppien, Nancy Naylor, Jack Skrogstad, Katie White, Tom Wilson and Mike Zeman voted to grant the special-use permit; Tim Bivins, Michael Pearson and Angie Shippert voted against it.
Board members Ali Huss and Chris Robertson and Chairman Rob Olson abstained. Board members Reed Akre and Lirim Mimini were absent.
Board member Jim Schielein was not allowed to vote because of an Open Meetings Act statute that requires prior authorization to vote when attending via Zoom, County Administrator Jeremy Englund told Shaw Media. Schielein did not provide the advanced notice needed to get authorization for the March 21 meeting, Englund said.
There was no discussion before the vote.
The Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing regarding Steward Creek over two days – Feb. 20 and Feb. 28 – during which a total of about 3½ hours of sworn testimony and public comment were heard.
ZBA members then spent a third, hourlong meeting March 6 discussing their recommendation to the Lee County Board. They unanimously voted to recommend approving the special-use permit.
The full content of all three meetings is available for replay on Lee County’s YouTube channel.
On Nov. 19, 2020, Lee County Board members granted Hexagon Energy a special-use permit for phase one. Construction for the first part of the project has not yet started.