By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Lansing — It’s been just about a year since a proposed Battery Energy Storage System or BESS was first proposed for a wooded area of Groveland Township. The controversial energy storage system introduced by Dallas-based Vesper Energy has eyed a location near the ITC high-voltage transmission lines that cross the township has drawn the ire and concerns of area residents and officials.
The proposed Groveland BESS is one of several renewable energy projects that communities statewide have been grappling with since the passage of PA 233 which went into effect Nov. 29, 2024.
Area communities, like Groveland, Atlas and Brandon townships that established ordinances aimed at renewable solar and wind power facilities within their borders now face significant opposition by shifting permit decisions from local municipalities to state control. PA 233 gave the Michigan Public Service Commission the authority, not local governments, to allow new wind and solar farms in communities statewide.
Since that time, a grass-roots effort along with several lawmakers have sought to reestablish local control.
On April 22, Rep. David Martin, (R-Davison) 68th District cast a key vote in the House Energy Committee to return local control for approving large-scale renewable energy projects in their community. House Bills 4027 and 4028, which Martin co-sponsored, remove and repeal the provisions granting the Michigan Public Service Commission authority to preempt local zoning for large-scale wind, solar, and battery storage siting.
“I’m proud to have co-sponsored these bills and advanced them in committee,” said Martin. “Michigan residents deserve the right to determine what projects they want in their backyard. I fully support returning these powers to local zoning authorities because our residents know their communities better than commissions of unelected bureaucrats at the state level.”
Included in the 68th District are Atlas and Groveland townships as well as the Village of Goodrich.
“The current law, which went into effect last November, wrongfully stripped citizens of their voice when it comes to these large-scale projects,” Martin said. “I’ve been against the state mandating these projects since the beginning, and I’m keeping my promise to get them repealed.”
Both bills passed the House Energy Committee and moved to the full House for consideration.
Last month Groveland Township Supervisor Kevin Scramlin provided testimony for the House Energy Committee.
“For me, personally, the site of the BESS is less than a mile away from my home,” said Scramlin. “Many of my neighbors live even closer than I do. We have been rendered powerless by having our arms tied behind our backs by Lansing. The irony is not lost on me that as the state government here battles with the federal government for state control, Lansing has done to us what it doesn’t want done itself by Washington.”
“I personally get two or three calls per day from residents asking me the status of the project,” he said. “I even get stopped at my own mailbox by neighbors. That’s how much of an impact the actions in Lansing have had on the everyday lives of Groveland residents.”
Locally, in December the Brandon Township Board of Trustees passed resolution to support local control and claim of appeal against the Michigan Public Service Commission order.