Springfield, IL – A preexisting Enterprise Zone in the Lee County area is now one step closer to being safe from potential wind farm projects uprooting years of planning thanks to legislation filed and passed by State Senator Win Stoller (R-Germantown Hills).

The Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone is a 2,000-arce designated area along I-39 and I-88 that local, state and federal officials have invested more than $70 million in power, water, sewer, road, rail, fiber and bridge infrastructure over the last 25 years. The Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone was created to attract thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new EAV.

“Local leaders and officials have spent years and millions of dollars creating and building an Enterprise Zone in Lee and Ogle Counties,” said Sen. Stoller. “All of their years of hard work and investment faced the serious threat of being undone because of new and controversial statewide siting standards for renewable projects that ignored preexisting enterprise zoning.”

During Lame Duck session, House Bill 4412 was passed and signed into law. This piece of legislation created a statewide siting standard for renewable projects that overruled local zoning authority and would have potentially threatened long term plans for the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone. Sen. Stoller’s Senate Bill 1127 exempts the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone from the state’s new siting rules.

“This legislation ensures that local officials no longer have to worry about an outside renewable energy company deciding that they want to come into this enterprise zone and disrupt years of economic development to help attract new businesses and jobs,” continued Sen. Stoller.

Senate Bill 1127 passed both the Senate and the House without any opposition, and now will be sent to the Governor’s office for his signature.