MONTAGUE — After months of discussion and a lengthy meeting last Thursday at NBC Middle School in Montague, the White River Township planning commission unanimously issued a conditional approval for a special use permit to construct Lakeside Solar's proposed solar energy facility in the township.
However, public statements made in the recent past by Geronimo Power, Lakeside Solar's parent company, seem to indicate it is unlikely to agree to the conditions, which include constructing the facility in the renewable energy district the township established in fall 2024 on Chemours land, as well as resolving issues with the special use application the township believes are insufficiently addressed. The company could appeal the commission's ruling to the Michigan Public Services Commission, which under Public Act 233 retains the right to overrule local rulings regarding renewable energy facilities if they are found to be more restrictive than state requirements.
The township has fielded reports from several Michigan-based experts in the field over the past couple of months who have shared their frustrations with the lack of detail in parts of the application, and zoning administrator Bill Schmiege said in a report Thursday that several portions of the application are incomplete and noncompliant, including portions dealing with the facility's battery storage and the deforestation required to build it, as well as storm water and flood plans.
Geronimo previously released an alternative site analysis that explained why it believed it could not put its proposed facility on the land, most obviously because it is seeking a 150-megawatt facility and the renewable energy district is not large enough to produce that much power. Mac McClelland, a northern Michigan-based consultant specializing in brownfield redevelopment, reported at a December meeting that the renewable energy district included enough land for a facility to produce as many as 95 megawatts of power.
Geronimo Power marketing and communications manager Emily Morissette had not returned a phone call seeking comment on the conditional approval at press time.
Prior to the approval, the commissioners shared thoughts on the application, much of which represented some of the most pointed criticism of Geronimo and the State of Michigan's methods in pushing for renewable energy projects to date from local public officials.
Commissioner Deb Harris, for instance, criticized the greed at all levels, including the state, that she felt has led to the situation between Geronimo and the township, stating that she believes PA233 is legislative overreach, though the township has cooperated with it by creating the renewable energy overlay. She concluded, "The only thing green
about the application is the money that will line the pockets of the
participants."
Denise Eilers added criticism of the MPSC, outlining some of the hoops townships have to jump through to conduct their business in Michigan and sharing her belief that it was ironic the state demanded so much of townships given what she viewed as its lax oversight of renewable energy projects in Michigan. She rhetorically asked how the commission, which consists of three appointed members, could be expected to make informed decisions about projects throughout the entire state.
Another commissioner, Stephen Niezgoda, after emphatically stating his support of solar power in concept, cited past industrial sites in the township, including the Chemours land that is only now beginning to receive some rehabilitative measures from the environmental damage caused by the duPont plant. He said as a result of those past missteps, "We must insist on taking an active role" in the push for renewable energy, and added that the Geronimo application is "woefully inadequate."
Comments like those were echoed in the public comment portions of the meeting, which included several township residents asking for a 'no' vote on the original application. Some from outside the township, like Montague Township resident Connie Kranzer, who was one of the experts brought in by White River to go over the vegetation portion of the application, and Whitehall city council member Scott Brown, also weighed in with their support of a 'no' vote. One commenter, Scott Roodvoets, whose late father David was a vocal member of the Chemours Environmental Impact Committee, shared his belief that Geronimo expected their application to be denied and that they'd go to the MPSC, which would explain the perceived shortcomings in its application.
The commission, which stated at previous meetings it had not received replies to the questions presented to Geronimo Nov. 21, said it did receive replies Dec. 29 and most of them stated the answers were already in the application or were unnecessary under Public Act 233, which created the MPSC. The commission added that Geronimo does not intend to build a data center in Muskegon County, as company representative Kendra Harrington stated in December.
