MPPS Policy Brief: Michigan local governments’ planning and zoning on energy policy
This report presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders on a variety of energy issues, including whether energy issues are relevant to their local government, whether their jurisdiction has energy policies or renewable energy goals, and about the tone of local discussions about planning and zoning for energy. These findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in 1,315 Michigan jurisdictions as part of the Fall 2023 Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), with several topics repeating questions asked on a fall 2019 survey.
Key findings
In fall 2023, the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) asked local officials statewide about a range of topics regarding local energy issues, with several of the topics repeating questions asked on a fall 2019 survey.
Statewide in 2023, 71% of Michigan jurisdictions reported having at least considered various plans or policies regarding any energy issues at all, including 31% who have considered them a moderate amount and 17% who have considered them extensively. Meanwhile, 62% report that they are developing energy policies, and 55% report implementing them.
Since 2019, the percentage of jurisdictions that are considering, developing, and/or implementing local energy policies either a moderate amount or extensively have increased, while the percentage that are not addressing energy at all has remained essentially unchanged.
Considerably fewer (24%) local governments report that they currently have or are considering specific renewable energy goals or requirements to offset energy use by either the jurisdiction’s government or their community at large. However, this still represents an increase over the 11% that said the same in 2019.