Crete officials have annexed land and approved a special use permit for a proposed solar farm.
The Falconhead Solar farm is one of at least five solar farms planned or underway in Will County.
The property brought into Crete, with annexation approved at Monday’s Village Board meeting, is north of West Old Monee Road and east of South Sangamon Street.
The board also approved a special use permit to allow the development, which had been in the works since at least last summer.
The site itself is about 70 acres and the solar plant would be built on just under 50 acres.
As the nation’s leading nuclear energy producer, Illinois is uniquely positioned to capitalize on or fall victim to the latest rush for the carbon-free but controversial power.
The federal government promised a new wave of nuclear energy generation more than two decades ago, but steep construction costs scuttled nearly every one of the ambitious projects.
This time, nuclear energy is being pushed by tech giants scrambling to meet climate pledges set long before data centers’ power needs skyrocketed, largely because of artificial intelligence.