Michigan county’s argument against solar farms? They’re a health hazard

St. Clair County wants to use local health regulations to impose stricter limits on solar farms and battery storage projects
The county’s medical director cites noise and visual pollution as health risks, a claim environmentalists and utilities say lacks credibility
Several Michigan communities have expressed frustration with a 2023 law letting the state override local rules for renewable energy projects

PORT HURON — St. Clair County in Michigan’s Thumb region is readying for a lengthy legal battle with Michigan’s largest electric utility. At issue? Whether the county can use local public health rules to stop the development of solar farms and battery storage facilities.

The St. Clair County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday to appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down public health regulations the county adopted to limit large-scale renewable power projects.

“I think we owe it to the community to follow through with what we started,” said board chair Steven Simasko ahead of the unanimous vote, adding that further action could result in “an appeal to the Supreme Court as well.”

Officials with the St. Clair County Health Department advised the board that data centers and energy facilities “constitute a potential public health risk,” and drafted a series of regulations to curb their development to protect the community against “visual pollution,” “harmful” noise and unspecified “contamination.”

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DTE Energy sued St. Clair County last year after officials adopted those policies, potentiallysetting up a new legal framework for local governments to exert more control over energy siting decisions.

The county’s regulations came in response to Public Act 233, which allows the Michigan Public Service Commission to bypass local rules and ordinances to approve wind, solar and battery projects. St. Clair County officials say the health department has more power to offer protections and can set its own standards.

DTE was joined in its lawsuit by Portside Solar, a company that has solar projects in St. Clair County, arguing local officials lack the legal authority to enact the regulations and that the opinions of its health department “were not supported by any scientific or medical evidence.”

St. Clair County’s medical director Dr. Remington Nevin contends that health department decisions are separate from Public Act 233 and codified under the Michigan Public Health Code. He argues that he is empowered to draft guidance to protect public health.

Nevin said in a January 2025 memo that a local health department does not bear the responsibility “to prove, with a precise scientific or medical rationale” that the energy facilities pose an unreasonable public health threat to legally justify his authority.

St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Michael West sided with energy companies earlier this month and overturned the county’s rules.

In a statement to Bridge Michigan, DTE called the decision a “sound ruling,” adding that the projects “bring significant benefits to communities including tax revenues that can support schools, first responders, roads and more.”

Contentious issue

The state’s ability to sidestep local control of renewable energy projects has drawn the ire of several communities in recent years. An initiative to reverse Public Act 233 failed to make the ballot in 2024.

In St. Clair County, opposition to solar energy projects has remained a feature of public meetings as local residents oppose companies using farmlands and other rural locales for utility-scale development.

“They’ve been pretty much given carte blanche to do whatever they want in our townships,” Sandra Richardson of Clyde Township told commissioners Thursday, imploring the board to act.

“We need help.”St. Clair County’s attempt to restrict development of renewable energy sources is based on “flawed and misleading public health theories,” according to previous remarks by the Southeast Michigan Group of the Sierra Club. The environmental group said the county’s actions are out of step with the state’s goal to reach 100% clean energy by 2040.

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