LANZING, Mich. (AP) — Clean energy developers had planned a 75-turbine wind farm in Montcalm County in mid-Michigan before local voters rejected the idea in 2022 and recalled seven local officials who supported it.
About 150 miles (240 kilometers) southeast, Clara Ostrander in Monroe County found herself at the center of similar conflict as mounting medical expenses forced her and her husband to consider selling land her family had owned for 150 years.
Leasing the plot to a new solar farm could save the property, but neighboring residents complained so vehemently that Ostrander said the city changed its zoning to block the project.
“There are people in this town that I will never, ever speak to again,” she said.
Local restrictions in Michigan have derailed more than two dozen large-scale renewable energy projects since last May, according to a study by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. Across the country and at least 228 restrictions in 35 states have been imposed to halt green energy projects.
The conflicts have hampered many countries’ aggressive timetables for transitioning to cleaner energy production, with the ultimate goal of eliminating carbon pollution over the next two decades.
Michigan and more than a dozen other states are seeking to change the decision-making process by seizing the power to replace local restrictions and allow state agencies to approve or reject sites for utility-scale projects.
The change has sparked a political backlash that could escalate as more countries seek to simplify obtaining green energy approved and built projects.
“We cannot allow statewide projects that are critical to our state’s energy security to be vetoed on purely local issues,” said Dan Scripps, chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Scripps and two other members of the commission now have the power to designate large-scale renewable energy projects in the state according to the adopted law by Michigan lawmakers and signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
Michigan joined Connecticut, New York, Oregon and Minnesota in demanding utility providers to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity generation by 2040. The sixth state, Rhode Island, is aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2033. The goals are in line with The goal of the Biden administration carbon-free electricity by 2035 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Other countries have long-term targets below 100%.
But many local officials say giving states the power to own large-scale energy projects clashes with cherished U.S. political principles. Local officials, they say, are the public officials closest to and most directly accountable to voters. They argue that this is especially important when it comes to land use and what is built near homes.
In Kansas, Osage County’s moratorium on commercial solar and wind projects came in 2022 after multiple hearings. County Commissioner Jay Bailey said the decision reflects the concerns of most residents. Even after all the hearings and discussions, he said he just doesn’t feel he has enough information about the effects of large turbines or solar farms.
“That’s the difference,” he said. “If you let them, you can’t go back and change it, but if you don’t let them, you can always change it.”
Elsewhere, such as the Flint Hills of Kansas — home to most of the nation’s remaining tallgrass prairie — moratoriums on energy projects stem from environmental concerns.
But even with the restrictions in some parts of Kansas, renewable energy is booming there. Wind farms now provide 47 percent of the state’s electricity, up from 7 percent in 2010. The gains came from the clean energy lobby it worked stable to counter opposition from the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Elise Kaplan, vice president of regulatory affairs at the nonprofit American Renewable Energy Council, said local rules restricting green energy facilities “are not really based on science.” The projects could benefit the local environment by decommissioning fossil fuel-fired power plants, she said.
Michigan is pursuing its clean energy goals by rapidly developing facilities where there is sufficient farmland. It’s a choice that can divide rural communities, as happened in the case in Monroe County where Ostrander sought to lease property for a solar farm.
Michigan’s new location law could revive the project.
“No one is forcing this on us,” Ostrander said. “It was something we decided and felt would be good for us to build to keep our ownership in the family.”
Michigan is unusual in that its more than 1,200 municipalities have the power to adopt and enforce zoning ordinances. Twenty of the state’s 83 counties have passed ordinances blocking or delaying wind or solar development.
Scripps, chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission, which can now lift those restrictions, said an additional 209,000 acres (84,579 hectares) would be needed for projects to meet the state’s goal of 60 percent renewable energy by 2035 d. This is a huge increase from the 17,000 acres (6,880 hectares) currently in use.
Developers will still have to go through local communities to approve projects, Scripps said. But if the project is rejected and meets the state’s criteria to proceed, the three-member commission can override the local decision and approve solar projects of 50 megawatts or more and wind projects of 100 megawatts.
A 2023 Illinois Act limits the power of local governments and prohibits moratoriums on clean energy projects. In addition to Michigan, the Columbia University study reported that state boards or agencies in California, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island control decisions about deployment projects. Local rules can also be circumvented by the state in Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Florida and South Dakota.
Local government groups in Michigan have strongly opposed the new law giving the state authority over site projects, saying it creates a “one-size-fits-all” process. Citizens for Local Choice, a group of four state lawmakers, announced in early January that it would try to put the issue before Michigan voters in November, which would require nearly 357,000 signatures to be collected by May 29.
Green energy advocates are frustrated by what they often see as driving local opposition to projects: fear of change, widespread misinformation about wind turbines and solar panels, and a desire by suburbanites moving into rural areas to preserve views .
Josh Swati, who helps renewable energy companies seek approval at the county level and lobbies for them at the Kansas Statehouse, decried how opponents can make life “absolutely miserable” for local officials. Still, he said, he still believes in local decision-making.
“County governments — city governments, likewise — they’re designed to be accessible to their citizens,” Swati said. “So you can go to that planning and zoning meeting and if you want to have your say, you can.”
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Hannah reported from Topeka, Kansas.
