Renewable energy projects have a lot of stakeholders and gatekeepers. There are federal regulations, state laws, and the impacts on local municipalities where the projects are actually built. At times, these powers can be at odds with one another. In Michigan, a coalition of 79 townships challenged a state law preventing them from imposing requirements on renewable energy projects that were more stringent than those required at the state level. An appellate court found in favor of the state. A recent ArentFox memo discusses the Opinion:
“The court upheld the PSC’s interpretation that local siting ordinances ‘may only contain the setback, fencing, height, sound, and other applicable requirements expressly outlined in [Michigan Code of Laws 460.1226(8)] and may not contain additional requirements more restrictive than those specifically identified in that section.’ The court reasoned that allowing local governments to adopt requirements in addition to those imposed under state law ‘would inherently be more restrictive,’ which would conflict with the legislature’s intent.”
The memo identifies this as a growing trend at the state level. In addition to Michigan’s law, Illinois has similar restrictions on local power. Those restrictions were also recently affirmed by an appellate court. This is good news for the renewable energy sector. Allowing local municipalities to set specific, stringent standards specific to their townships would introduce a huge level of regulatory complexity for renewables projects. The trend towards state-level uniformity gives developers more certainty that their investments will yield returns.
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