Rumors and gossip can create anger, fear and division within a community, says Joni Thadani, Shawnee County's planning director. The county's government is consequently trying to prevent that by working proactively in an orderly manner to make sure citizens receive factual information as it seeks to create rules regarding the potential establishment here of wind and solar farms, Thadani said. .When [residents were] asked if they supported allowing wind farms in Shawnee County, results showed 31% of respondents strongly agreed, 13% agreed, 4% neither agreed nor disagreed, 6% disagreed and 46% strongly disagreed.
The Mahoning County commissioners Thursday approved a resolution banning large solar facilities and large “economically significant wind farms” in unincorporated areas of Green Township. The commissioners approved the measure 3-0. Before the vote, Audrey Tillis, county administrator, said the public . “was overwhelmingly in support of banning it.”
The Harvey County Commission approved regulation updates at its Nov. 14 meeting that ban commercial wind and utility-scale solar renewable energy projects in the county. The vote was unanimous. The regulations will take effect once legal notification has been published in the County's newspaper of record.
The Michigan Legislature voted Wednesday to empower a state commission to preempt local governments' decisions on whether to authorize solar and wind projects, moving bills to overhaul energy laws to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's desk for her likely signature. .But opponents, including Sen. John Damoose R-Harbor Springs, described the Democratic measures as a bid to circumvent local control in rural, agricultural areas, pushed by lawmakers from urban areas. "We are passing a law here that strips any reasonable local control over new facilities that can dramatically change communities for generations to come," Damoose said.
This summer Energy Minister Steven Myers made changes to the regulations in the Renewable Energy Act essentially overriding the municipality’s decision to reject the development. That was one of the main issues presented by the association during the presentation. “(The regulation change) gives the minister absolute authority to do 100 MW projects anywhere within any municipality without any consideration or consultation and that is anti-democratic,” Mr MacPhee said.