Wind and Solar in Montcalm County, Michigan: A Rejected Wind Farm, an Advancing Solar Project

The Montcalm Wind project: proposed, then rejected at the ballot box

Apex Clean Energy, an independent renewable-energy developer based in Charlottesville, Virginia, proposed the Montcalm Wind project: as many as 75 turbines, with preferred heights up to 656 feet, spread across roughly 50,000 acres in eleven of the county's townships. Rather than being resolved through the ordinary zoning and permitting process alone, the project became a genuine local political flashpoint. In November 2022, local voters rejected the project at the ballot box, and in a striking follow-on, seven local officials who had supported the wind project were recalled from office.

That combination -- a referendum defeat plus a wave of recalls -- is a notably more decisive local rejection than the pattern in some other Michigan wind counties (Huron County, for instance, has seen organized opposition to continued turbine growth but without a project-level referendum defeat or recall wave on this scale). For a landowner in one of the eleven townships originally targeted by the Montcalm Wind proposal, or considering land there now, this history is directly relevant: it signals a local electorate and elected leadership highly attentive to, and willing to act decisively against, large-scale wind development that isn't broadly supported.

Freshwater Solar: a 300-megawatt project advancing in Day Township

Even as the wind project was being rejected, a different renewable-energy story was unfolding on a separate track. Ranger Power's Freshwater Solar and Freshwater II Solar projects -- a combined 300-megawatt solar facility sited on private land under lease in Day Township -- moved forward with developer outreach to local landowners for leases, described in local reporting as a "community-first" approach. In March 2024, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a power-purchase agreement between Consumers Energy and the Freshwater Solar project, with a reported total lifetime contract cost of roughly $715.7 million and a levelized cost of electricity around $63.29 per megawatt-hour. As of the most recent local reporting available for this page, the project remained in pre-construction, with an operational target around 2027. The developer has also established community benefit funds tied to the project, including a scholarship fund.

That a large solar project has advanced with state-level approval in the same county where a large wind project was decisively rejected is itself worth noting: it suggests the local reception to renewable energy in Montcalm County is not uniformly for or against renewables in the abstract, but appears to depend on the specific project, technology, and how it was proposed to residents. Don't assume either "Montcalm County rejects renewable energy" or "Montcalm County welcomes renewable energy" applies uniformly -- check the specific status of any project near a parcel you're considering.

What to check before buying land here with either technology in mind

• If you're evaluating land in Day Township specifically, ask the township and Ranger Power directly about the Freshwater Solar project's current construction timeline, lease terms being offered to nearby landowners, and any noise, glare, or decommissioning provisions in the local approval.
• If you're evaluating land in one of the eleven townships originally proposed for the Montcalm Wind project, ask the specific township whether any wind proposal remains active there in any form, or whether the 2022 rejection effectively ended wind development plans for that area.
• Given the intensity of local political engagement shown by the 2022 recalls, treat any renewable-energy rumor or proposal near a Montcalm County parcel as something to verify directly with the township rather than relying on secondhand description -- sentiment and proposals here have moved quickly and decisively in the recent past.
• If a parcel is already under a solar or wind lease or easement, request and review the full recorded document -- term length, transfer/assignment provisions, decommissioning obligations, and payment structure all vary by developer and agreement.

Bottom line

Montcalm County's renewable-energy landscape is defined by contrast: a large wind project rejected decisively by voters and officials recalled over it, alongside a large solar project that has advanced with state approval in a different part of the county. Neither story generalizes cleanly to the whole county -- check the specific project, township, and current status directly before assuming either pattern applies to land you're considering.