Written by Mike Buza
Before the discussion starts with what has been accomplished this year with clean energy legislation, let's take a minute to review where we were before the recent clean energy legislation was passed. The goal for renewable energy was 15%, including energy conservation. Renewable energy alone was closer to 12%. The cap on rooftop solar was 1%. The environmental community tried to get this cap lifted or at least raised.
Several developers were interviewed in January 2023. They estimated that 60% of the townships had such restrictive ordinances that citing a wind or solar farm was not financially viable. The author advocated for solar siting in 25 different townships, and two successfully got or maintained favorable ordinances for renewable energy. One of those already had wind turbines in the township, and they saw the benefits of having renewable energy in their community. The crowds at the township meeting for citing wind and solar were becoming angrier. The strategy for shutting down these projects was becoming more polished.
Other barriers were faced. There was a large body of disinformation in the Michigan populace, especially in the rural communities. The fossil fuel industry was spending large amounts of money to support this campaign. Utilities opposed certain parts of the legislation and were spending big to fight it. The Republicans said they would not support any clean energy legislation at all. The Democrats had a one-vote majority in both legislative bodies. Democrats would lose that majority in November. Half the representatives were freshmen, and at the beginning of the year, many knew very little about the clean energy issue.
Michigan has one of the dirtiest grids in the country. 2/3 of our energy comes from fossil fuels. There is a big gap to overcome to make Michigan a clean energy State.
Efforts to Pass the Bills by the Chapter
According to Tim Minotas, the following was accomplished to support the clean energy legislation.
- 3,000 phone calls to lawmakers office
- 850 signatures gathered on a petition supporting solar reform
- 1,000 emails through action alerts
- 30 in-district meetings. This was a new legislative effort employed this year.
- 300 meetings with lawmakers
- The Legislative Committee developed a rapid response team.
- Our legislative team of Tim Minotas and Christy McGillivray put forth many long hours. These sometimes lasted into the wee hours of the morning.
Discussion of the Legislation
The new clean energy laws raise the cap on rooftop solar from 1% to 10%. This new cap on rooftop solar will allow for 10 years of rooftop installation, according to John Freeman, Chair of the GLREA. These new laws require 2.5 GW of storage by 2030. This is enough to power over 2 million homes. They also increase Michigan's energy waste reduction targets to 2 percent electric efficiency and 1.5 percent gas efficiency annually.
There will be a new "Community and Worker Economic Transition Office" within the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity focused on easing any economic toll stemming from the clean energy transition for workers with jobs tied to fossil fuel energy and internal combustion engine vehicles. One of the most significant challenges to implementing the goals of these bills is the need for skilled tradespeople. This part of the legislation will help remedy this issue.
One piece of the legislation that has drawn criticism is HB 5120, which grants the MPSC final say on permits for large-scale renewable energy projects — including solar energy developments with a capacity of 50 megawatts or more, wind facilities with 100 megawatts or An amendment introduced by Representative Reggie Miller ensures that local governments and municipalities will maintain local control by requiring that developers work with municipalities first on projects. It also requires the developer to pay a one-time fee of $2,000 per megawatt for community development.
The bill package also has the Michigan Public Service Commission to weigh when assessing utilities' plans the effect on greenhouse gas reductions, affordability and the impact on communities affected by environmental pollution. This is for IRP's only and not rate hikes. One of the criticisms of this provision is that there is a fair amount of room for interpretation depending on the make-up of the MPSC.
Michigan's 100% clean energy target directs state utilities to transition 60% of electricity generation to renewables. Energy sources such as nuclear power, hydrogen fuel and natural gas coupled with carbon capture that capture at least 90% of carbon can count toward the remaining 40%. Carbon captured from gas plants as plants under the clean energy standard are banned for use in enhanced oil recovery.
One of the more controversial parts of the legislative package was a carve-out for an incinerator in the Grand Rapids area that produces electricity. According to the carve-out, it was to be considered green energy. The outcry by the environmental community prompted a compromise where the incinerator was given only half of the renewable energy credits and a firm shut down date.
The Whitmer administration says that Michigan is implementing one of the nation's most ambitious clean energy mandates, aiming to be carbon-free by 2040. Michigan will join four other states requiring utility providers to transition to 100% carbon-free energy generation by 2040. The state has also set a goal for utilities to generate 50% of their energy from renewable sources by 2030, the Most ambitious timeline outside that State of Rhode Island, which aims for 100% renewables by 2033.
Governor Whitmer said the bills will lower household utility costs by an average of $145 a year, create 160,000 "good-paying" jobs, and bring nearly $8 billion of federal tax dollars home to Michigan for clean energy projects. This is more than double the amount we would have received without the package of bills.
Michigan is currently the No. 3 state in the US for clean energy investments, with $21.3 billion of investments and 16,699 jobs secured since the passage of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022.
Although these bills contain only some of the elements of the environmental groups that worked on them, they are a significant step ahead of what we have now.
If you have any comments on this article, they can be directed to Mike Buza at theoriginalzuba@yahoo.com