LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is busy pushing megasites all over the state by rolling out the red carpet for local governments to embrace the new age of supersized renewable energy sites.

EGLE’s latest initiative, the Renewable Energy Academy (REA), is a series of workshops designed to coach local officials on how to navigate the complex new rules and regulations laid out in Public Act (PA) 233, set to kick in on November 29th. Think of it as a crash course in “How to Build a Megasite 101” – just with fewer zoning headaches. The classes will be held in Novi, Muskegon, and Kalamazoo in September and October with possible additional dates and locations added.

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Even though just about every community in Michigan has pushed back against these huge megasites (Gotion, Marshall CATL-Ford Blue Oval and the Eagle Township megasite to name a few), the state continues to move ahead with their plans to build more wind and solar farms as well as using taxpayer dollars for their EV battery projects.

How to Build a Megasite for Dummies.

Five-hour marathon sessions for local governments are being planned for local planners, zoning administrators, and other interested parties and will include all the information they need about large- scale solar, wind, and battery storage systems.

Attendees can expect a deep dive into grid connections, zoning pathways, and community-specific options that reflect their interests – or at least align with EGLE’s vision of a renewable-heavy Michigan landscape – with the academy promising “neutral guidance” on how to fit massive wind farms and other sites in their communities.

What’s on the Agenda?

The academy sessions include everything from the basics of renewable energy to a guided walkthrough of planning and zoning under the new law and help with “workability” options. Sprinkle in some guest speakers from the University of Michigan and you’ve got yourself a packed day of renewable energy enlightenment. There’s also an informative Q&A session and EGLE has all the answers to everyone’s energy questions – except how to keep the state’s electric grid going with their unreliable energy plans.

While EGLE’s Renewable Energy Academy claims to offer a roadmap to renewable prosperity, it’s hard to ignore the underlying push to fast-track these massive projects despite widespread local opposition. From rushed timelines to questionable community impacts, this program seems less like a genuine attempt to educate and more like a thinly veiled nudge towards the state’s megasite agenda.