Chambana Sun

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) has filed a bill that would require the installation of a windmill on the bean exhibit in Millennium Park, as well as the installation of one windmill per city park in addition to redeveloping Millennium Park as a “solar energy park.”

Rose said he filed the unreasonable bill to highlight the type of situation Democrat lawmakers have put downstate communities in.

“Political satire is a cherished American institution when it comes to political discourse,” rose told Chambana Sun. 

“And the bill that passed in the lame duck to take away local control counties, to sight windmills will literally have the potential of really putting a windmill up just about a block from your property line. OK, that's insane. And the fact that the Chicago progressives can just unilaterally override entire county boards who had previously had siting authority to decide the where of windmills to look out for local property owners is just absolutely ridiculous. You know, and these guys wouldn't want one of these things sitting a 10th of a block across from the Chicago high rises. It's a 10th of a mile, which is about a city block. So it just meant to accentuate, you know, the hypocrisy of the supermajority control of Springfield. They're taking away local control. But if the shoe was on the other foot, they wouldn't want this to happen to them either.”

Rose stressed he has long been a supporter of wind power, but sees the need for local control over the siting of windmills.

“If you go back, I was actually the lead sponsor of windmill legislation to allow local counties to site as a way of encouraging wind generation because we need more of everything," he said. "OK. But the point there was we wanted to let it be done locally through locally elected officials. So I'm not against wind,” Rose said.

Since the previous bill was signed into law, Rose said local projects have begun to take different shape.

“I know just in my area, I've got three different projects in and around Champaign County waiting to come in, and now they're all pulling back because now they know they no longer have to go to the counties and negotiate directly with the counties for siting,” Rose said.

“They’re going to wait for this thing to take effect and they're just going to go everywhere. And my point on this legislation is simply to point out the hypocrisy.”

Rose’s bill, SB1867, provides several “requirements” for the city of Chicago.

“Creates the If This Is Such A Good Idea, Let's Start With You Act. Provides that the following actions must be completed no later than June 30, 2024: (1) the City of Chicago must convert Millennium Park into a solar energy park by building solar energy facilities on all open space and by mounting solar energy facilities on structures, except that no solar energy facility is required on Cloud Gate; (2) the City of Chicago must mount one wind energy turbine on Cloud Gate (The Bean exhibit) in Millennium Park; and (3) the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District must place at least one wind energy facility in each public park operated by the City or Park District. Also requires each forest preserve district in Cook County to place at least one wind energy facility in each forest preserve operated by the forest preserve district. Requires reports to the General Assembly on the progress of complying with the requirements and the benefits that the wind and solar energy requirements have conferred upon the City of Chicago and Cook County. Limits concurrent exercise of home rule powers. Defines terms. Effective immediately,” the synopsis of SB1867 reads.

The bill that passed in the lame-duck session stripped counties of local rights when it comes to siting windmills.

Kevin Semlow of the Illinois Farm Bureau, said the organization was opposed to the bill when it passed.

"Some of the setback distances within the legislation need to be adjusted to better reflect a much safer and adequate way that those facilities should be sited," Semlow said, according to NPR Illinois.

The Clinton Herald called Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signing of that bill a “flip flop” moment in which the governor broke a campaign promise.

“In 2019, the governor signed legislation giving counties and municipalities the authority to establish standards to develop wind farms in Illinois,” the Clinton Herald wrote in an opinion piece.

“Last year, when he was running for reelection, Pritzker specifically rejected the idea of creating statewide controls over the siting of wind and solar projects, saying that he had “specifically avoided that approach,” the Clinton Herald wrote.

“With his reelection safely behind him, Pritzker is now ready to give the go-ahead to legislation, H.B. 4412, passed in the recent lame-duck session of the outgoing legislature that bars counties from banning the projects," the Clinton Herald wrote. "The Illinois Farm Bureau and 70 counties oppose the legislation, which creates a commission that will oversee and approve wind farms statewide except for Chicago.”