Bills from state Rep. Greg Alexander that reinstall critical protections for local communities and residents when it comes to large-scale siting projects were advanced Wednesday by the Michigan House Energy Committee.
Signed laws in 2023 pre-empted local authority for renewable energy siting, drawing concern and pushback from local communities and officials. With the new laws, the unelected Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) was given the power to circumvent local decision-making authority on wind and solar siting. Local zoning ordinances can be bypassed with a project application going directly to the MPSC for a certificate of approval to begin construction. The MPSC is a three-member commission of governor-appointed officials that serve six-year terms.
Michigan currently has about 17,000 acres occupied by wind and solar operations, and rural areas across the state are expected to bear the brunt of expanded siting going forward.
“I represent an area of the state where these laws are not theoretical. They will change the entire landscape of the region,” Alexander said when testifying on the legislation before the House Energy Committee, noting that Sanilac, Huron and Tuscola counties contain almost 60% of wind turbines in the state.
Alexander claims that the bills are not an attack on renewable energy, that they instead “state that the community should be able to make that decision for itself and do what is in the best interest of its residents.”
House Bills 4027-28 now move to the full House for consideration. Prior to the advancement of the bills, the committee heard nearly 90 minutes of testimony on Alexander’s legislation, with an overwhelming amount of testimony being in support of the plans.
