The Public Service Commission approved the 1,300 MW Vista Sands Solar Farm in Portage County in a final decision issued January 2025, the largest solar project in state history. More followed. Emerald Bluffs Solar cleared the PSC at 225 MW in Juneau County. Akron Solar cleared at 200 MW across Adams and Wood Counties in March 2026. That same month the Commission approved Good Oak Solar and Gristmill Solar in Columbia County, roughly 165 MW combined. It also signed off on utility purchase of Dawn Harvest in Rock County, 150 MW of solar paired with 50 MW of storage.
As of August 2026, Wisconsin has 118 utility-scale solar farms operating at 2,554 MW combined, with another 84 projects in development representing 13,048 MW of planned capacity (Cleanview). Nearly all of it lands on farm ground that already moves water somehow.
Abraham Drainage & Excavating is a solar drainage and dewatering contractor serving EPC firms, solar developers, and engineering teams building utility-scale projects in Wisconsin. We find the tile before the pile driver does, hold the ground stable through construction, and hand over records that satisfy WDNR, DATCP, and the county drainage board.
On former farm ground in Wisconsin, utility-scale solar sites frequently run into:
What that costs when it is missed:
Why Choose Us
Why Wisconsin Project Teams Bring Us In
Central Sands (Portage, Adams, Wood, Juneau, Waushara Counties):
Home to the 1,300 MW Vista Sands Solar Farm in Portage County, along with Akron Solar across Adams and Wood Counties and Emerald Bluffs Solar in Juneau County. Sandy, rapid-draining soils sit over a shallow, irrigation-influenced water table. Many of these sites need dewatering attention even where no legacy tile exists. Groundwater sensitivity drives the design here.
South Central Wisconsin (Columbia, Rock, Dane, Green Counties):
Good Oak Solar and Gristmill Solar in Columbia County, roughly 165 MW combined, sit on till plain soils with active agricultural tile networks. Dawn Harvest in Rock County adds 150 MW of solar and 50 MW of storage on comparable ground. Coordination with working farm drainage, and in places with organized drainage districts, drives site planning here.
Driftless Area / Southwest Wisconsin (Iowa, Grant, Richland Counties):
Badger Hollow Solar (300 MW, Iowa County) and the Grant County Solar Project (roughly 200 MW) sit in Wisconsin’s only unglaciated region, along with a nearly 50 MW project cleared at the county level in Richland County. Karst bedrock, thin soils, and steep slopes make erosion control and groundwater protection the defining issue. Standing water is rarely the problem here. Sediment leaving the site is.
Eastern Wisconsin / Lake Michigan Basin (Fond du Lac, Winnebago, Sheboygan Counties):
Silver Maple Solar (200 MW, spanning Fond du Lac and Winnebago Counties) and Onion River Solar (150 MW, Sheboygan County) sit on glaciated ground carrying the state’s heaviest concentration of legacy agricultural tile. Undocumented tile age and proximity to the Lake Michigan Basin keep tile protection and discharge quality under close attention.
Wisconsin does not sit alone in our footprint. Eastern Wisconsin ground behaves much like the Michigan solar build corridors across the lake, and our crews run both. To the south, our Illinois utility-scale solar work handles the same till plain tile networks that continue north across the state line.
Siting, at the PSC.
Under Wis. Stat. § 196.491, any large electric generating facility designed for 100 MW or more requires a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. Once granted, a local ordinance that would preclude or inhibit the facility does not stop it. That preemption is narrow and reaches local ordinances only. WDNR permitting, DATCP requirements, and drainage board approvals all still apply. PSC filing requirements also ask applicants to submit mapped drainage features as GIS data, covering field drains, ditches, main district drains, and laterals across the project area.
Stormwater, at WDNR.
Chapter NR 216 requires a Notice of Intent for land-disturbing construction of 1 acre or more. DNR guidance directs filing at least 14 working days before construction, and coverage has to be in hand before ground is broken. Chapter NR 151 sets the post-construction standards for sediment reduction, peak discharge, and infiltration. Those apply to the finished site condition and get designed into the stormwater plan up front, not resolved after stabilization.
District drains, at the county drainage board.
Where a project crosses an organized drainage district, Chapter 88 and ATCP 48 govern. Obstructing or altering a district drain requires prior written approval from the board. A utility laying an installation across a district drain has to consult the board on grade, and it carries the cost of lowering that installation later if it goes in too high.
Farm ground, at DATCP.
An Agricultural Impact Statement under Wis. Stat. § 32.035 applies when a project with eminent domain authority proposes acquiring an interest in more than 5 acres of an agricultural operation. That commonly catches gen-tie and interconnection routes, even when the array itself sits on voluntary leases. Developers typically file an Agricultural Mitigation Plan covering topsoil handling, tile avoidance, and tile repair. Separately, Wis. Stat. § 182.017(7)(c) obligates high-voltage transmission line owners to repair drainage tile damaged by construction or maintenance within the easement.
01
Site Walk and District Check
We walk the site with your project management or civil team to locate known drainage features and confirm which soil regime we are working in. On Wisconsin projects that also means checking DATCP drainage district mapping for Chapter 88 districts and mapped drain corridors touching the project area, and interviewing landowners about tile nobody wrote down. Findings are GPS-documented and handed back before they become field surprises.
02
Scope, Price, and Named Risk
You receive a detailed proposal covering scope, pricing, materials, and schedule. We name where change-order risk actually sits on your site: undocumented tile density in eastern counties, karst voids and thin cover in the Driftless, or a seasonal water table in the Central Sands. If a drainage board approval is needed, we identify it here and say who files it.
03
Field Execution and Daily Records
Our crews work alongside your construction team and respond to tile encounters as they happen rather than at the end of the week. Work is documented with GPS coordinates and photography as it goes. We support the NR 216 inspection record, including the weekly entries and the ones triggered within 24 hours of a half-inch rainfall.
04
Closeout Package Handover
Before turnover we verify drainage performance and assemble the package: GPS tile maps showing line locations and repair points, drainage feature GIS in the format PSC filings expect, NR 151 post-construction documentation, Agricultural Mitigation Plan execution records, and landowner-facing records of every tile located, cut, repaired, and verified.
05
Support Through Later Phases
Conditions change and phases get added. We stay reachable through construction and mobilize for scope additions, added controls, or drainage that a later phase turns into a problem.