solar energy

MPPS in the news

Support for rooftop solar outpaces other energy infrastructure

Jun 4, 2024 Route Fifty

In November, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a landmark energy law that sets an ambitious goal for the state to generate 100% of its energy from renewable resources by 2040. With the law, Michigan joins its neighbors in Illinois and Minnesota, ...

Publication

Most local officials support rooftop solar, a majority opposes nuclear power

May 22, 2024

Michigan’s local leaders overwhelmingly support adding rooftop solar infrastructure in their communities, while a majority strongly oppose developing nuclear power. Those are among the key findings in the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey conducte...

Most local officials support rooftop solar, a majority opposes nuclear power

In the Media

Wind, Solar and Siting: A Look at Recent Laws and Legislative Trends in the Midwest

Feb 29, 2024 CSG Midwest

Across the Midwest, interest in new solar and wind projects is undoubtedly on the rise as the region and the country shift from fossil fuels to renewables. Less certain: Who should have the authority to approve or deny proposals to build new wind and...

MPPS in the news

A Tupperware party for solar panels: Ann Arbor bulk-buy program makes solar more affordable

Feb 14, 2024 Concentrate

In 2018, Ann Arbor resident Julie Roth vowed to take a break after two years of volunteering 20 hours a week. Then she attended an Ann Arbor District Library event about the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Roth thought of her...

MPPS in the news

Plan Now to Overcome Reflexive Opposition to Large-Scale Solar

Mar 6, 2023 American Planning Association

Community opposition to solar projects is becoming a common hurdle that renewable energy proponents must respect and address. It often stems from uncertainty, resulting in a tension in which perceptions of place and community character are pitted aga...

News

Mills selected for Department of Energy grant to study utility-scale solar

Dec 18, 2020

Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Center on Local, State, and Urban Policy, has been selected for a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Mills, along with School for Environment and Sustainability assist...

Mills selected for Department of Energy grant to study utility-scale solar

In the Media

Richmond Township supervisors reject zoning change for solar farm

Oct 13, 2020 Reading Eagle

In the Media

Solar panel project proposed for Richmond Township getting a hearing

Oct 10, 2020 Reading Eagle

CLOSUP Updates

MiLES Report: Energy Issues and Policies in Michigan Local Governments

Oct 7, 2020

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders regarding a variety of energy issues and policies in their jurisdictions, including the relevance of particular energy policies for their communities, whether the jurisdiction h...

In the Media

Michigan's utility-scale solar is about to boom - is the state ready for it?

Mar 12, 2020 SolarBuilder Magazine

In the Media

With wave of solar on the horizon, most Michigan communities lack policies

Mar 7, 2020 Energy Central

In the Media

Michigan utility's first brownfield solar project highlights promise, challenges

Nov 4, 2019 Energy News Network

A solar project in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula is the first to use state grant funding to clean up contaminated industrial property. The 500 kilowatt solar installation planned at a vacant eyesore is effectively a pilot project that Consumer...

Solar Energy Property Taxation

June 30, 2021

Eli Gold, advised by Sarah Mills

In this memo, we examine the existing ways states have crafted legislation on property taxes for utility-scale solar developments and find two main categories of existing legislation—”exemption or abatement,” and “exemption and replacement.” We point...

Working Papers

Inventory of State Solar Property Tax Treatments

June 10, 2021

Olivia Hintz, Emma Uebelhor, & Eli Gold

As solar development increases, states face new challenges in regulating and taxing solar facilities. To better understand an important piece of the current regulatory landscape for solar, this study inventories property tax treatment for utility-sca...

Working Papers

Solar Siting Authority Across the United States

February 18, 2021

Elena Essa, Kristina Curtiss, Claire Dodinval

This report aims to understand the policy and regulatory landscape surrounding solar siting in the United States in the past, present and looking towards the future. The scope of this analysis includes siting for photovoltaic (PV) solar projects at u...

MPPS

Energy Issues and Policies in Michigan Local Governments

October 7, 2020

Addressing Equity with State-level Residential Solar Energy Policies

September 1, 2019

Tony Reames

To achieve parity in the benefits of solar energy, a growing number of states have developed policies and programs to address socioeconomic disparities by designating and targeting low- to moderate-income (LMI) households, as well as racial and ethni...

Reconciling Renewable Energy and Farmland Preservation: An Inventory of State Land-Use Policies

September 1, 2019

Sarah Mills, Ian McKenny

Decarbonizing the electricity sector will require a shift in the geography of where our electricity is produced. Currently, most electricity comes from large, centralized fossil fuel and nuclear power plants sited in or near urban areas where much of...

Energy and environment

Renewable Energy Policy Initiative (REPI)

October 2018

Sarah Mills

The Renewable Energy Policy Initiative (REPI) conducts, supports, and disseminates high-quality applied academic research on state and local policies impacting the deployment of renewable energy in the American federal system that informs both scholarship and the policy process.