With this article, we launch a series of interviews with people involved in expanding clean energy infrastructure in Michigan. The topic takes on added relevance these days as the federal administration works to slow or even halt renewable energy projects, while Michigan continues to push toward its goal of a 50% renewable energy electrical grid by 2030 and a 100% renewable energy electrical energy grid by 2040.

To kickoff the series, we invited Ed Rivet, Executive Director of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum to share his thoughts. Ed has served as a leading advocate promoting clean energy infrastructure since he signed onto the job in 2018. Today he quarterbacks the efforts of his own team and the efforts of partner organizations as they travel to townships around the state. They dispel misinformation about clean energy and help Michigan townships implement the state’s new siting rules established in 2023, when PA233 became law. As a conservative and working extensively with conservative elected officials over the years, Ed faces a daily challenge many clean energy advocates do not: He does not turn to evidence of climate change to justify the clean energy transition because so many conservatives reject the climate change reality. Not a problem, Ed says, because low energy cost, energy security, and broad toxic pollution reduction do all the convincing needed.

Groundwork: Ed, what’s top of mind for you today as you look at the landscape of siting issues for solar and wind in Michigan?

OK, well today I’m sporting my swag for the Michigan Land & Liberty Coalition. It’s a group we formed specifically to try and successfully get renewable energy projects sited.That tells you how significant of a factor we feel siting is in the whole energy transition thing. I have two guys full time doing nothing but working on this. 

We’ve also built a separate coalition over the past couple of years called Michigan Homegrown Power, in which we’ve drawn in several other organizations to focus on siting too. We did that because we did not have the capacity to build an organization that could get everywhere in Michigan where siting projects were happening. So this way we can flood the zone across Michigan while also activating the base of other organizations for this mission.

Groundwork: What have you seen over the last two or three years in terms of the siting vibe and momentum in Michigan, especially given the headwinds from Washington?

It’s really morphed dramatically in the last year and a half because of Michigan’s Public Act 233. As I see it, the act offers a safety valve in the siting process. If a local community blocks a project, the developer can file an application with the Michigan Public Service Commission. Even though we are only now seeing the first cases through that system handled by the Public Service Commission, the new process has already begun affecting the developers’ mentality and the mentality of communities. And we’ve seen the full spectrum of reactions. We’ve seen some townships and counties, to a degree, rebel against PA 233. They’ve challenged the law in court. We’re still waiting for the opinion on that, and some communities are digging in and saying we’re not rolling over for you guys.

We’ve also seen projects at the other end of the spectrum where communities have said, “Let’s just play nice in the sandbox. Let’s permit these projects, and because of the funding, our community will take advantage of the Renewable Ready Community Awards and rake in some pretty good one-time upfront cash on the projects and also longer term property taxes.” Then there are communities somewhere in the middle. They say let’s do this dance between the developer and the local community and see if we come out someplace where we have a project.

How is that forward momentum holding up?

The only thing that would dramatically change that scenario now would be if the Republicans in Lansing take the House, Senate, and governor’s office this fall. They have said repealing PA233 would be one of the first bills they pass, and it would be introduced the first day of session.

Groundwork: Can you describe a project that really exemplifies how well things have been going recently for clean energy siting in Michigan?

Well, if you look at the EGLE department web page devoted to the Renewable Ready Community Awards, you can get a good picture. They have a downloadable spreadsheet that shows projects that have been submitted and gone through the vetting, and also the projects that are being built. Those communities are going to get the community awards money. The spreadsheet also shows what the communities are going to spend the money on. So we’re going to see those construction jobs happen. We’re going to see those community benefits. We’re going to see the tax revenue come into play that will start advantaging those local communities, in addition to the injection of the one time award.

Communities get half the award when the project breaks ground, and then the other half when the project comes online. In some cases, it’s half a million dollars going into the community. I live in a township of about 4,000 people south of Lansing. For a small rural community like that, $250,000 can be pretty transformational.

Groundwork: What do you say to people who can’t seem to accept a solar or wind installation in their community?

I say, go to the other communities where they’ve already installed solar, for example, and see whether they’re benefiting, whether any of these apocalyptic things opponents claim are happening, or whether it’s really kind of okay. Ask them, “So have the wind turbines ruined everything for you?” You might hear they built a gym on the school with tax money from wind turbines, or bought a new fire truck from the tax money from a field of solar panels. 

For a lot of people who object to these developments, it’s about their view being ruined. But In my township, we have a 20 megawatt solar array on one piece of property. And you know, the people who drive back and forth, up and down the road that it faces, they see some of it. But other than that, it’s been there two and a half years, probably most of the people in the township don’t even know it’s there. And meanwhile, projects like that are helping lots of farmers keep their land around Michigan.

Groundwork: Are you sensing any change in public acceptance of solar in particular?

No, I wish I could say yes, but I can’t. To be honest, you know, the president is not helping the public relations side of renewable energy at all, but that’s going to change, because the Inflation Reduction Act did set in motion something important: We’re building clean energy stuff here [in the U.S.] now. We’re building the components for wind and solar here, and eventually, because of that trajectory, I don’t think, it’s going to stop. We’ve got big plants producing huge amounts of solar panels.

And we are still early in the development of many of these technologies. Batteries in particular are advancing quickly. 

Groundwork: Can you crystal ball it a bit, look ahead three or four years here in the Mitten?

A bit depends on how the Michigan Public Service Commission handles the cases. To what extent they ask the developers to really work with the communities and provide the setbacks and mechanisms to limit the impact of noise from inverters and vegetation for visual shielding. If the developer offered to do a little of this and a bit of that, the community would probably feel like, “Well, at least it’s not going to be as bad as we thought it was going to be.” Developers will see that as a successful way to negotiate and start permitting projects under that pattern. 

They’ll have upwards of a dozen plus cases, and by the time we’ve seen what they do with a solar, wind, and battery project, it will be instructive to local communities to decide whether they want to play nice and work out the deal themselves, or recognize that this is what will happen if it goes to the state. And it may turn out that the state process treats the local community reasonably well. So if the Commission splits the difference well, and the developers are happy that they get to build, and the community realizes that it wasn’t as bad as they thought, the long term play could be possible. That kind of outcome might instill a best practices culture among developers, and give even more momentum to the movement.

This interview was conducted by Nicholas Jansen and Jeff Smith.

Nicholas Jansen is Groundwork’s Rural Clean Energy Specialist.
nicholas.jansen@groundworkcenter.org

Jeff Smith is Groundwork’s Communications Director.
jeff.smith@groundworkcenter.org