The Will County Board this week showed the strain of local governments being forced by the state to approve solar energy projects regardless of whether they are wanted to or not.

Board Speaker Joe VanDuyne, D-Wilmington, proclaimed “our hands are completely tied” as he urged the board on Thursday to approve six solar projects that they had previously rejected.

The county board, facing a court order saying the body had to authorize the solar farms, did so, leaving some to question what seemed to be a strange form of democratic decision-making.

“The means to obtain a vote by force is extortion,” Bill Wagner, a former trustee for Green Garden Township, told the board in a public comment period before they voted. “Clearly, the process is flawed. Let’s be part of the solution and right the wrong.”

Right or wrong, Illinois law aimed at encouraging development of renewable energy has left county officials with little alternative but to give their official blessing to solar projects that meet state requirements.

Not everyone sees it as wrong.

Of the 38 people who spoke to the board during a public comment period, 27 urged approval for solar projects on the agenda.

Those proponents included seven employees or consultants with Earthrise Energy, which plans to build the biggest solar farms yet in Will County, and at least eight members of construction unions that showed up in large numbers to support projects they want to build.

But they also included several clean energy advocates and farm land owners.

“We want clean, affordable, renewable energy,” Larry Kollasch of Naperville told the board. “Thousands of acres of solar provide that.”

Ray Sundine of Wilmington Township told the board that his family are longtime owners of farm land.

“My mother would love to have a solar project on her property,” Sundine said. “It would help her pay her taxes.”

The board approved the six court-ordered solar projects by a vote of 16-3, with one member abstaining.

Court ruling on hearing

In another vote forced by a separate court order, the board voted to send the 6,100-acre Pride of the Prairie project back to its planning and zoning commission.

A Will County judge ruled this week that adjacent landowners were illegally denied the right at a public hearing to present evidence and cross-examine Earthrise representatives about their plans for the project.

Earthrise attorney Ben Jacobi told the county board that he expected the Pride of the Prairie plan to be ready for a vote in May.

“We’re happy to complete that process as instructed by the judge,” Jacobi said.

Meanwhile, Earthrise did get county board approval for its 2,400-acre Plum Valley Solar project.

The vote on Plum Valley was close: 10-9 with one member abstaining.

The opposition came from Republican board members, who often represent rural areas and have been most outspoken against the relatively unregulated spread of solar power.

However, all but two Democrats joined in support of a resolution proposed by Van Duyne calling on Gov. JB Pritzker and state legislators to change state law so counties have control over where solar projects can be built.

VanDuyne said the proposal “has gained some traction” with other officials who want more local control.

“I’ve had some other counties reach out to me, and they are interested in some sort of resolution,” he said.