Seventy-two townships and seven counties have filed a legal challenge to the process laid out by the Michigan Public Service Commission for approving certain renewable energy projects if local authorities delay or deny them.
The public service commission, which regulates public utilities in Michigan, adopted rules last month to implement a law passed last year and set to take effect later this month. The law is meant to smooth the path toward Michigan's climate goals by bypassing local governments if they're blocking utility-scale solar, wind, or energy storage facilities.
But the municipalities behind the legal challenge, filed in the Michigan Court of Appeals, argue that the agency did not go through the appropriate formal rulemaking process, and that the rules would wrongly keep them from imposing additional regulations on renewable energy projects.
The law's opponents say it seizes local authority, while its supporters say local governments too often have blocked or slowed projects crucial to combat climate change.
Michigan aims for 50% of its energy production to come from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
Attorney Michael Homier, of the law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, is one of the attorneys representing the municipalities in the appeal. He said local governments should get control over decisions about whether to approve big renewable energy projects.
"They're all different. They have unique circumstances and land uses that ought to be addressed at a local level," Homier said.
"They just want to be able to ensure that these facilities are sited within their jurisdictions so as to avoid adverse impacts amongst other property owners and users," said Homier. "Those are things like densely populated areas or location to existing transmission lines or substations."
In October, when the public service commission issued its rules, the agency said its staff had held eight public meetings on the issue, and had "conducted research, site visits and consultations with experts in fields such as land use planning and zoning, renewable energy, local government, sound engineering and farmland preservation."
Michigan Public Service Commission spokesperson Matt Helms said Tuesday that the commission is unable to comment on the litigation.
