Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
CERTIFICATION AND SITING OF LARGE-SCALE WIND,
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
SOLAR, AND ENERGY STORAGE FACILITIES
Analysis available at
House Bill 5120 as enacted http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Public Act 233 of 2023
Sponsor: Rep. Abraham Aiyash
House Bill 5121 as enacted
Public Act 234 of 2023
Sponsor: Rep. Ranjeev Puri
House Committee: Energy, Communications, and Technology
Senate Committee: Energy and Environment
Complete to 2-5-24
SUMMARY:
House Bill 5120 amends the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act
to create a certification process, through the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC),
for wind, solar, and energy storage facilities with specified capacities. Generally speaking, the
MPSC certification process preempts local regulation of those facilities, although a local
government with an ordinance whose requirements do not exceed the bill’s certification
standards can act as a permitting authority in some circumstances. House Bill 5121 amends the
Michigan Zoning Enabling Act to make zoning ordinances subject to House Bill 5120. The
bills are part of a package of energy-related bills that also includes Senate Bills 271, 273, 277,
502, and 519. House Bill 5120 takes effect November 28, 2024.
House Bill 5120 adds Part 8 (Wind, Solar, and Storage Certification) to the Clean and
Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act. The new part applies to wind energy
facilities with a nameplate capacity of 100 megawatts or more; solar energy facilities with a
nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts or more; and energy storage facilities with a nameplate
capacity of 50 megawatts or more and an energy discharge capability of 200 megawatt hours
or more. The bill refers to these facilities collectively as energy facilities. Under the bill, energy
facilities can be located on more than one parcel of property, including noncontiguous parcels,
as long as they share a single point of interconnection to “the grid.”
Wind energy facility means a system that captures and converts wind into electricity
for sale or for use in another location and includes at least all of the following:
• Wind towers.
• Wind turbines.
• Monitoring and recording equipment and facilities.
• Erosion control facilities.
• Ancillary buildings.
• Wind monitoring stations.
• Elements included in both wind and solar energy facilities, as described below.
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 Solar energy facility means a system that captures and converts solar energy into
electricity for sale or for use in another location and includes at least all of the
following:
• Photovoltaic solar panels.
• Solar inverters.
• Solar monitoring stations.
• Elements included in both wind and solar energy facilities, as described below.
In addition, both wind energy facilities and solar energy facilities include at least all
of the following:
• Energy storage facilities.
• Access roads.
• Distribution, collection, and feeder lines.
• Wires and cables.
• Conduit.
• Footings.
• Foundations.
• Towers.
• Poles.
• Crossarms.
• Guy lines and anchors.
• Substations.
• Interconnection or switching facilities.
• Circuit breakers and transformers.
• Overhead and underground control.
• Communications and radio relay systems and telecommunications equipment.
• Utility lines and installations.
• Generation tie lines.
• Accessory equipment and structures.
Nameplate capacity means the designed full-load sustained generating output of an
energy facility, determined by reference to the sustained output of an energy facility
even if its components are located on different parcels.
Energy storage facility means a system that absorbs, stores, and discharges electricity,
but does not include fossil fuel storage or power-to-gas storage that directly uses fossil
fuel inputs.
MPSC certificates
Under the bill, an electric provider or independent power producer may choose to obtain a
certificate from the MPSC, as described below, before beginning construction of an energy
facility. In addition, a local unit of government exercising zoning jurisdiction may request the
MPSC to require an electric provider or independent power producer to obtain a certificate for
an energy facility proposed to be built in the local unit.
Local unit of government (or local unit) means a county, township, city, or village.
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 Electric provider means any of the following:
• A person or entity that is regulated by the MPSC for the purpose of selling
electricity to retail customers in Michigan.
• A municipally owned electric utility in Michigan.
• A cooperative electric utility in Michigan.
• An alternative electric supplier licensed under section 10a of 1939 PA 3. 1
Independent power producer means a person that is not an electric provider as defined
above but that owns or operates facilities to generate electric power for sale to electric
providers, to the state, or to local units of government.
Person means any of the following:
• An individual.
• A governmental entity authorized by the state.
• A political subdivision of the state.
• A business.
• A proprietorship.
• A firm.
• A partnership.
• A limited partnership.
• A limited liability partnership.
• A co-partnership.
• A joint venture.
• A syndicate.
• A business trust.
• A labor organization.
• A company.
• A corporation.
• An association.
• A subchapter S corporation.
• A limited liability company.
• A committee.
• A receiver.
• An estate.
• A trust.
• Any other legal entity or combination or group of persons acting jointly as a
unit.
Construction means any substantial action taken that constitutes the placement,
erection, expansion, or repowering of an energy facility.
Repowering means replacement of all or substantially all of an energy facility for the
purpose of extending its life, but does not include repairs related to ongoing operations
that do not increase the capacity or energy output of the facility.
1
1939 PA 3 is the MPSC enabling act. http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-460-10a
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 Exemption
A city or village is exempt from the new Part 8 (i.e., the bill) as it relates to an energy facility
located entirely within that city or village if any of the following apply:
• The city or village is a developer of the facility.
• The city or village owns an electric utility that will take service from the facility.
• The city or village owns participating property.
Participating property means real property that either is owned by an applicant for a
certificate 2 or is the subject of an agreement under which an applicant for a certificate
compensates a landowner related to an energy facility, regardless of whether any part
of the facility is constructed on the property.
Public meeting
Except as described below under “Compatible renewable energy ordinance,” an electric
provider or independent power producer that intends to obtain a certificate (either at its option
or as required by the MPSC) must hold a public meeting in each affected local unit. A public
meeting held in a township is considered held in every village located in that township.
Affected local unit means a “unit of local government” where all or part of a proposed
energy facility will be located.3
At least 60 days before the public meeting, the electric provider or independent power producer
must offer in writing to meet with the chief elected official of each affected local unit, or the
official’s designee, to discuss the site plan for the facility.
At least 30 days before the public meeting, the electric provider or independent power producer
must notify the clerk of the affected local unit where the meeting will be held of the time, date,
location, and purpose of the meeting and must provide either a copy of the site plan or an
internet address where the site plan is available.
At least 14 days before the public meeting, the electric provider or independent power producer
must publish notice of the meeting in a newspaper of general circulation in the affected local
unit or a digital alternative that is comparable to such a newspaper. The notice must include
either a copy of the site plan or an internet address where the site plan is available. The bill
also requires the MPSC to further prescribe the format and content of the notice.
Compatible renewable energy ordinances
If each affected local unit has a compatible renewable energy ordinance and if the chief
elected official of each affected local unit notifies the electric provider or independent power
2
The bill specifically defines the term “applicant” to mean an applicant for a certificate issued by the MPSC. As
generally used, then, the term “applicant” does not include applicants for a permit issued by an affected local unit as
described under “Compatible renewable energy ordinances.” However, this summary assumes that “applicant” does
include applicants for a local permit when used in provisions that clearly and directly relate to those applicants.
3
It is unclear whether this definition uses the term “unit of local government” as a synonym for the defined terms
local unit of government and local unit, or in order to draw a distinction from those terms. As a result, the scope of
the term affected local unit (e.g., whether that term includes counties as well as cities, villages, and townships) seems
potentially unclear. The bill uses local unit of government in several provisions pertaining to affected local units,
which suggests that the same scope is intended (and, e.g., that affected local unit therefore also includes counties).
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 producer of that fact within 30 days after their meeting to discuss the facility site plan as
described above, the electric provider or independent power producer must file for approval
with each affected local unit.4
Compatible renewable energy ordinance means an ordinance providing for the
development of energy facilities in the local unit of government whose requirements
are not more restrictive than the provisions described below under the heading “Health
and safety standards.” A local unit of government that has a moratorium in effect on
the development of energy facilities in its jurisdiction is considered not to have a
compatible renewable energy ordinance.
An application submitted under these provisions must comply with the requirements described
below under the heading “Application for an MPSC certificate,” except for those requiring a
summary of community outreach and education efforts and those allowing the MPSC to
reasonably require additional information. 5 The bill allows an affected local unit to require
other information necessary to determine compliance with the compatible renewable energy
ordinance.
A local unit of government must approve or deny an application within 120 days after receiving
it. This deadline may be extended for up to 120 days by joint agreement of the applicant and
the local unit.
If a local unit approves an application, construction of the proposed facility must begin within
five years after the date the permit is granted and any challenges to it are concluded. At the
request of the electric provider or independent power producer, the local unit may (but does
not have to) extend this deadline without requiring a new application. A local unit cannot
revoke an issued permit, unless an electric provider or independent power producer is in
material noncompliance with the permit.
An electric provider or independent power producer that has submitted an application to an
affected local unit may submit its application to the MPSC if any of the following apply:
• An affected local unit fails to timely approve or deny an application.
• An affected local unit denies an application that complies with the requirements
described below under “Health and safety standards.”
• An affected local unit amends its zoning ordinance after its chief elected official
notifies the electric provider or independent power producer that it has a compatible
renewable energy ordinance, and the amendment imposes additional requirements on
the development of energy facilities that are more restrictive than the provisions
described below under “Health and safety standards.”
4
These provisions appear to apply only when all affected local units have a compatible renewable energy ordinance.
As noted elsewhere, it is unclear whether counties where a facility is located are affected local units as defined by the
bill. If they are, then every facility will always have at least two affected local units, both of which apparently must
have a compatible renewable energy ordinance for the provisions described here to apply.
5
An applicant submitting an application to an affected local unit under these provisions does not appear to be subject
to the provisions described under “Evaluating an MPSC application” below, such as the additional actions that can
condition the approval of an application (e.g., ground cover, pollinator standards, community improvements) or the
determinations regarding a facility or applicant that are sufficient for approval when an application is made to the
MPSC (e.g., labor and wage requirements, environmental impacts, unreasonable diminishment of farmland).
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 An electric provider or independent power producer that submits an application to the MPSC
under the above provisions does not have to comply with the public meeting requirements
described above under “Public meeting,” the one-time grant described below under “Local
intervenor compensation funds,” or the requirement to submit a summary of community
outreach and education efforts described below under “Application for an MPSC certificate.” 6
If the MPSC approves an application submitted under the above provisions, the local unit is no
longer considered to have a compatible renewable energy ordinance, unless the MPSC finds
that the local unit’s denial of the application was reasonably related to the applicant’s failure
to provide required information.
The bill says that the above provisions must not be construed to limit remedies available to an
applicant to appeal a denial by a local unit of government under any other Michigan law.
Site plans
In addition to meeting application filing requirements established by the MPSC by rule or
order, a site plan must include all of the following:
• The location of the energy facility.
• A description of the energy facility.
• A description of the anticipated effects of the energy facility on the environment,
natural resources, and solid waste disposal capacity. This description may include
records of consultation with relevant state, tribal, and federal agencies.
• Additional information that directly relates to the site plan as required by the MPSC by
rule or order.
Whenever an electric provider or independent power producer submits a site plan to the MPSC
as required by the bill, it also must submit a copy of the site plan, for informational purpose