Montgomery County Hires Wind and Solar Counsel as Pattern Tensions Rise

Montgomery County Board Meeting | June 9, 2026

Article Summary: The Montgomery County Board on June 9 approved an engagement agreement with the law firm Heyl Royster for renewable energy work at hourly rates of $200 to $400 with no retainer, as a committee chairman told the board he is disappointed in Pattern Energy and a resident said no wind leases have been recorded since March.

Renewable Energy Key Points:

• The board approved an engagement agreement with Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, P.C., for representation on renewable energy projects, on a motion by Chad Ruppert and a second by Ethan Murzynski.
• Rates are $400 an hour for partners, $350 for senior associates, $300 for associates and $200 for paralegals, with no retainer.
• Development & Personnel Chairman Chad Ruppert said no land agent contact information has been filed under the county’s new Code of Conduct resolution, which he said required it within 30 days.
• A resident told the board that, according to a Pattern lease agreement, leases must be recorded, and that none have been recorded since March 25, 2026.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Montgomery County Board on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, hired outside counsel to review the county’s wind and solar ordinances, hours after hearing public criticism of a proposed 500-megawatt wind project and a committee chairman’s account of a meeting with the developer that he compared to a court deposition.

On a motion by Development & Personnel Committee Chairman Chad Ruppert and a second by Ethan Murzynski, the board voted to approve the engagement agreement with Heyl Royster. All were in favor.

Ruppert told the board the committee had reviewed the proposed agreement, which provides services at an hourly rate ranging from $200 to $400 with no retainer required. The engagement letter in the board packet, dated May 18, 2026, is addressed to Montgomery County State’s Attorney Brian Shaw at 120 N. Main Street in Hillsboro, and sets the firm’s charges at $400 per hour for partners and of-counsel attorneys, $350 for senior associates, $300 for associates and $200 for paralegals. Under “Retainer,” the letter reads: None.

The letter describes the scope as representing Montgomery County regarding renewable energy projects, including assisting with establishing policies and procedures for handling such projects, as assigned by the state’s attorney. It says the matter will be handled primarily by Andrew Keyt, a partner, along with senior associate Alex Rives and paralegal Brian Tuck, and is signed by Andrew J. Keyt of the firm’s Peoria office. The acknowledgment line is drawn for Shaw’s signature rather than the board chairman’s.

Ruppert told the board that Keyt has already furnished the county with draft model solar and wind ordinances based on the most recent legislation.

Code of Conduct Registration Goes Unanswered

Under a separate item on The Shoals Renewables, Ruppert said that according to the new county resolution, contact information for land agents should have been filed within 30 days but has not been received to date.

He said he is not satisfied with a recent statement he received from Pattern about the “Do Not Contact” list requirement, and that after meeting with the Pattern representatives two weeks earlier, he advised against meeting with them alone because he felt like it was a court deposition. Ruppert told the board he is disappointed in Pattern Energy to date because their words do not equal their actions.

The minutes direct readers to Resolution Book 23, pages 290-291, in connection with that item. The Code of Conduct resolution itself — formally the Resolution Establishing A County-Wide Code of Conduct For Land Agents And Energy Project Representatives — was adopted at the board’s May meeting, according to public comment at the June meeting. Its text is not reproduced in the minutes or the packet.

Resident Cites Unrecorded Leases, Project Scale

The board’s lone public comment came from Dan Mulch, who thanked the board for last month’s Code of Conduct resolution.

Mulch told the board that, according to Pattern’s 36-page lease agreement, leases must be recorded, yet none have been recorded since March 25, 2026. He said a map posted online by Stop the Shoals has had 60,000 views, and that feedback from 90% of those who have responded shows they are not interested in wind energy.

He also told the board that the wind project currently under construction in Macoupin County is 200 megawatts, while the proposed Pattern project in Montgomery County is 500 megawatts — meaning, he said, the county could be faced with a much larger project.

The relationships among the several renewable energy names before the county — Pattern Energy, The Shoals Renewables, Plains Solar and Elm Lawn Solar — are not stated in the minutes or the board packet, and the county’s documents do not describe how, or whether, they connect.

Elsewhere in the packet, a May monthly report from Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Kaitlyn Fath notes a May 21 meeting with Pattern Energy regarding a Community Benefits Package and Agreement. Ruppert reviewed the MCEDC report at the meeting but did not address that item, according to the minutes.