By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
The developer of the proposed $330 million Silver Maple solar project in Zeeland and Jamestown townships has filed an application with the state for approval of the project.
RWE Clean Energy, a German-based company with U.S. headquarters in Austin, Tex., submitted its application to the Michigan Public Service Commission last Friday for the 200-megawatt project. The company submitted the application under the name Silver Maple PV, LLC.
A pre-hearing on RWE’s application with MPSC has been scheduled for Thursday, June 4 at 9:30 a.m. before Administrative Law Judge James Varchetti. The hearing will be via video/teleconference, according to application documents.
The filing of RWE’s application with the state came a little more than two weeks after a series of three public meetings – two in Zeeland Township, one in Jamestown – where company officials detailed plans for the Silver Maple project, which is hopes to have in operation by late 2028. They say the project will generate enough electricity to power 34,000 homes.
The meetings were required under Public Act 233, the state law that regulates renewable energy projects in Michigan, before RWE could apply for approval through MPSC – a three-member commission appointed by the governor that regulates utilities and telecommunications companies in the state.
“The project will significantly contribute to Michigan’s identified energy, capacity, reliability, and resource adequacy needs. Solar energy generation contributes to the stability and availability of energy resources within the state of Michigan, while promoting energy efficiency and community benefits that are brought upon by solar energy development,” RWE project manager Joe Brochu said in testimony to the MPSC last Friday.
Brochu had previously said that RWE’s preference was to work with the township on permitting the Silver Maple project. However, in an email to the Zeeland Record Tuesday morning, company spokeswoman Kellie Woods wrote, “we are not permitting locally but will continue to collaborate and discuss feedback locally as the application process moves forward.”
In the site plan presentation last month, Brochu cited the project’s proximity to a 345-kilovolt north/south transmission line that transports electricity over long distances, saying that line had capacity to take in energy that the project would generate. He also said the townships offered plenty of flat, buildable land.
RWE has secured leases on 52 parcels, totaling 1,914 acres of land for the project. However, the project plan calls for the panels of Silver Maple to be built on 1,127 acres of fenced-in property, Brochu said.
Silver Maple has generated heated opposition from many township residents, who believe the project will harm local agriculture as well as the environment. Opponents have already begun submitting their comments about the project to the MPSC. Nearly 60 comments had been recorded on the project website as of Tuesday morning.
“There are so many great farms out that way that have been around for decades. It is a great farmland and should continue to be protected as such,” resident Leon Jordan wrote to the MPSC. “I believe the problems that a solar panel farm could bring to that area (especially with water drainage) could cost the homeowners everything they own. I believe there are better places to put a solar panel farm than on much needed farmlands in the Vriesland area.”
“I am especially worried about soil compaction, tile drainage disruption, runoff onto neighboring properties, declining property values as well as a major shift in the character of our community,” resident Katie Morren wrote.
According to the National Land Cover Database, about 91 percent of the land in the proposed project area consists of cultivated crops, with much smaller amounts for low-intensity development (2 percent), deciduous forest (2 percent), developed open space (2 percent) and medium-intensity development (1 percent).
In his presentation last month, Brochu said that Silver Maple would take up 1.3 percent of Ottawa County’s farmland. In an email to the Zeeland Record after that presentation, he wrote that 8.3 percent of Zeeland Township’s farmland and 4.5 percent of Jamestown Township’s farmland would be affected by the project.
RWE’s application to MPSC comes as the township Planning Commission has been discussing a “workable incompatible ordinance” that is stricter than PA 233, but not so strict that a developer may bypass the local permitting process and go directly to MPSC. Commissioners are favoring a 500-acre cap on all renewable energy projects that may be built in the township. They are expected next Tuesday to go over an updated draft of the ordinance, and may vote to set a public hearing to get input.
Brochu says that Silver Maple would generate $31.6 million of local tax revenue over the expected 35-year life of the project – including $6.7 million for Zeeland Public Schools, $6.6 million for Ottawa County and $4.7 million for Zeeland Township.
Overall, RWE has seven projects under development in the state and one where construction has begun. The company currently has an application pending before the MPSC on a 175-megawatt solar project in Lenawee County in southeastern Michigan. The company has 21 operating facilities in the Midwest and has 12 projects under construction, Brochu said.
MPSC staff will have 60 calendar days from the date the application was filed to determine its completeness. If the application is considered incomplete, staff will file an incompleteness determination notice to the case docket, according to the MPSC website.
Comments are continuing to be accepted online. Anyone wishing to express their opinions will have to fill out an online form through MPSC. To look for information on the Silver Maple project, go to the MPSC’s renewable energy and storage facility siting webpage and then click on the link for the project case number U-22071.
Zeeland Record
The developer of the proposed $330 million Silver Maple solar project in Zeeland and Jamestown townships has filed an application with the state for approval of the project.
RWE Clean Energy, a German-based company with U.S. headquarters in Austin, Tex., submitted its application to the Michigan Public Service Commission last Friday for the 200-megawatt project. The company submitted the application under the name Silver Maple PV, LLC.
A pre-hearing on RWE’s application with MPSC has been scheduled for Thursday, June 4 at 9:30 a.m. before Administrative Law Judge James Varchetti. The hearing will be via video/teleconference, according to application documents.
The filing of RWE’s application with the state came a little more than two weeks after a series of three public meetings – two in Zeeland Township, one in Jamestown – where company officials detailed plans for the Silver Maple project, which is hopes to have in operation by late 2028. They say the project will generate enough electricity to power 34,000 homes.
The meetings were required under Public Act 233, the state law that regulates renewable energy projects in Michigan, before RWE could apply for approval through MPSC – a three-member commission appointed by the governor that regulates utilities and telecommunications companies in the state.
“The project will significantly contribute to Michigan’s identified energy, capacity, reliability, and resource adequacy needs. Solar energy generation contributes to the stability and availability of energy resources within the state of Michigan, while promoting energy efficiency and community benefits that are brought upon by solar energy development,” RWE project manager Joe Brochu said in testimony to the MPSC last Friday.
Brochu had previously said that RWE’s preference was to work with the township on permitting the Silver Maple project. However, in an email to the Zeeland Record Tuesday morning, company spokeswoman Kellie Woods wrote, “we are not permitting locally but will continue to collaborate and discuss feedback locally as the application process moves forward.”
In the site plan presentation last month, Brochu cited the project’s proximity to a 345-kilovolt north/south transmission line that transports electricity over long distances, saying that line had capacity to take in energy that the project would generate. He also said the townships offered plenty of flat, buildable land.
RWE has secured leases on 52 parcels, totaling 1,914 acres of land for the project. However, the project plan calls for the panels of Silver Maple to be built on 1,127 acres of fenced-in property, Brochu said.
Silver Maple has generated heated opposition from many township residents, who believe the project will harm local agriculture as well as the environment. Opponents have already begun submitting their comments about the project to the MPSC. Nearly 60 comments had been recorded on the project website as of Tuesday morning.
“There are so many great farms out that way that have been around for decades. It is a great farmland and should continue to be protected as such,” resident Leon Jordan wrote to the MPSC. “I believe the problems that a solar panel farm could bring to that area (especially with water drainage) could cost the homeowners everything they own. I believe there are better places to put a solar panel farm than on much needed farmlands in the Vriesland area.”
“I am especially worried about soil compaction, tile drainage disruption, runoff onto neighboring properties, declining property values as well as a major shift in the character of our community,” resident Katie Morren wrote.
According to the National Land Cover Database, about 91 percent of the land in the proposed project area consists of cultivated crops, with much smaller amounts for low-intensity development (2 percent), deciduous forest (2 percent), developed open space (2 percent) and medium-intensity development (1 percent).
In his presentation last month, Brochu said that Silver Maple would take up 1.3 percent of Ottawa County’s farmland. In an email to the Zeeland Record after that presentation, he wrote that 8.3 percent of Zeeland Township’s farmland and 4.5 percent of Jamestown Township’s farmland would be affected by the project.
RWE’s application to MPSC comes as the township Planning Commission has been discussing a “workable incompatible ordinance” that is stricter than PA 233, but not so strict that a developer may bypass the local permitting process and go directly to MPSC. Commissioners are favoring a 500-acre cap on all renewable energy projects that may be built in the township. They are expected next Tuesday to go over an updated draft of the ordinance, and may vote to set a public hearing to get input.
Brochu says that Silver Maple would generate $31.6 million of local tax revenue over the expected 35-year life of the project – including $6.7 million for Zeeland Public Schools, $6.6 million for Ottawa County and $4.7 million for Zeeland Township.
Overall, RWE has seven projects under development in the state and one where construction has begun. The company currently has an application pending before the MPSC on a 175-megawatt solar project in Lenawee County in southeastern Michigan. The company has 21 operating facilities in the Midwest and has 12 projects under construction, Brochu said.
MPSC staff will have 60 calendar days from the date the application was filed to determine its completeness. If the application is considered incomplete, staff will file an incompleteness determination notice to the case docket, according to the MPSC website.
Comments are continuing to be accepted online. Anyone wishing to express their opinions will have to fill out an online form through MPSC. To look for information on the Silver Maple project, go to the MPSC’s renewable energy and storage facility siting webpage and then click on the link for the project case number U-22071.
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