Putnam County Accepts Mennie Machine’s Solar Permit
Monday night, Putnam County Board accepted a special-use permit for Mennie Machine on farmland off Route 71.
But just because the permit was approved doesn’t mean the project will happen. The state will hold a lottery drawing to choose what permits can go through with the plans.
Jessica Tyler with developer GEM Energy and Bill Mennie with Mennie Machine were at the meeting to answer questions.
Tyler explained the plan is for a community solar project, and “Members of your community, businesses, anybody within Putnam County, anybody within Ameren could then participate in the project.”
Not all solar projects will happen
Mennie Machine’s project is one of many names in the hat for Illinois solar permits.
A date hasn’t been finalized for the lottery, said Anthony Star, director for the Illinois Power Agency, but he expects it to happen the second half of March.
“We are still determining the number of projects that will be selected because it also depends on the volume of applications we get for distributed generation solar and some other factors,” Star said.
He said they’re working through details on how information will be released about who gets chosen after the drawings happen.
The deadline for the lottery is noon Wednesday.
Source: News Tribune