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Michigan county uses public health code to restrict solar farms, drawing DTE lawsuit

MLive.com · last updated
Michigan solar project
This MLive file photo shows the 600-acre, 100-megawatt Cereal City Solar Energy Center near Marshall, Mich. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Officials in St. Clair County are using public health regulations to institute new noise, screening and decommissioning requirements on large solar and battery storage projects, a move that has sparked a lawsuit from DTE Energy. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

ST. CLAIR COUNTY, MI — County officials in Michigan’s Thumb face a lawsuit from the state’s largest electric utility after they placed new restrictions on solar farms, claiming noise and “visual pollution” from the arrays endanger public health.

DTE Electric Co. sued St. Clair County on July 3, challenging its unique use of county health department rules to impose limits on big solar farms and grid-scale battery installations, which county officials believe is a first in Michigan.

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