Federal, local officials fear foreign-owned solar plant could cause food insecurity

Federal and local elected officials are concerned about Illinois' farmland being bought up by foreign nations.

A 3,600-acre solar plant is expected to arrive in Custer Park, Illinois. The largest solar plant in Illinois is 4,100 acres. Some Illinois landowners offered to lease their land to ACCIONA, a Spanish multinational renewable energy conglomerate, to develop the solar energy plant.

Will County Board member Katie Deane Schlotteman has voted to table the project.

"This [project] they chose to hold off for a few months and to be taken off the agenda until possibly November. They [ACCIONA] may come back later, after the election,” said Schlotteman. “Unfortunately the Will County Board, there’s an 11-11 split and our county executive breaks our tie and she’s typically going to side with the [proponents].”

In September 2023, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Climate Equitable Jobs Act into law, putting the state on a path toward 100% alternative energy by 2050. Pritzker also signed legislation protecting such energy projects from local bans. House Bill 4412, signed in 2023, prevents counties from enacting preemptive local ordinances that outright ban local wind and solar projects.

“We understand that getting things repealed, especially with the supermajority being Democrat, is difficult but we’re hoping some legislators will listen to what the people actually want, which is to have more control over what happens in the areas they live,” said Schlotteman.

Illinois U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Hindsboro, responded to Pritzker's social media post criticizing U.S. House Republicans for holding up the U.S. Farm Bill. Republicans and Democrats are in disagreement over how much funding will go to food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Miller said, in response, Pritzker wants to cover Illinois with Chinese solar panels, which she said will devastate Illinois' ability to feed America.

Schlotteman explained residents that live near the proposed project fear for their food security being that the land will be leased to a Spanish multinational renewable energy conglomerate.

"This is local farmland that the residents don’t want to see sold off, leased off to foreign entities,” said Schlotteman. “I am not overwhelmingly against solar. I just think there are places for it that would be better suited than our farmland. I don’t see why we aren’t putting more of them [panels] on warehouses or parking lots.”

According to Schlotteman, residents asked ACCIONA if the energy produced from the solar panels will lower their electric bill and where the power will go once it is generated.

“The residents asked if the electricity produced would go back into the grid and help lower their ComEd bills and the answer was ‘no,’ and that Amazon would be the beneficiary,” said Schlotteman.

Schlotteman said with solar being new and this plant being so large there could be impacts to the animals that live in the area and the environment.