Take Action against Wind, Solar, and BESS in your community

1) Has your township/municipality passed any ordinances to regulate utility-scale wind/solar? 

This will have a big impact on your fight. If the townships have passed ordinances which regulate wind/solar/BESS, then it’s possible developer applications can be denied or challenged in court locally. If there are no local zoning ordinances regulating these, developers will apply directly to Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for permits, and your community will be dealing directly with state agencies and courts.

If your township has passed an ordinance, what is it? Is it:

• a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance (CREO), as recommended by MPSC and the new PA233 law
• a workable ordinance,
• an unworkable ordinance, or
• a zoning ordinance passed before 2024?

Find the ordinance and become familiar with its contents, and how it was created.

2) What stage is the project in right now? 

• Has the developer applied for permits? 
• Who currently owns the land? A local, or the developer?
• Is it being funded by any grants or subsidies? (this is typically the case for out-of-state developers, less so with Consumers Energy and DTE)

3) What are the details of the project?

• What is the land currently–farmland? Wetlands? Forest? (Use USFW’s Wetlands Mapper tool)
• Who are the site’s neighbors–residential? Commercial? Agriculture? Are there any vulnerable human populations or habitats that will be affected? (use the EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool to identify vulnerable areas)
• Is there a site plan?
• Is there an Environmental Impact Study (EIS)? Note: An Environmental Assessment (EA) does not provide the depth of information that an EIS does, nor does it meet the same threshold for federal regulation.

• Connect with local residents who oppose the project; form working groups on social media and private networks.
• Speak with all your elected officials, from your township to Washington DC.
• Speak with experts–on fire, public health, biology, soil, economics, real estate, zoning and enlist their expert opinions.
• Speak with local public health and safety leaders–Fire Chiefs, Sheriffs, School Boards, Health and Human Services Directors–and express your concerns.
• Host town hall meetings with your neighbors; invite guest speakers.
• Collectively decide on a path of action. Will your community pursue legal action? Will you rely on intervener funds? Will you build a large grassroots campaign?
• Develop informational one-pagers and other resources to share; include actions people can take.
• Reach out to local media, and consider writing an op-ed to a local or state newspaper.
• Connect with other communities fighting similar battles; share best practices.
• For more detailed recommendations, you can download our Community Action Checklist here:

No two communities face the exact same problem, so every community’s solutions are different. There are no one-size-fits-all remedies. In fact: different local groups fighting these have some very different opinions on the best approach. There are a number of different approaches communities can take, and none of them are ideal. For example, your community could:

• Adopt a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance (CREO), as MPSC recommends
• Adopt an incompatible ordinance and deny permits
• Use intervener funds to defend permit denial against MPSC
• Do primary research and get expert opinions
• Conduct a strong grassroots public awareness campaign
• Do a combination of any number of these strategies
• Follow other strategies we can’t discuss here

There are pros and cons to each of these. Only you and your neighbors can know which strategies will work best for your community.

To help you understand your options, we’ve created a Strategy Guide. Because it contains sensitive strategy information for grassroots organizers, we can’t post it publicly–but we’re happy to share it with you. Just drop us a quick line requesting our Wind/Solar/BESS Strategy Guide.

Read their resources and action items.