Support for rooftop solar outpaces other energy infrastructure

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, as well as a dozen other states, in moving toward 100% clean, carbon-free energy. It also comes as the Biden administration is pushing the implementation of its signature climate law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes at least $370 billion in tax incentives to expand renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, as well as electric vehicles. 

But it will be a challenging transition, especially for Michigan, which currently generates only 12% of its energy from renewable sources.

That is the backdrop for a new survey of local government officials in Michigan, which looked to gather local leaders’ views on expanding energy infrastructure in their jurisdictions.

Conducted last fall by the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, the survey found that a community’s support for developing new energy infrastructure varied by region and by energy type. That said, local officials overwhelmingly support adding rooftop solar in their communities. 

Statewide, 86% of respondents either strongly or somewhat support rooftop solar infrastructure. Support for it was especially popular (89%) among officials who identified as urban and those from southeastern Michigan, home to Detroit, Dearborn and Pontiac, among other cities. In the Upper Peninsula, 83% of leaders were in favor of rooftop solar. 

Support for rooftop solar slipped among officials from rural or sparsely populated areas. Still, it ranked significantly higher than other energy options like large-scale solar or wind farms, natural gas plants or transmission lines.

No other energy infrastructure comes close to the support rooftop solar enjoys. The next most favored option was new electric transmission lines, which a majority (60%) favor. Statewide, 42% of officials are for new natural gas power plants and large-scale solar installations and 27% for large-scale wind projects. Nuclear power comes in last with just 25% supporting nuclear power and large-scale battery storage. Fifty-one percent overall strongly oppose nuclear power.

The survey reports results for six separate geographic regions. As expected, there is regional variation, partly based on how much and what kind of energy infrastructure already exists in a community. 

To clarify this variation, the survey asked local leaders if they felt their communities hosted their “fair share” of energy assets and found that 36% of local leaders said they did. Ten percent said they hosted more than their fair share and 23% said less. Nearly one-third were unsure if they host enough, too much or the right amount of energy infrastructure.

In the Upper Peninsula, almost one-third (31%) of officials said they host less than their fair share and just 6% say they host more. That may explain why leaders in the region support development of most infrastructure, including new electric transmission lines, new large-scale solar and new natural gas power plants. In the East Central Lower Peninsula, where many wind farms are in operation, 15% of jurisdictions say they have more than their fair share of energy infrastructure, while 16% say they have less, the survey found.

"Michigan's rural communities are crucial in the development of renewable energy in the state … and they are being asked to host a preponderance of large-scale wind and solar farms,” Debra Horner, the Michigan Public Policy Survey's senior program manager, said in a statement. “It’s important to understand where communities and regions might welcome new renewable energy infrastructure and others that believe they're already doing more than their fair share." 

"Not every local leader believes their community should see new large-scale renewable energy development," said Natalie Fitzpatrick, project manager at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. "There are certainly pockets of support across the state that are eager to partner on renewable development."

The findings mirror those of other national surveys and may help local policymakers, who generally handle decisions about planning, permitting, zoning and codes, target what energy infrastructure to develop as they look to meet rising energy demand.

Willie Phillips, chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, told reporters last month that the country’s grid is being tested “in ways that we’ve never seen before” due to rising demand from data centers, artificial intelligence and electrification.

One national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab last summer of people who lived within three miles of a large-scale solar facility found that “positive” attitudes outnumber “negative” by a nearly 3 to 1 margin, though support was greater for smaller projects than very large solar farms. However, when asked about what additional electric infrastructure development they would like to see, rooftop solar was the clear favorite. 

County, city, township and village officials from 1,315 jurisdictions across the state were surveyed. The study was funded by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, to help the state better understand local government perspectives around energy infrastructure.