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In the Trenches: Courts Order Illinois Solar Re-Vote, Alabama Moratorium Stalls, and Opposition Spreads to Wind, Battery, and Data Center Projects

8 min read
In the Trenches: Courts Order Illinois Solar Re-Vote, Alabama Moratorium Stalls, and Opposition Spreads to Wind, Battery, and Data Center Projects

A judge in Illinois ordered a county board to revisit solar permits it had rejected, an Alabama state moratorium on solar farms collapsed on a procedural technicality, and a New York town slapped dual moratoriums on both battery storage and renewable energy — all in a single week that underscored the widening and increasingly sophisticated local resistance to energy infrastructure across the United States.

From the farm fields of Ohio, where a sixth-generation farmer lost his land after neighbors blocked a solar project, to the suburbs of Fayetteville, North Carolina, where residents are demanding a pause on data center construction, the week of April 7–14, 2026, offered a vivid snapshot of how community opposition is reshaping the energy development landscape — and how developers, landowners, and local governments are struggling to respond.

Solar Siting Battles

The most consequential legal development of the week came out of Will County, Illinois, where a judge ordered the county board to re-vote on five solar farm proposals it had previously denied. The board had rejected the permits in a series of votes driven by organized resident opposition, but the court found procedural deficiencies in the denial process, according to the Chicago Tribune. The ruling forces elected officials back to the table on projects they had hoped to put behind them, and it signals that blanket rejections of solar applications may not survive judicial scrutiny if they lack adequate legal justification.

In Alabama, the fight over a proposed $350 million, 2,000-acre solar farm near Stockton in Baldwin County escalated on multiple fronts simultaneously. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch's plan for the project provoked such intense backlash that residents of the unincorporated community gathered more than enough signatures to force a historic zoning referendum — the first of its kind for Stockton. The Baldwin County Commission on April 7 certified the petition and set a likely vote date of June 30, as reported by AL.com. Joyce Overstreet, owner of the local Stagecoach Café, told the outlet that community sentiment is deeply divided: some residents want to block the solar farm, while others bristle at the idea of zoning telling them what to do with their own land.

The Stockton controversy also reverberated in Montgomery. State Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, pushed a bill that would have imposed a one-year moratorium on solar farm construction statewide, but the measure failed on a procedural rule in the Alabama Senate on April 8, according to the Alabama Reflector. The Senate passed the bill but did not properly transmit it to the House, killing it for the moment — though supporters have not ruled out reviving it.

In Kansas, Jackson County officials are weighing a temporary moratorium on large-scale renewable energy development in response to community concerns about a proposed 500 MW solar project, pv magazine USA reported. The county joins a growing list of rural jurisdictions across the Midwest and South that have moved to pause solar development while they evaluate their zoning codes and land-use regulations.

Perhaps the most personal story of the week came from Canfield, Ohio, where Wayne Greier, a 42-year-old sixth-generation farmer, told the Associated Press about the devastating aftermath of his community blocking a solar project on his land. Facing $1 million in medical debt from a prolonged battle with COVID-19 and related complications, Greier had agreed to lease part of his farmland to a solar developer — a deal that would have brought roughly $540,000 in annual payments. But local officials used an Ohio state law allowing counties to designate land as "restricted" from wind and solar construction, and the project was killed in 2023. Greier was forced to sell part of his family's farm to stay afloat. "It was our saving grace," he told the AP, as reported by myMotherLode. He said he and his family were ostracized during the public debate, and his mental health deteriorated as the project became a lightning rod in the community. The story highlights a tension at the heart of many solar disputes: landowners who want to participate in the energy transition are sometimes pitted against neighbors who object to the visual, environmental, or land-use impacts of large-scale installations.

Wind Energy Pushback

In eastern Arkansas, residents of Earle are petitioning the Crittenden County Quorum Court for a moratorium on the placement of wind turbines in their area, according to The Wynne Progress. Details on the specific developer and project capacity were not immediately available, but the petition reflects a familiar pattern of residents seeking to freeze development while local governments assess their regulatory frameworks. Arkansas has seen relatively little wind development compared to states to its west, making the Earle proposal an early test of how the state's rural communities will respond to wind energy expansion.

Battery Storage Concerns

Two battery energy storage developments made headlines this week on opposite coasts. In Byron, New York — a town in Genesee County — the town board unanimously approved temporary moratoriums on both battery energy storage system facilities and renewable energy projects following public hearings on April 9, The Batavian reported. The battery storage moratorium will last six months, with the possibility of extension. Town officials cited "emerging land use, fire safety, environmental and emergency response considerations" as justification for the pause, noting that safety standards at the state and national levels continue to evolve. Residents including Jim Lamkin and former town board member Eric Zuber attended the hearings to voice their concerns.

In Southern California, the developer of the controversial Seguro battery energy storage project near Escondido in San Diego County withdrew its application entirely, according to The Coast News. The project, planned for the Eden Valley area, had faced sustained community opposition. The withdrawal represents a clear victory for residents who organized against the facility, though it also means the region loses a potential grid-scale storage resource at a time when California's grid operator has repeatedly called for more battery capacity to manage peak electricity demand.

Data Center Disputes

In Fayetteville, North Carolina, growing resident opposition to data center development prompted calls for a temporary moratorium. After multiple public forums in which residents voiced overwhelming concern about the facilities' impacts, an opinion column in the Fayetteville Observer argued that the city should pause and reassess its approach to data center siting. While data centers are not generation or storage projects, they are increasingly intertwined with the energy infrastructure debate because of their enormous electricity consumption, which can strain local grids and drive the need for new power plants and transmission lines. The Fayetteville situation reflects a nascent but fast-growing opposition movement against data centers that has surfaced in Virginia, Georgia, and other states in recent months.

What to Watch

  • Stockton, Alabama zoning referendum: Baldwin County residents are expected to vote on June 30 on whether to adopt zoning for the unincorporated community — a measure driven by opposition to Silicon Ranch's proposed 2,000-acre solar farm. The outcome could determine the project's fate and set a precedent for how unincorporated Alabama communities respond to large-scale energy development. (AL.com)
  • Will County, Illinois solar re-vote: The Will County Board must revisit its rejection of five solar farm permit applications following a court order. The timing and format of the new vote have not yet been announced, but the board's decision will test whether judicial intervention can overcome entrenched local opposition. (Chicago Tribune)
  • Jackson County, Kansas moratorium decision: County officials are actively considering a temporary halt to large-scale renewable energy development in response to a proposed 500 MW solar project. A formal vote on the moratorium could come in the coming weeks. (pv magazine USA)

Trend Lines

This week's stories reveal several converging patterns in the community opposition landscape. The moratorium has become the tool of choice for local governments seeking to slow energy development — with Byron, New York; Jackson County, Kansas; Earle, Arkansas; and Fayetteville, North Carolina all pursuing or enacting temporary freezes across four different project types. At the same time, the legal system is beginning to push back on outright rejections: the Will County court order suggests that local boards cannot simply deny permits without adequate procedural and legal grounding. The Alabama experience, where a statewide moratorium failed on a technicality while a local zoning referendum advances, illustrates the tension between state-level and hyperlocal responses to energy siting disputes. And the Canfield, Ohio story — where a farmer lost his land after neighbors blocked a solar project — is a reminder that the costs of these battles are not abstract; they fall on specific people, families, and communities navigating an energy transition with few easy answers.