JACKSON, Mich. – Consumers Energy has announced three major solar projects that will add almost 400 megawatts of energy for Michigan homes and businesses in the south-central portion of the state by 2023.

“Increasing clean energy for our customers shows our commitment to being a force of change for clean energy that benefits the people of Michigan and protects our planet,” said Dennis Dobbs, Consumers Energy’s vice president of enterprise project management and environmental services, in a press release. 

The three developments are the Washtenaw Solar Energy Project, a 150-megawatt project to be developed by Invenergy before ownership would be transferred to Consumers. The plant will be near Ann Arbor in southeastern lower Michigan. According to Invenergy, the project will generate $16.7 million in local earnings to Saline Township, add 216 temporary positions during construction and generate $9.7 million in total school district revenue.

The second project, Cereal City Solar, is a 100-megawatt project developed by NextEra. It will be located in southwestern lower Michigan near Marshall in Calhoun County. “Things are going quite well with the project,” said Bryan Garner, a spokesman for NextEra. “We have a permitting hearing scheduled for February in Marshall Township.”

The third project, Jackson County Solar, will be built by National Grid Renewables. Consumers will buy electricity from the facility for 20 years. The project is slated to be near Consumers’ headquarters in southeastern lower Michigan.

“As a farmer-founded company, National Grid Renewables is excited to expand our investment in Michigan with the Jackson County Solar project,” said Lindsay Smith, a spokesman for National Grid Renewables. “Jackson County Solar is located in Parma Township and will provide significant economic benefit for the local community.”

Smith said the project will generate $29 million in direct economic benefit to the rural community over the first 20 years of its operation. There will also be landowner payments, though Smith would not specify any amounts involved.

These solar developments are part of Consumers’ Clean Energy Plan, which aims to dramatically increase renewable energy in Michigan, eliminate coal as a fuel source for electricity by 2025 and achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2040. Although both solar and wind developments in Michigan have provided revenue to landowners as well as local governments, they haven’t been without controversy.

Aesthetic and other issues have often swirled around renewables projects. Consumers Energy spokesman Terry DeDoes said, “Communities have different sensitivities about these projects and they vary from community to community.” He added that the land these projects are built on are “quite often” farmer owned.

A proposed solar development from last year, the Carroll Road Solar Farm in Lenawee County, met with some resistance, according to a local report. Karlene Goetz, an elected official in Riga Township said, “I have a hard time buying the notion that this is a good idea. This is very good, productive farmland. We’re trying to preserve our farmland.”