The Michigan Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer passed legislation — Public Act 233 of 2023 — that took away a local community’s ability to zone wind, solar, and battery storage facilities, and instead gave the zoning power to three un-elected bureaucrats in Lansing. This huge state overreach is supported by green renewable energy advocates, their developers, a few farmers that stand to benefit financially, and climate control advocates.
This governmental overreach has met resistance from Citizens for Local Choice, a grassroots organization with bipartisan support that believes the decisions of wind and solar developments belong at the local level, not with the state. A state-wide ballot initiative is currently collecting signatures to return zoning authority to local communities with the goal of making the November 2024 election ballot.
The renewable energy developers argue that too many communities blocked their ability to place large scale industrial developments where they wanted, and they are taking away the farmers’ ability to save their farm. These farmers, it is argued, should be able to do what they want with their land. However, if the farm is located in a zoned community, there is not a right to do what you want with your land. Zoning regulates uses in a community and is governed by the Zoning Enabling Act. Zoning prevents a Dollar General from being placed in the middle of a residential zoned area. A two- or three- or more-square miles of industrial solar panels will impact that community for generations.
The renewable energy lobby and its advocates argue that the leaders of Citizens for Local Choice are representatives of the fossil fuel industry or local Realtors that want to create residential subdivisions on farmland. Of course, these same green renewable energy advocates are not paid or supported by the renewable energy developers. They refuse to recognize that the petition initiative has broad bipartisan support. According to a Michigan Township Association opinion poll conducted in October 2023 by Market Resource Group, LLC, 87 percent of those who participated agree that local control of the siting of renewable energy should remain at the local level. Eighty-five percent of Democrats, 91 percent of Republicans, and 84 percent of Independents support local control.
The passion and emotions on both sides are intense. These issues must be worked out in Michigan without the state forcing the renewable energy developments upon local communities with unreasonable conditions.
The real issue that no one wants to name as how PA 233 came into existence. Once you read House Bill 5120 (PA 233), you will notice how one-sided this legislation was written to favor renewable energy developers. The bill was introduced and adopted in little over a month. There was no meaningful discussion with local governments, the Michigan Township Association, the Michigan Association of Counties, or the Michigan Farm Bureau. Absolutely no input from impacted residents was considered.
The failure of the Michigan legislature and the governor to sit down and discuss renewable energy industrial developments and what it should look like has created a huge schism for the development of wind, solar, and battery storage facilities in Michigan. Without attempting to garner a consensus in Michigan with protections for all parties, the Governor in her rush to meet the goals her administration set, will result in delays as litigation will be needed to sort out the poorly drafted language. Confusion will reign and hinder the move toward renewable green energy. Not to mention that these goals may, in all likelihood, be changed with a different administration in a few years.
So, what should the state do?
1. Get rid of PA 233 and allow local zoning to return to local communities. This would allow local communities that want the renewable energy development to do so. It would likely increase the developers’ cost, but not by much. This would allow developments to proceed in a timelier manner.
2. If the petition initiative is successful and the issue of local control is placed on the November ballot, then everything will be placed on hold until then. No matter what happens with the petition initiative, if Michigan wants to be a leader, then it must be willing to sit down with all parties and address all the issues that impact the health, safety, and welfare of all residents, not just the profit line of renewable energy developers. Some of the areas that need to be considered are:
a. Address greater setbacks, and more screening from those homes not participating in the development. Fifty feet off a property line is not acceptable. Zoning was designed to provide greater greenbelts.
b. Lower noise levels to 45 decibels at property lines. This can be easily achieved with inverter and wind turbine placements.
c. Require stronger decommissioning language to restore the land when a development ceases operation or bankruptcy occurs. Five or 10 years to fully fund these costs are not appropriate. Greater protection for the land and its restoration is necessary.
d. Get rid of the hold harmless provision that developers only need to minimize and mitigate the impact of television antenna and radio signal interference caused to nearby homes.
e. Require greater protections to prevent drainage and flooding on non-participating property owner’s land when farm drain tiles are broken during construction. County drain commissioners must be actively involved in any development.
f. Require greater fire safety protection and address the financial impact to fire departments to ensure proper firefighting procedures and training are available. This cost must not be placed solely on the local fire department.
g. Placement of solar panels in state highway medians, on brownfields where appropriate, and on state-owned lands.
h. There must be compensation given to nonparticipating property owners within a mile of the development, such as a 50 percent reduction in their monthly electric bill.
i. Adoption of density location requirements so that no one local community is overwhelmed with renewable energy developments.
j. Should personal property taxes be eliminated and, in its place, create an annual financial reimbursement to townships based on the nameplate megawatt capacity. This is already happening with landfills. This would eliminate the developers from challenging every personal property tax assessment.
If Michigan continues down this path of mandating local communities take these renewable energy developments with no adequate protections for its community, it will result in continued opposition to all renewable energy developments in the future. Does the State have a desire to work with all affected parties to enhance renewable energy development in Michigan, or is it simply a power grab the State gave to renewable energy developers? We shall see.
Mark Fosdick is the Cohoctah Township Supervisor
