PEKIN (25News Now) – Strata Clean Energy presented to the Tazewell County Zoning Board, looking for a special use permit to build an energy storage facility in Elm Grove Township.
The plan is for a 300 megawatt storage facility that can hold excess energy when its not needed and put it back in the grid when there’s higher energy use.
Residents who live nearby are concerned about pollution to the water supply for their homes and decreasing property values.
One resident said the meeting made him less confident in the company’s ability.
“This thing scares me more now than it did at 5:30. Being a landowner, some of it’s almost funny,” said Tazewell County Resident Jim Anderson.
The company repeatedly said they’re committed to working with residents on the proposal. Representatives said their data shows that property values won’t increase, though a local real estate agent questioned that data.
Strata also said there is no inherent contamination risk to nearby water from their battery storage technology.
The room was packed with residents and union members who were waiting to hear about a proposed special use for Mackinaw Solar, LLC. That discussion was moved to Thursday after the Strata discussion Wednesday took nearly five hours.
The zoning board can only make recommendations to the county board on both those issues.
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