LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – At Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s policy speech this Wednesday, she is expected to discuss new state policies involving solar legislation, which would likely make it easier for large scale solar energy companies to install solar fields in the state.
One of the biggest challenges to industrial solar comes from Keene Township, a predominantly agricultural community in Ionia County, via a dispute that resulted in a special election to remove the township supervisor and treasurer. At a township meeting ahead of the vote, the former township supervisor, Robert Simpson, welcomed Keene residents to use the vote to voice their opinion.
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“If you’re not happy with us – this is the second go around on the recall – get it, do it, that’s the reality,” Simpson said at the January Township Meeting. “That’s your right, your job, if you’re not happy with us kick us out, that’s your recourse.”
After a second recall effort, Robert Simpson and former Treasurer Kara Albert were replaced by now Supervisor Bob Schafer and Treasurer Taylor Lewis. Schafer mentioned that transparency going forward is a priority of the new township.
“There will be some differences of opinion, and that’s healthy; if everyone were of the same mindset I’d be worried,” he said to Michigan News Source, “I think there will be an opportunity to have mostly a really good relationship and we’ll have to find those places where we agree to disagree and it’ll be a good exercise for all of us.”
Lewis also discussed the opportunity that the township has after the election and her hopes for a “bright future for Keene.”
“I want to take this as an opportunity to thank our community for taking the time to listen and to those that have spent hours upon hours to support us and try and make a change here at Keene,” Lewis said in an email to Michigan News Source, “I hope for positivity moving forward, that we can move past this as a stronger community.”
Bills in the process of development in the Michigan House and Senate would remove local authority in allowing solar projects and shift the power to the state according to the Detroit News.
“In order for Michigan to meet our clean energy standards to put us toward a more sustainable future for our planet and our communities, we have to invest and focus on a streamlined approach to deploy solar and wind that will create jobs and provide reliable and sustainable energy for generations to come,” said Representative Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) to The Detroit News.
Currently, local governments have several methods of recourse aside from recalling public officials, including setting zoning ordinances and permitting requirements that could either make industrial solar projects possible or prohibited.
Currently, Michigan is seeking more alternatives to gasoline powered vehicles, including some ambitious goals according to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm such as 100% clean electricity by 2035 and a net zero emissions by 2050 with decarbonized fossil fuels.
“If you’re looking for a field that has all of the things that will make you feel fulfilled as a human, because you will be solving the world’s greatest problems, I would encourage you to look at clean energy. … Sometimes you don’t know that you are in the middle of history when you’re in the middle of it,” Granholm said. “And right now, we are in the middle of this history, making change. And Michigan is the tip of the spear.”
As a township adopts a stance against solar projects, other surrounding ones do too, according to Michigan Conservative Energy Forum Executive Director Ed Rivet, an advocate for clean energy policies. This is already happening in places such as Monroe County and St. Clair County, he said.
“We’ve had local battles get so ugly that people’s cars were getting keyed or their homes were getting egged,” Rivet said according to the Detroit News.
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