July 2026 Edition

Townships Appeal Siting Law to MI Supreme Court

The saga regarding Public Act 233, the law allowing a state-level permitting process for large-scale renewable energy projects, added another chapter with the plaintiff townships and counties filing an appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court on June 18. The municipalities originally challenged the Michigan Public Service Commission's (MPSC) interpretaton and implementation of PA 233.

The Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on a couple points regarding the MPSC's interpretation of PA 233. Overall though, the Court upheld the MPSC's process for implementing the law and the procedures that process produced. Hence, the law remains largely in operation even with the "wins" the local units scored.

The Supreme Court is not obligated to take the case and there isn't a specific timeline for when they will grant or deny "leave to appeal." If the Court does grant leave, a decision in the case wouldn't be expected until several months into 2027.

MICEF Goes to Washington

MICEF/CEN & CRES Partner for "Day on the Hill"

MICEF and CEN participated in the 9th annual Capitol “Fly-in” with our longtime DC-based partners Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). MICEF Executive Director Ed Rivet and MICEF Leadership Council member Marc Santucci made the rounds among Michigan delegation members in the U.S. House. Permitting reform was the #1 issue on everyone’s radar screen. Bills to remove barriers for all sorts of energy development, including transmission line buildout, pipelines and critical mineral mining, have passed the House in this session and the previous one, only to be stalled in the Senate.

Almost equally pressing was the issue of data center development. MICEF was able to brief members and staff on the latest developments “back home” in the state legislature and local communities. We also shared key developments on the nuclear energy front and the auto industry’s challenges with electrification. 

Rep. Jack Bergman

Rep. John Moolenaar

Organizational Updates

More Team Changes at MICEF

Last month MICEF welcomed Ryan Carrigan as our first-ever Policy & Program Senior Manager. This month we bid a limited "farewell" to MICEF's longest-tenured Director of Programs & Operations (DPO), Emily Szczerowski, as she moves up to a deputy director position with our national organization, Conservative Energy Network's Land & Liberty Coalition(R). We'll still be working with Emily routinely, but our national team will be receiving the benefit of her skills full time. Thank You Emily for all you have done to make MICEF what it is today!

We are also pleased to announced that Andrew Hall will be moving from his position as Michigan Land & Liberty Coalition Field Representative to MICEF's DPO. He has "big shoes to fill." But in his 16 months with our organization, he has clearly demonstrated he is up to the challenge. These are some big staff realignments, but we don't expect to miss a beat in the MICEF team performance. We're getting bigger and better.

The Unspoken "Disappearing Farmland"

In June, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) launched an online interactive map showing the comparative use of farmland for large solar projects and other uses. SEIA highlighted how small solar's footprint on "prime farmland" is, noting that solar uses 7/100ths of 1% of farmland (0.07%). "Suburban sprawl" gobbled up 5.9 times more land from 2014-2024 than solar. Golf courses, 2.6 times more farmland used than solar.

Interestingly, SEIA stated, "Nationally, there are 43 acres of abandoned prime farmland for every acre of solar on prime farmland" but didn't quantify that further. No one really talks about farmland that just stops being farmed. A comprehensive assessment of abandoned farmland from 1986-2018 showed over 30 million acres of U.S. farmland has been allowed to return to natural vegetation (i.e. no longer being plowed for crop production). There is a chorus of concern constantly being raised about solar causing the loss of farmland. But the difficult economic circumstances that cause farmers to abandon acreage, which could be partially counteracted by solar lease revenue, are dismissed. Solar can be a farmland preservation opportunity. 

A Tale of Two Countries

Australia leverages batteries, Spain has negative solar prices

Australia just published energy data that shows it is maximizing the value and benefit of solar by using grid-scale batteries to handle peak loads. The charts below show the difference in one year of adding substantial amounts of battery capacity to the grid can make. The orange areas show "peaker plant" natural gas generation, the gold areas, battery storage capacity. Comparing April 2025 to April 2026, lower cost stored energy powered the Australian grid in 2026, with expensive peaker gas generation shrinking dramatically.

Spain, on the other hand, has a surplus of solar generation capacity, but lacks the battery storage to capture it. The current option is to essentially give it away. That means investors looking for a return on the value of the energy produced and sold are losing money. There's been a bit of a rush to unload solar investments due to this pricing. The Spaniards should take a lesson from the Aussies: if you have solar generation capacity, build the storage to go with it.

Keeping Up on Battery Tech? We Surrender...

There is no lane in the energy world more dynamic right now than the evolution of battery technology. Just when we think we know where the latest trends are heading, new advances pivot the trajectory in this space. Thus far in 2026, all the attention had been on solid state batteries (SSB). But in the past month a big spotlight has been turned onto sodium-ion technology as companies large and small announce advances that are pushing this technology to center stage.

The world's largest battery maker, CATL (China), with many partnerships worldwide including in the U.S., believes the advantages of sodium-ion tech (cheaper, more abundant, works better in cold temps, less prone to thermal runaway) could have huge impacts on the grid, homes, devices, etc. very soon and will give SSB a run for its money.

We've been following the super-sized claims of Finland-based Donut Lab regarding their SSBs. Turns out it was pretty close to a fraud. They've not delivered on any timelines and their alleged SSB technology appears to be a semi-solid state lithium-ion technology that performs well by current standards, but is not the revolution they portrayed. We're watching other company's claims to see how they pan out.

In another tech twist, researchers at Cornell University have devised a "chemical bath" that can restore a lithium-ion battery cathode back to 95% of its orginal capacity. It could transform battery "recycling" into battery "restoration" in the future. Doubling or tripling battery life cycle may be practical if it can be done affordably.

About MICEF: Michigan Conservative Energy Forum is a chapter of The Conservative Energy Network (CEN), a 501(c)(3) non-profit coalition of 27 state-based conservative clean energy organizations advancing policy solutions that emphasize market competition, consumer choice, and innovation. Learn more at https://www.micef.org