Board passes renewable energy use moratorium

DAVISON TWP. — The board of trustees decided unanimously to approve a moratorium on renewable energy use in the township at it’s Monday, Feb. 9 regular meeting.

Township Attorney Bill Delzer said there has been a lot in the news about the issue of renewable energy use, particularly surrounding data centers, adding the township wanted to get ahead of the matter.

At first, he said, he was just going to recommend a resolution to address data centers but instead brought forth one to address renewable energy as a whole to allow the township time to research and prepare ordinances to address the issue on a more permanent basis.

According to datacentercoalition.com, data centers are secure, specialized physical facilities that centralize an organization’s IT operations, equipment, and data.

They house networked computers, storage systems, and computing resources necessary for processing, storing, and distributing large amounts of data to support digital infrastructure like cloud services, AI, and internet applications.

Several area municipalities are either considering or have passed ordinances to keep data centers out of their communities.

Delzer said the resolution passed by the Davison Township Board of Trustees on Feb. 9 is a moratorium which will block any kind of renewable energy use in the township for up to a year.

“At the advice or thoughts of ROWE (Professional Services) we wanted to put in other renewable sources… as far as solar, crytpo and different things like that,” he said. “That’s why we just grouped them all into one.”

Trustee Lori Tallman asked if the moratorium would fall off the books at 12 months unless renewed or extended, or if the board was to create a new ordinance.

Supervisor Jim Slezak said it would drop off in a year, giving the board a year to do something.

Treasurer Travis Howell asked if it would help the township with solar energy issues.

“I know the public service commission has really been overseeing it at the state,” he said. “Does this help us locally with more local control.”

Delzer said the whole idea behind the moratorium is to give the township more control and if it is allowed, the township will decide where it is allowed, how large it can be and other factors.

Tallman said she knows there are a couple of businesses in the community selling solar panels and she asked if the moratorium would impact them.

Delzer said it would not, adding the moratorium is aimed at large solar farms trying to come in.