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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
SCOTTVILLE — The public will have a chance to give its input on solar arrays occupying Mason County farm land during a Mason County Planning Commission public hearing scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. at Mason County Central High School. DTE Electric Company is requesting several changes to the Mason County zoning ordinance in order to allow more solar arrays on land zoned agricultural. In a letter to the Planning Commission, attorney Daniel Ettinger, representing DTE, stated several areas that the utility company would like addressed in order to place solar arrays on farmland.
The Mason County zoning ordinance covers all Mason County municipalities that do not have their own zoning ordinance. This includes the townships of Amber, Branch, Custer, Eden, Logan, Meade, Riverton, Sherman, Sheridan, Summit and Victory.
According to DTE’s website, it currently operates 20 wind “parks” and 33 solar “parks” that generate energy for 750,000 homes. It plans on adding 1,000 megawatts of new wind and solar energy annually. The website does not state how many acres are required to generate that amount of energy. According to the website getsimplesolar.com, every megawatt of solar power usually takes up 10 acres. This means 1,000 megawatts requires 10,000 acres. A 1,000 megawatt coal generator with a 75 percent capacity factor can power between 460,000 to 900,000 homes (depending on the region) annually. A 1,000 megawatt solar grid can power an average of 173,000 homes, depending on factors such as sunshine, temperatures and demographics.
“We are asking the County to revisit a few of its current requirements related to utility-scale solar energy systems in light of the amendments to the Clean and Renewable Energy Act and Energy Waste Reduction Act that were recently adopted by the state legislature (Public Act 233 of 2023). As you are probably aware, those amendments set specific standards for siting renewable energy projects and provide that, unless local ordinance are compatible with those standards, authority for approving energy facilities within Michigan lies with the Michigan Public Service Commission.”
In November 2023, the Democratic controlled legislature passed a two-bill package that allows the state to approve large wind, solar, and energy storage proposals, trumping local zoning ordinances. The legislation was signed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“Given that the state siting legislation will become effective one year after enactment into law (late November 2024), there is a narrow window of time for the County to adopt its own reasonable ordinance amendments for renewable energy projects,” Ettinger states. “We encourage the County to take this into consideration, as its current solar ordinance is significantly more restrictive than the standards imposed in the state legislation. We understand that the County wants to maintain control of the siting of renewable projects and DTE would prefer to work with local communities to permit its renewable projects and ensure responsible, reasoning project designs. But we cannot do so without workable ordinances. We do not believe that he County’s solar ordinance needs to be rewritten to be workable. Instead, we seek to address a few specific provisions that make utility-scale solar development in the County difficult if not impossible.”
DTE is seeking the county make the following changes to the zoning ordinance:
- Remove the restriction that utility grid solar energy systems be located on a minimum of 20 acres and remove the requirement that solar grids do not exceed 35 percent of a lot.
- Reduce the distance from a drainage easement from 75 feet to 25 feet.
- Reduce setbacks from lot lines of properties not leased or used for solar grids from 300 feet to 100 feet.
- Increase the allowable noice emanating restriction from not exceeding 40 decibels to not exceeding 50 decibels.
- Removing the restriction that solar grids be located within three miles of an electrical substation in existence at the time of application.
- Increasing the maximum time a property owner shall physically remove the installation of solar grids from 150 days to 365 days.
- Remove the county’s restriction that properties enrolled in Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program (Public Act 116) not be eligible for use as part of a utility grid solar energy system. Under PA 116, farmers are reimbursed 50 percent of their property taxes on tillable land.
During a public hearing citizens will have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed changes.
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