by Kyle Davidson, Michigan Advance
As Michigan works to build out its clean energy infrastructure to meet its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040, panelists at the 2025 MI Healthy Climate Conference sat down to discuss the steps — and the hurdles — in achieving Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s goal of generating 60% of the state’s power from renewables by 2030.
When looking at the biggest challenges in shifting Michigan’s energy grid away from fossil fuels to sources like wind and solar, energy developers and solar energy proponents focused on community sentiments as the biggest stumbling block.
Chris Kunkle, the vice president of government affairs for Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy, said the clean energy industry is facing a lot of headwinds from the federal government particularly during a time when energy demand is rising quickly. Matt Wagner, the manager of Renewable Energy Development for DTE Energy, speaks during a panel at the MI Healthy Climate Conference on April 23, 2025. | Kyle Davidson
However, energy policy is largely determined at the state level, Kunkle said, with Michigan’s 2023 clean energy package helping to alleviate previous difficulties in securing permits, allowing energy developers to pursue permitting at the state level if a municipality fails to approve or deny their application within a timely manner, or if local zoning boards either adopt standards stricter than the health and safety standards outlined in the law, or if they deny an application that complies with the standards outlined in the law.
“We were thrilled to see the state Legislature come up with a really novel approach where you’re required to try to go through the local process — and quite prescriptive about what that looks like —and if that falls apart for whatever reason, there’s an alternative route to go through the state and receive a permit,” Kunkle said.
But, just like renewable developments in rural communities, these bills were hotly debated in the Legislature, as Republicans argued they stripped away local control in the zoning process.
While the bills ultimately passed along party lines in the previous Democratic-led House and Senate, Republicans have since taken control of the House and Rep. Gregory Alexander (R-Carsonville) has introduced a pair of bills, HB 4027 and HB 4028, to repeal the changes to the permitting process.
“Local governments and residents know their areas better than the state,” Alexander said in a press release. “They craft policies with this in mind, and people expect their elected local officials to make decisions for their communities and their families with their input at the forefront. When unelected state bureaucrats to come in, cast local input aside and impose projects onto communities, it’s a textbook example of government overreach. Our locals should be able to make decisions on property use for themselves, and these bills re-establish this critical element.”
Engaging with communities
Elise Matz, the vice president of public affairs for Circle Power, said that public acceptance of renewables was a challenge within the state, emphasizing the importance of engaging with the community on the benefits the project could bring.
Matt Wagner, the manager of renewable energy development for DTE Energy, one of the state’s largest energy companies, said that the best advertisement for a company’s next clean energy project is the last project it finished.
“If those projects go well, you know, we can point to them. It’s not just us pointing to them, it’s other communities and leaders saying, ‘Hey, you know, these guys did a great project over here. You can trust them.’ That’s our goal,” Wagner said.
On another panel, John Freeman, executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, pointed to three main stumbling blocks in encouraging clean energy adoption: education, affordability and the disparity in access.
“People are inherently nervous about big social change, and there’s nothing fundamentally bigger than transitioning from our current energy system to one that’s built around renewable energy. So we have to do a lot of education to make people feel comfortable with this change,” Freeman said, later pointing to the association’s efforts in teaching local governments how to develop a sustainability plan and bringing local officials up to speed on the benefits solar energy systems can bring to a community. John Freeman, the executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Associations speaks at a panel at the MI Healthy Climate Conference on April 23, 2025. | Kyle Davidson
Ali Dirul, the chief executive officer of Ryter Cooperative Industries, which helps design and build solar energy systems, said oftentimes solar developments are done to communities, instead of with them.
“A large solar farm is just plotted in the middle of somebody’s recreation area and then, you know, there’s upheaval, because it’s like anything, if somebody just slapped something in the back of your backyard, you’d ask some questions,” Dirul said.
Community members are the ones who know what they need in their neighborhoods, Dirul noted, creating an opportunity for developers, funders, foundations and foundations to engage with them so that the community can actually benefit.
In the developers panel, the speakers highlighted Michigan’s renewable ready communities award, which provides communities who adopt renewable energy with $5,000 per megawatt of capacity to a maximum of $3 million as a major motivator for communities.
However, renewable energy may remain inaccessible to some families, Dirul said, using renters, people who live in multifamily homes, and those who do not have the money upfront for these kinds of projects as an example. Ali Dirul, CEO of Ryter Cooperative industries discusses pathways to renewable energy adoption during a panel at the MI Healthy Climate Conference on April 23, 2025. | Kyle Davidson
One way to address these concerns is through community solar, Freeman said, allowing residents to buy or subscribe to individual solar panels in an array in order to save money on their energy bills due to the energy generated by the panels. However, these arrangements do not currently have a legal framework in Michigan, with Freeman calling for lawmakers to enact a community solar law.
Economic hurdles
On the other panel, Kunkle further emphasized the impact that federal tariffs would have on procuring materials for battery storage and other clean energy efforts.
Wagner similarly addressed concerns with navigating the supply chain as President Donald Trump implements and pauses tariffs.
“When you’re ordering, literally, in some cases, not just tens of millions, but hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment, it’s kind of hard to be nimble and do that in a pause,” Wagner said.
“DTE was fortunate to get a lot of infrastructure in early and we warehoused it. We had no idea how smart we look now,” Wagner said, later noting that this was only a short term solution, with clean energy developers in need of more domestic supply.
Kunkle also emphasized the importance of retaining clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, which face an uncertain future as Trump works to roll back climate efforts implemented under former President Joe Biden.
“If you do that, the price of energy goes up,” Kunkle said, explaining that companies who have committed to building out additional energy resources will still need to procure those resources even as prices increase.
Both panels also discussed workforce development needs, and ways to cultivate clean energy jobs within Michigan communities and ensure that the energy workforce sees a just transition.
Matz noted Circle Power’s strong relationship with the building trade workers in the Upper Peninsula, who she said served as major advocates for renewable energy efforts and helped change sentiments on a project from something that may or may not work, to something that is real and will be constructed safely.
Wagner called for efforts to encourage renewable energy careers, noting that DTE partners with technical colleges across the state, noting that these jobs could help keep families together as young people look for opportunities out of Michigan.
“[Parents] hated seeing their kids move away from Bad Axe or move away from other rural communities. It’s like, ‘How can you do something to help us bring them back?’ Well, There’s enough renewable energy development projects across Michigan that are going to be going in in the next 10 to 15 to 20 years. If some of these young people from these communities go and get trained, they can be back in their communities with a real, well-paying job. And when parents hear that, it just gives that hope they’re not going to lose their kids,” Wagner said.
Dirul noted that while there is no shortage of talent in Detroit to help build and operate clean energy systems, the one thing that is missing is access to training.
“We want to ensure that everybody has access to these pipelines, to these educations, to these trainings, to these certifications, so that they can advance themselves, advance their careers and potentially become gainfully employed in the clean energy industry,” Dirul said.
“We’re also looking to just expand beyond entry level jobs. Like, we should also look at management and entrepreneurship.… Not everybody’s going to get up on a roof and install solar, and for many people, that’s the one thing that will actually detract them from trying to get into the clean energy industry,” Dirul said.
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