The Michigan House could take up legislation this week that will give control of energy project permits to the state Public Service Commission. This means it would take power away from local governments. Harrison Richards with the Michigan Municipal League is against the legislation.
“Cities and villages are densely populated, dense with infrastructure, generally the most built out areas of our state, and so when we look at the goals of this legislation and the context and the size of these utility scale projects, we don’t see how we would accommodate them,” Richards said. “So, we have said throughout this process we would like to see ourselves exempt.”
The legislation would give the Michigan Public Service Commission the authority to permit large solar and wind construction, even in rural communities.
Currently, townships, cities, and counties are able to set their zoning and permitting standards as it relates to solar and wind installations.
