The Sun and News, Saturday, March 9, 2024/ Page 11Michigan has nine months to figure out new energy law
Kelly House
Bridge Michigan
A new law takes effect in
less than nine months giving
Michigan power to approve
or deny large wind and solar
projects, and state regulators
face the hefty task of figur-
ing out how to enforce it.
During the first in a series
of meetings Thursday to
gather feedback, experts,
advocates and citizens listed
a host of unanswered ques-
tions. Time is of the essence,
as local governments hurry
to write ordinances before
the law takes effect on Nov.
29.
“As a municipal attorney,
we’d like to start moving
right now, hopefully with
more guidance from the
(state),” said attorney
Catherine Kaufman, one of
three experts invited to speak
Thursday to staffers of the
Michigan Public Service
Commission.
The meeting stems from
Public Act 233, one of sever-
al laws passed in November
to facilitate Michigan’s ener-
gy transition. The law aims
to speed deployment of
renewable energy by shifting
ultimate permitting authority
from local governments to
the commission, which over-
sees utilities.
Democratic lawmakers
pushed for the change, which
applies to solar and energy
storage projects of at least 50
megawatts, and wind proj-
ects of at least 100 mega-
watts, in hopes of circum-
venting local resistance that
has tanked large energy proj-
ects across the state.
The move is controver-
sial, and an effort is under-
way to repeal the law
through a ballot initiative.
Opponents contend the law
undercuts Michigan’s long
tradition of local control
over land use.
In the past, local govern-
ments had broad authority
to decide whether to allow
renewable energy projects.
They have sometimes
blocked developments alto-
gether, prompting fears
from environmentalists and
utilities that Michigan will
fall short of its goal to get
off fossil fuels by mid-cen-
tury, worsening the climate
crisis.
The new law instead
establishes statewide stan-
dards — for instance, spell-
ing out how far develop-
ments must be set back from
neighboring homes — and
generally requires local com-
munities to approve projects
that meet those standards.
Local governments can
retain power to approve or
reject proposed facilities if
they have a renewable ener-
gy ordinance that aligns with
state standards.
If they fail to write an
ordinance, or write one that
doesn’t align with the state
standards, permitting
becomes the Public Service
Commission’s job.
“Time is rapidly ticking
away for municipalities to
identify which venue they
want to follow,” Kaufman
said Thursday.
Hundreds of localities
across Michigan have devel-
oped local ordinances about
wind and solar development.
Few would comply with
the new law, said University
of Michigan researcher
Sarah Mills, who directs the
Center for EmPowering
Communities at the Graham
Sustainability Institute.
Because many municipali-
ties hire consultants to writepolicies and need a few
months to approve ordinanc-
es, time is slipping away,
Kaufman said.
Others on Thursday said
it’s still unclear how
Michigan’s new siting law
will function.
For instance, the law lim-
its how much noise wind and
solar developments can emit,
where they can be located
and how they must be built.
But the law doesn’t specify
who will enforce limits or
identify who will train local
emergency crews for poten-
tial disasters.
“Who’s going to do the
day-to-day monitoring of
the project and making sure
it’s staying in compliancewith its approval?” said
Kaufman.
Mills warned that if com-
munities feel railroaded by
state regulators, the new per-
mitting system could back-
fire and slow the energy tran-sition.
“I’m cognizant that you’re
not going to please every-
one,” said Mills, but how
people feel about the approv-
al process for renewable
projects in their community“matters in the long haul.”
The commission has more
meetings planned to gather
feedback on March 19, April
5 and 26, and May 17. A rec-
ommendation on rules is
likely by June 21.(^) GAINES CHARTER TOWNSHIP
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The Gaines Charter Township Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to
consider the following request:
Summary of Request: Special Use Permit to allow for 3410 square feet of residential
accessory buildings.
Property Address: 9889 East Paris Avenue SE, Caledonia, MI 49316
Parcel Number: 41-22-26-400-
Applicant: Steven & Judy Redmond
Date and Time of Hearing: March 28th, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Location of Hearing: Gaines Charter Township Offices, Board Room
8555 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Caledonia, MI 49316
Any interested party may appear and be heard on said proposal. Information related to this
request may be inspected, by appt., during regular business hours at the Planning Department
window located in the Gaines Charter Township Offices. For information related to this
request, contact Dan Wells at (616) 980-6188 or [email protected]. To be
entered into the public record, signed written comments must be received by 5:00 PM on
March 28th, 2024.
Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations should contact Kim Triplett at (616)
698-6640 one week prior to the meeting to request mobility, visual or any other assistance.
213326
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CALEDONIA
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Meeting Minutes
The minutes for the February 7, 2024 Township Board of Trustees
Meeting which were approved on February 21, 2024, are posted at
the Township Offices at 8196 Broadmoor Ave., and on the website
at http://www.caledoniatownship.org.
Daylight saving time 2024 arrives this weekend
Janelle D. James
Bridge Michigan
It’s that time of year when
clocks must “spring for-
ward” for daylight saving
time — meaning we gain
more time in the sunshine
but lose an hour of sleep.
The time change occurs at
2 a.m. Sunday morning. Cell
phones, computers and other
digital devices should
update the time automatical-
ly but people with manual
clocks and watches will
need to physically change
them.
The ongoing cycle of
changing the clocks from
standard time to daylight
saving and back is some-
thing that most people have
gotten used to — it dates
back to a federal law passed
in 1918 — but Michigan
lawmakers have made sev-
eral efforts to end it once
and for all.
The latest attempt is by
state senators Thomas
Albert, R-Lowell, and
Joseph Bellino, R-Monroe.
They introduced a bill
Thursday that would ask
Michigan voters to decide
whether to eliminate day-
light saving time. They pro-
pose putting the question on
the Nov. 5 general election
ballot.
Last year, Sen. Michele
Hoitenga, R-Manton, intro-
duced a bill to get rid of
the biannual time switch
and stick with either day-
light saving or standard
time.
Hoitenga said Michigan
last year that she personally
prefers standard time, but
her bill would allow the
state to observe one or the
other year-round — so long
as the U.S. Congress amends
federal law to allow it.
Under her proposal, a per-
manent switch to daylight
saving would only go into
effect if Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio and
Pennsylvania did the same
thing.
While efforts like these
have been attempted before,
bills like Hoitenga’s, which
was referred to the
Committee on Government
Operations, have never
made it to the governor’s
desk.
A medical perspective
Some doctors agree that
changing the clocks is bad
for one’s health. Studies
show that when people lose
an hour of sleep, it can dis-
rupt their circadian rhythm,
which is the body’s natural
alarm clock.
“The health consequences
that can come from spring-
ing forward include cardio-
vascular disease, so higher
risk of abnormal heart
rhythm, for example,” said
Dr. Anita Shelgikar, neurol-
ogist and sleep medicine
specialist at U-M Health in
an email.
“Metabolic irregularity,
so impaired glucose regula-
tion, sleep deprivation,
which can influence our
attention and our cognition,
academic performance,
scholastic performance,
driving safety. So, there are
so many ways in which
springing forward negative-
ly impacts our health.”
Shelgikar said standard
time should be permanent
because it is more aligned
with the body’s internal
clock and it makes it easier
to maintain a sleeping
schedule.
“I do hear a lot of people
in the community say that
the loss of one hour of sleep
is really hard, particularly
on that Monday morning but
for some people even in the
subsequent week or weeks
that follow,” she said.
Shelgikar recommends
exposing yourself to natural
sunlight as soon as you
wake up and dimming the
lights before bedtime to
help regulate your sleep
schedule.
Michiganders will prepare to “spring forward” an
hour ahead to daylight saving time early Sunday
morning. (Stock photo)
Michigan lawmakers in November 2023 created a new statewide permitting system for large wind and solar
projects, an end-run around local governments that have repeatedly blocked the projects. (Bridge photo by
Dale Young)