Whitmer vows Michigan will lead 'clean energy future' in signing policy overhaul

Detroit — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer described herself as a "climate optimist" and vowed that Michigan will lead the "clean energy future" Tuesday before signing bills that will overhaul how electricity is generated in the state.

During a rally-like event at Detroit's Eastern Market, Whitmer gave final approval to measures that will impose a new 100% clean energy standard for utilities to hit by 2040 and will shift power to authorize large-scale wind and solar projects from local governments to the state's Public Service Commission.

"We will lead the clean energy future because we have the workforce and now the legislation to foster strong economic growth," Whitmer told a crowd of a few hundred people.

The signing ceremony took place in front of a banner that read, "Michigan jobs. Michigan energy." It marked one of Whitmer's most significant and most contentious policy victories of her five years in the governor's office. Tuesday's event came three months after she called on the state to "face climate change head-on" during a speech in Lansing.

During her Tuesday address, the Democratic governor said she's optimistic about combating climate change because of young people's passion for the subject and the ability to innovate.

“Let’s believe," Whitmer said. "Let’s fight for future generations, and let’s get it done."

The new laws will affect where solar and wind projects locate in Michigan, where the state's electricity comes from and residents' power bills — although there's debate over what the financial repercussions will be.

Whitmer said the measures will lower household energy costs by an average of $145 a year, but Republicans have argued rates will increase as utilities pass the costs of renewable projects along to customers. The study the governor appeared to get the $145 projection from examined additional changes on top of the new laws' move to clean energy.

"With the stroke of her pen, Gov. Whitmer has locked in a future of higher rates and less reliable service for hardworking Michigan families," said Rep. Pauline Wendzel, R-Watervliet. "Energy has never been a partisan issue in our state, but it’s been made one today."

Rep. Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, said the new laws were made possible because Democrats won majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years in November 2022.

"We are going to be the envy of the Midwest," Aiyash said of how Michigan's new clean energy policies compare to other nearby states.

Republicans, like Wendzel, have vocally opposed the proposals, contending they will raise residents' electricity rates and will diminish local control.

When the measures passed the Michigan House on Nov. 3, House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, vowed that the day of the votes marked "the day that we can say the Republicans are going to take the House back."

"High energy prices under this extreme, expensive legislation will burden Michigan families and impede the businesses who employ Michigan workers," Hall said earlier this month.

New clean energy standard

The new laws will require utilities in Michigan to get 80% of their power from clean energy sources in 2035 through 2039 and 100% from clean energy sources beginning in 2040.

The legislation describes clean energy sources as renewable sources, like wind and solar, systems that generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gas, including nuclear, and those fueled by natural gas, using carbon capture and storage that is at least 90% effective in capturing and permanently storing carbon dioxide.

Separately, the bills feature new renewable energy standards for utilities to hit.

Utilities have to achieve a renewable energy credit portfolio of 15% of their electricity through 2029, 50% in 2030 and 60% in 2035 and beyond.

In a statement Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, labeled the new requirements "far-left, unworkable energy mandates that will further increase energy costs and make Michigan energy less reliable."

"Michigan families need and deserve an ‘all of the above’ approach that focuses on ensuring energy is affordable and reliable, rather than imposing a progressive, partisan pipedream that has consistently failed," Nesbitt said.

But Tim Minotas, legislative and political deputy director for the Sierra Club Michigan, said the laws represented "one of the most ambitious and comprehensive climate action plans in the country."

The new standards are significant as renewables provided 12% of Michigan's electricity net generation in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

DTE Energy, one of Michigan's two dominant electric utilities, gets about 15% of its electricity generation from renewable sources, according to its website. And Consumers Energy, the other dominant electric utility, already plans to get 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2040.

During an earnings call on Oct. 26, Consumers Energy CEO Garrick Rochow said he saw "a path of constructive regulation going forward and a constructive policy going forward" through the Democrats' energy law overhaul, according to a transcript of the call.

Moving project approval

The package of bills that Whitmer signed into law Tuesday aims to make the clean energy goals more feasible by easing companies' ability to launch large-scale wind and solar projects across Michigan.

State officials view widening opposition at the local level to the developments in rural areas, such as Monroe, Lenawee and St. Clair counties, as a top threat to the transition to renewable sources of power.

Currently, townships, city and counties can set zoning policies and other regulations that block major wind and solar projects within their borders or significantly limit them. That's happened repeatedly in Michigan. In Ionia County's Keene Township, for instance, township officials were recalled earlier this year of their support for an ordinance permitting a solar project that would have produced 100 megawatts of energy and covered 500 acres.

The story in Keene Township has been replicated in other rural communities across Michigan. It's been like dominoes over the last two years, said Ed Rivet, executive director of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum, which advocates for clean energy policies, in August.

One township adopts a stance against solar projects and then the surrounding ones do as well, Rivet said. That's happened in places like Monroe County and St. Clair County, he said.

To get around the local opposition, the new laws allow the state-level Michigan Public Service Commission — a three-member panel appointed by the governor — to begin authorizing large-scale wind and solar projects, providing a pathway for developers around local opposition.

Opponents say the change will diminish local control. But supporters say it will promote personal property rights, allowing those who own land and want to allow a wind and solar project to do so without being blocked by neighbors or their township trustees.

Asked Tuesday what she would say to townships that have already voted to prevent similar projects, Whitmer said the new laws are about empowering landowners.

"It's about making sure that property owners make decisions about how they want to use their land," the governor said.

The changes come as Michigan might need about 209,000 additional acres of land for wind and solar power generation in order to achieve the proposed goal of getting 60% of its energy from renewable sources, according to Dan Scripps, chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Testifying before the Senate Energy and Environment Committee earlier this month, Scripps said the acreage needed to reach the proposed goals, which he described as high-end estimates, represented about 0.55% of the land in Michigan.

Staff Writer Carol Thompson contributed.

cmauger@detroitnews.com