LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – When it comes to what happens in their own communities, especially use of their local lands and water, Michiganders want their local government in control of things, not the state of Michigan. This became even more apparent due to a recent poll that was conducted for the Michigan Townships Association (MTA) in early October. The poll found that a whopping 87% of respondents disagree with the pending legislation that state Democratic legislators have introduced that would remove siting authority for wind and solar facilities from the local authorities.

House Bills 5210-5123 take away local control of those decisions and puts them in the hands of unelected officials with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for site approval and permitting. Michiganders also overwhelmingly opposed the state taking over siting and permitting for renewable facilities by 71%. Opposition to the bills also seem to be bipartisan with 85% of the Democrats and 91% of the Republicans against them.

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MTA says the bills would completely nullify zoning ordinances carefully deliberated and adopted by communities and reflecting residents’ preferences for how and where such development can occur. The legislation further silences local voices by removing any ability for voters to hold referendums on these issues, which can impact their community for decades.

The bills were introduced only about three weeks ago and the MTA testified in opposition to the bill package recently in front of the House of Representatives Energy, Communications, and Technology Committee. Even amongst the strong opposition, the bills passed out of that committee on a Democratic party-line vote of 9-7 with one Democrat abstaining. The legislation is expected to be voted on by the full House soon before being sent on to the Democratic-controlled Michigan Senate where identical bills were introduced.

In the legislative analysis of the package of bills, it says that HB 5120 would amend the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act and would create a certification process through the MPSC of wind or solar energy facilities and energy storage facilities with a capacity of 100 megawatts or more – and it would preempt local zoning or regulation of such facilities and instead provide that zoning ordinances be subject to the provisions of HB 5120.

Instead of localities deciding on the size and scope of wind and solar projects, the state would make all the decisions on what happens in communities all over Michigan.

2023 MTA President Pauline Bennett, Addison Township (Oakland Co.) clerk said in a statement, “Our opposition – and that of many similar voices – is not directed at renewable energy. But we wholly oppose this legislation, which is written for developers, and with total disregard for local authority, local units of governments, and residents across the state. The quick action through committee, without substantial debate – despite testimony from local leaders, residents, and others about the negative consequences of the legislation – signals a complete lack of concern and respect for the wants and needs of Michiganders, and for decisions made at the local level.”

MTA also objects to the MPSC’s lack of land-use experience and the amount of land that the bills would allow to be permitted, citing a township that was presented with a request for 50% of its land to be used for a renewable solar energy farm.

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MTA wasn’t the only one opposing the bills. Michigan News Source previously reported that Dr. Wanda Iza testified against the bill package on behalf of public health, particularly the proximity of windmills to farms and how it negatively affects livestock. She said, “We actually have veterinarians, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and realtors opposed to this because we actually looked into the expert’s research on this…We’re not stupid nimbees” and added, “We really have to look at the detail. There was no research on public health in the bill before it was pushed through, please don’t push it through that fast, without really understanding what’s going on.”

Clint Beach of Fowlerville, who borrowed words from Governor Whitmer in 2011 when she opposed the use of emergency managers, said, “It’s an unfair and unjustified power grab.”

Also in opposition are the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB), the Michigan Agri-Business Association, the Michigan Association of Planning, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

MFB Legislative Counsel Andrew Vermeesch said in a statement, “While Michigan Farm Bureau recognizes the critical role renewable energy plays in our state’s transition to a sustainable energy future, we cannot overlook the profound impact this will have on rural areas, particularly our farmland. Unfortunately, the bills currently under consideration by the committee threatens to strip away this essential (local) authority, putting the long-term planning and wellbeing of many agricultural communities across the state in jeopardy.”

The bills were drafted in order to push the Democrats’ clean energy policies along quickly and appear to be in response to Gov. Whitmer’s “What’s Next” speech in August and an email last month where she called for “Streamlining permitting of clean energy projects through the MPSC to move faster, create more jobs, and get shovels into the ground,” so Michigan can become a “clean energy leader.”

Democrats clearly aren’t happy with local community members’ pushback of solar and wind projects across the state and “streamlining” things means not allowing local taxpayers or officials to have a say in what happens in their own towns.

It’s obvious that state leaders don’t want the public’s input in Michigan’s drive to push their clean energy agenda when listening to Dan Scripps, chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), who said to lawmakers during a hearing last week, “If every individual local unit of government can block those projects, we end up without the projects that we need for Michigan.”

And there’s the rub. Local taxpayers are an impediment to the goals of the Michigan democratic lawmakers to move ahead with the thousands of acres of wind and solar developments they want approved and permitted over the next few years to make sure that their Senate-approved 2040 carbon-free deadline is met.

Leading sponsor of the bills, Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) says, “We’re nowhere near where we need to be” in regards to decarbonizing the state’s energy supply.

Where they need to be is apparently not at the mercy of Michigan voters and local governments, but instead, with state oversight of partisan green energy policies.