Solar Power

Illinois lawmakers unanimously passed a bill during the spring session to make it quicker for schools to get estimates and install solar. Some schools like the Metamora Grade School have been waiting two year to connect their solar panels to the grid.

There has been one permit pulled for the installation of a BESS, at Rivian. It encompasses less than an acre, according to the town planning and zoning department, and would not be visible from a public street.

Republican state Sen. Sally Turner reflects on the late night budget, a pause on gas sales tax, property tax relief, regulating data centers and a pause in data center tax credits.

McLean County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said there's significant movement on mental health program spending in the county. That comes from sales tax money shared with the county by Bloomington and Normal.

Illinois State University is trying to revive a stalled dorm and dining center project. It also wants to put a solar farm on the land, roofs, and maybe parking structures at its College of Engineering campus on GE Road in Bloomington.

A budget of almost $144.5 million for the 2026 fiscal year was presented to the McLean County Board on Thursday.

The Normal Town Council also approved a solar addition at Heartland Community College, updates to park signage and heard updates on the town's strategic plan.

Those inside the renewable energy sector find themselves at a crossroads as the GOP's massive tax cut and spending bill will sunset tax credits and incentives from the industry. Those groups now face the difficult decision of how to handle environmental projects which are usually years in the making.

Ecology Action Center in Normal is bringing back a program to McLean County that offers residents solar panel installation below market cost. The program also available to DeWitt County residents is a group buy program called the Grow Solar Initiative.

Illinois’ energy demand will outmatch its supply by 2030, according to a Power Bureau study. That's why some lawmakers are trying to end a 40-year moratorium on the construction of large-scale nuclear reactors.