Solar panels from the Heartwood I solar project west of Jonesville.
Ethan Savka | Collegian
Ranger Power’s Heartwood Solar II filed a lawsuit July 13 against Fayette Township and its planning commission for denying the LLC permission to build a solar energy project, which faced local opposition. The township approved Ranger Power’s first project, Heartwood Solar I, in 2022, but rejected a second installation in June, which proposed to put solar panels on more than 1,380 acres.
The Collegian previously reported a potential third phase, Heartwood III, that would span more than 2,000 acres if approved in addition to the first two projects.
Fayette Township adopted a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance in April, which allows the township board to limit the construction of renewable energy projects, but, according to the lawsuit, the project meets all of the CREO’s stipulations.
Ranger Power claims the township was required to approve the permits if it found the project to be in accordance with the CREO.
According to the lawsuit, Fayette Township officials and consultants reviewed the plans for Heartwood Solar II and found them to be in accordance with all zoning ordinances and the CREO, but the township denied the permits anyway.
At the time of publication, attorneys for Heartwood Solar II could not be reached for comment.
“What do we have to do to overcome this?” said Steve Oleszkowicz, a Fayette Township resident who opposes the project through his group No Solar Fayette. “It’s really a death by a thousand cuts if we just continue to fight all of these battles locally, and we need to find a better structure and a better method to fight this all the way up the ranks.”
Oleszkowicz said that depending on the outcome of the lawsuit, Ranger Power may still appeal to the Michigan Public Service Commission, an agency that regulates energy and utilities in the state, to bypass the township board’s decision using Public Act 233. The 2023 law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, allows the state to permit renewable energy projects instead of local governments.
While Fayette Township has a CREO in place, it does not prevent solar projects from being built, according to Oleszkowicz.
“The entire purpose and point of having a CREO is it forces these companies to come to the table locally first, and then once they go through that process, approved or denied, then there’s an appeal process of the state of Michigan,” Oleszkowicz said.
State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, who represents Fayette Township, said Ranger Power should not have filed a lawsuit because Heartwood II was denied at the local level.
“If they don’t like the interaction or the response from the township, the appropriate place to appeal is the MPSC, based on the law,” Wortz said.
Other local communities are also looking to adopt CREOs in an attempt to restrict solar projects such as Heartwood II.
“North Adams had a public hearing on it, and they made some revisions to the CREO,” Oleszkowicz said. “Then they voted and did adopt it with the revisions. Although they didn’t have a final draft of it at that time, they were fully intending to work through that process and adopt it.”
Wortz said a CREO is the first step local officials can take to avoid large plots of farmland being used for renewable energy projects.
“You need to be proactive instead of reactive,” Wortz said. “I think that’s part of the situation that Fayette Township is in here.”
Ranger Power has been disingenuous about its intentions in Fayette Township, according to Wortz.
“Ultimately, the thing here is that Ranger Power has said they want to be good neighbors and they don’t want to go where they’re not wanted,” Wortz said. “That was something they told me in that meeting I had, and so I think that’s the part that’s the most disappointing here. To most people that feels very much like lip service.”
