At least 50 residents in Wexford County packed Monday’s meeting of the Wexford Joint Planning Commission to oppose possible plans for a nearly 1,500-acre solar array.
The commission is reviewing an application from renewable energy developer Ranger Power to amend a zoning ordinance. The agricultural land that the company is eyeing for the solar array — mostly in Wexford Township — isn’t currently zoned for utilities.
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“When you have this kind of turnout, you obviously can see the objection to this,” said Michael John Luther, a farmer from Wexford Township.
Residents raised concerns about the loss of productive farmland that would come with development. Michigan has already lost more than 50,000 acres in farmland since 2000, as landowners sell property to developers, following a national trend.
“When you’re going to destroy farmland, when you’re going to destroy forest, that is just, at the root, wrong,” said resident Darren Albrecht, who supports solar power but opposes the use of natural land for the project. “Put the solar panels where they’re used. Put them in the cities, on the buildings. Don’t destroy the planet.”
Among other concerns raised by meeting attendees were risks to wildlife, whether the community would benefit from this energy production, questions about what happens when solar panels need to be decommissioned, and impact on property values.
No site plan has been submitted yet because the project is still in the early stages. Ranger Power said it will commission sound, decommissioning, and glare studies as part of their application, plus a community benefits agreement, according to statements submitted to the planning commission.
Drew Vielbig, director of development for Ranger Power, was at the meeting and talked to residents about the project.
“We're grateful for the interest that we're receiving from the public,” Vielbig told IPR. “At the end of the day, we're still so early on in the process, where it's going to take time to provide more information about the project, and hopefully dispel some of the questions and concerns that we're hearing.”
Some residents were worried about what a new Michigan law on local renewable energy siting would mean for their community.
Public Act 233 gives renewable energy developers the option to bypass local control and seek state approval for large-scale projects. The 2023 law is meant to support the state’s clean energy goals.
“The way the law is written, it pretty well takes the decision making right out of the local people's hands, and I don't love that, but it is what it is,” said farmer Jake Kerby. But he thinks the state law has better guardrails for siting renewable energy projects than what his local zoning commission can provide.
Vielbig said Ranger Power is committed to working locally.
The proposed solar array is in the early stages of development. Bob Hall, director of zoning and planning for the commission, said if the process is like the alphabet, this is still step A.
“Many of the public may not be aware of what those guidelines are, and what the ordinance tells us to do, and in what order, so they may unwittingly think that we are farther ahead in the process than we are,” Hall said.
A public hearing on the amendment is scheduled for the next Wexford Joint Planning Commission meeting on July 27 at 6:30 p.m.
