By Maggie LaNoue
Contributing Writer
March 26, 2020

Perhaps the most surprising report from Albion’s 2020 Economic Forecast was the first report from Richard Porter, the Sheridan Township Supervisor. Sheridan Township is 36 square miles, just north of Albion. His presentation at the meeting follows this brief history of how Sheridan Township came to be the location of Michigan’s largest solar farm field. A solar farm field means that one or more solar power companies install solar panels and sell the electricity to large power suppliers.
Porter is serving in his first term as Sheridan Township’s Supervisor, just three years into his role. Five years ago, he was in the role of Chairman of the Planning Commission for the township. The planning commission knew that the electronic infrastructure located near Albion, in Sheridan Township, could still handle lots of power. The system includes the electric substation north of Albion near 28 Mile Road and D Drive North. That power structure had once served five foundries. Another primary power line moves through the northern part of the township between Battle Creek and Jackson.
There is a line from this station to Brembo’s cast iron foundry in Homer.

Sheridan Township took the necessary steps to build their field of dreams by getting the ordinances in place to allow for solar farms. There were a half a dozen meetings, and the proper forms filed to allow for 1,500 acres of solar panels, but the demand far exceeded this number.

There was little interest in solar farms in Michigan just a few years ago, but something changed. The quality of the solar panels was improving each year. With current technology, Michigan’s cloudy days don’t hamper harvesting power from the sun. The new panels can use less sun, and they don’t need as bright sun as in the past. Solar panels that once lasted ten years, now have a life of 25 years. The legal infrastructure must be in place for a township to have solar farms.
Sheridan Township took the necessary steps to build their field of dreams by getting the ordinances in place to allow for solar farms. There were a half a dozen meetings, and the proper forms filed to allow for 1,500 acres of solar panels, but the demand far exceeded this number. The solar companies then came calling after the ordinances were in place. There are now over 3,800 acres, either leased or purchased by the solar power companies. This number represents close to 6% of the property in the township.
There have been several public hearings with more coming to approve of the increasing scale. So far, all of the comments at the discussions have been positive, Porter stated.
The two companies are planning to install over 1.2 million solar panels. These will cover over 3,800 acres of solar farms near Albion in the next five years. The land and the budgets of the farmers participating will be much different than they are today.
Two of the companies that are ready to go are Ranger Power and Savion. Ranger Power already has a buyer for their electricity: Consumer’s Energy. Savion will probably be selling their electricity to DTE. The first company has already leased or purchased 41 parcels of land, and the second company, 35 more. A third solar power company, Novi Power, has already leased some land. If the surrounding townships can get their ordinances approved and in place to allow for solar farms, then more adjacent property, some owned by the same farmers, can be included in the overall development.

Local Economic Impact
The economic impact of these local solar farms was illustrated by a chart that showed 7 million dollars for yearly workforce expenditures. There is an expectation that the farmers who sold or leased the land will be in a better position to buy new homes and eat out more.
Farmers are happy about the arrangement for economic reasons. The farmers will be leasing the land to the solar companies for up to ten times the going rate. The solar farm companies will be purchase about 40% of the property for about 3-4 times the going rate for farmland.
Porter showed numbers to support about $468,000 per month of additional money projected to be spent locally by the solar businesses and their employees. The figure includes food, hotels, apartments, bars, groceries, gasoline, and payroll. This increased area income will take place beginning now and last over the next five years.
Workers building the farms will be staying and eating locally. The jobs will be common labor, and there will be three-four work fairs coming for hiring. The average annual net income per employee is estimated to be $9,828.
The audience at the Economic Forecast had questions including the effect of snow on the panels – and the tilt of the panels allows the snow to fall off. There was a question regarding the environmental impact which Porter addressed. The lifespan of solar panels was previously 10-15 years but is now up to 25 years.
The two solar farms that are currently engaged have put up $5 million in bonds to revert the land to the prior condition when the project is over.
There were soil samples taken, aerial photos, and other documentation for benchmarks. A question about nearby wildlife brought answers that the companies will plant wildflowers around the edges of the new projects, some portions will be set aside for tilling and hunting. However, the companies will buy or lease 100% of the land from each farm. “No one will lose on this,” Porter explained.
Any businesses who would like to be considered as suppliers are encouraged to drop off their business cards to Richard Porter at the Sheridan Township town hall, during his regular business hours of Monday – Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Farmers are happy about the arrangement for economic reasons. The farmers will be leasing the land to the solar companies for up to ten times the going rate. The solar farm companies will be purchase about 40% of the property for about 3-4 times the going rate for farmland.
Please share this post with others by clicking on one of the icons below.

OVERVIEW – Albion’s 2020 Economic Forecast includes surprises and unknowns – An Overview

OUTLOOK – The City of Albion Outlook – 2019 Review and 2020 Preview

CALHOUN COUNTY – W.E. Upjohn Institute Forecasts 2020 Foreshadowing Virus Impact
