Opinion | Let the sun shine in: It’s time to pass community solar legislation

Most Michiganders can agree, especially at this time of year, that sunshine is a powerful commodity.

It does more for us than bust those long winter blues, though. Community solar projects – where neighbors come together to install a solar farm that the entire community can benefit from rather than individual home solar installations – have garnered bipartisan support all over the state.

At a time when Michiganders pay some of the highest utility bills in the U.S., and extreme weather is contributing to more widespread and deadly power outages, community-owned solar projects offer a simple and safe solution. But without legislation, these in-demand solar projects can’t get off the ground like they should.

Big utilities like DTE and Consumers Energy don’t want Michiganders to set up community solar projects because it is bad for their business. Community solar projects allow neighborhoods to produce their own power — which cuts directly into DTE and Consumers Energy’s profits. 

It’s clear utilities take this threat seriously. DTE and Consumers Energy spend millions of dollars lobbying legislators in Lansing to kill community solar-enabling legislation every session. The influence of their money in Lansing keeps us all shackled to paying through the nose for the electricity these shareholder-owned utilities have a monopoly on generating. 

This is the core reason why bipartisan efforts to pass community solar legislation keep failing. 

A huge majority of Michiganders are in favor of community solar – especially on brownfield sites. Once community solar projects are up and running, they often become even more popular, and members of both political parties think community solar is a good idea. 

And yet, not a single community solar bill has been sent to Governor Whitmer’s desk. That’s why the Sierra Club is heading to Lansing this week with a group of citizen lobbyists who will demand lawmakers take up legislation to support community solar projects.

Community solar has bipartisan support

In communities where municipally owned utilities provide an easier pathway to solar projects, cities and towns as diverse as Wyandotte, Lansing, and L’Anse in the UP have come together to reap the benefits of sharing in a solar power source. Quickly these communities discover that the hype is real; renewable energy sources are cheaper, more reliable, lower utility bills, and keep our air cleaner. The key reason that these communities have viable community solar projects? It’s because they have municipally owned utilities that don’t prioritize shareholder profits over the delivery of service. 

Community solar projects can lower utility bills, cut toxic air pollution, and help the resiliency of our electrical grid. Installing solar panels can be too expensive for many Michiganders, and community solar allows residents to reap the benefits of cheaper and cleaner electricity regardless of home ownership, rooftop space, or financial means. 

At this point most Michiganders know we pay some of the highest utility bills in the country, and increasingly extreme weather patterns driven by climate change deal blow after blow to our already crumbling utility infrastructure. Community solar strengthens the grid and reduces strain on aging utility infrastructure, lowers the need for costly investments, which also saves money for everyone.

Solar cuts the dangerous greenhouse gas emissions driving extreme weather, it is more reliable, and it’s cheaper to maintain. 

Furthermore, as we face more deadly power outages due to extreme weather, distributed community solar projects can save lives. Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s cuts to critical federal programs like FEMA — which provide aid to Michiganders in the event of such extreme weather — hamper our ability to respond to these outages when they happen.

Community-owned solar power is safer for all Michiganders

When we step back to take all of this into account, it’s more important than ever for Michiganders to have the ability to invest in their own reliable community power generation.

It’s time for the will of the voters to matter more than dirty utility contributions to politicians. We learned when we passed our climate laws in 2023 that when enough people show up to tell legislators to represent us instead of corporate polluters, they will listen. 

We encourage all Michiganders to join us in calling for the swift passage of community solar legislation. We know that the many can eventually defeat the money in Lansing — make your voice heard in support of community solar. 

Join us on Thursday at the Capitol to participate in our citizen lobby day. We will provide you with all of the information and tools you need to have meaningful conversations about community solar legislation with your lawmakers.