As the nation moves to find more energy efficient ways to use resources, surrounding counties are deciding if a 100-turbine wind farm would be a step in the right direction.

Winnebago County currently doesn't have an ordinance allowing or restricting the use of wind farms.

A proposal by Navitas Energy Corp. was submitted in April and is the first wind farm plan to go before the northern Illinois county board.

Andrew Evans, of Navitas Energy Corp., said the company has been exploring a possible site in southwestern Winnebago County. The company currently has seven wind farm developments in Illinois. The company originally developed the wind farm near Paw Paw, Ill. along Interstate 39 in 2003, although the company no longer owns that site.

"Ordinances have been evolving over the last 30 years," Troy Krup, Winnebago County planning and zoning officer, said. "(Wind farms) are a use that has never been addressed and we can't have any without an ordinance regulating them."

The Winnebago County Board has spent about seven months discussing the ordinance that would allow a proposed 100-turbine wind farm to be built between Winnebago, Stephenson and Ogle counties. Winnebago County would receive 40 of the turbines planned.

As of the last board meeting approximately two weeks ago, no ordinance had been approved, Krup said.

The original proposal had a few last minute amendment requests from Navitas Energy Corp., the Environmental Protection Agency and the zoning board.

The board members received the amendments shortly before the meeting began and did not feel they had enough time to consider the changes. A 17-9 vote put the decision on hold.

The proposal is in the form of a permit that requires all wind farm projects to meet specific requirements laid out by the ordinance.

The ordinance is similar to the Boone County wind farm ordinance because they are both drawn from the model wind farm ordinance used throughout the state. The ordinance has specific requirements in permits and zoning clearance, design and installation, nuisance abatement, liability insurance and decommissioning.

Krup said he wasn't sure what type of ordinance Stephenson County had, but knew Ogle County has adopted a special-use permit ordinance, requiring each plan to come up for a hearing by the zoning and county boards.

The Winnebago County ordinance states it is "intended to promote the health, safety, welfare and morals of the residents of the County of Winnebago by establishing specific criteria for the siting, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of commercial Wind Power Generating Facilities, and facilities attendant thereto."

Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen said the board hasn't mentioned any worries about the plan resulting in a flood of wind farms being created in the county.

"The criteria is awful strict and there's a lot of work that goes into it," Christiansen said about the ordinance. "They cost around $4 million a piece. They're not going to pop up in every backyard."

Beyond the original proposal sent by Navitas, the county zoning board and engineering and legal staff have all taken a look at the ordinance.

Christiansen said the board will vote on the plan again on Friday.