Clara Ostrander lives in Milan Township, a farming community just off U.S. Route 23, south of Ann Arbor. Her family's roots here go deep. They've owned farmland and homesteads in the township for 154 years.
Ostrander's parents had to sell some of their land some years ago to pay medical bills. It was a deeply painful decision for the whole family. She's determined to keep the 100-plus acres remaining as a legacy for her son.
"People don’t realize how tough it is on those that are just trying to keep it in the family," she said. "What we’re doing now, which is leasing out for corn and soybeans, that will not even cover my taxes."
One day, about four years ago, a man from a company called Apex Clean Energy knocked on her front door, and asked if she’d be willing to lease her land for solar panels. She was intrigued. Instead of corn, her land could be used to grow energy.
"The other option would be sell off to a developer to build homes. And that would make it gone forever. It would never be farmland again," she said.
With solar, the developer explained, after the 30-year lease is up, the land can fairly easily be restored to use as farmland.
Ostrander took her time making a decision, consulting agricultural experts at Michigan State University and researching solar energy. Ultimately, she decided it was the right move for her. She also came to appreciate that her farm would be helping the state expand green energy to fight climate change.
So, she signed up — the township had an ordinance allowing large-scale renewable energy on agricultural properties — and so did 10 of her farmer neighbors. The entire project would use about 5% of the township's total tillable acres, according to Apex Clean Energy. The trouble started as soon as people noticed workers testing the soil out in farm fields.
"The township board started getting questioning," said Ostrander." "What’s going on? Why are these crews out here, what are they doing?"
Soon, there were ”Save Our Farmland” signs popping up all over, many on residents' one and two-acre lots. Attendance at township meetings swelled.
"People were angry," Ostrander said. "It started out with just two or three individuals from our township. Then pretty soon, we had people that we didn’t even know attending our meeting, and they weren’t even residents of the township. And claiming that this is 'our land.' And I said what do you mean, our land? You don’t pay my taxes."
The meetings became heated. Some people at the meetings completely abandoned decorum, with shouting, interrupting, and demanding immediate repeal of the ordinance. In between meetings, people went door to door with petitions — and misinformation.
"When this solar comes in, you will no longer have grass in your yard. You will not be able to have a garden, because it’s gonna burn it right up. And your basement? That’s gonna be flooded. Well, none of that’s true," Ostrander said.
Neighbors Ostrander had socialized with for decades stopped talking to her. A couple houses down from her place, neighbor Larry Cymbola, who is not a farmer, didn’t cut her off, exactly. But he was not happy. Part of the Apex solar array would be directly behind his house.
"My wife and I, sitting in the back yard, we enjoy looking at the crops grow, being harvested, and then we can see all the deer out in the field and all the wildlife," Cymbola explained.
Cymbola agrees that, sure, in general property owners have the right to do what they want with their own land — but there’s a limit.
"I don’t want to look at solar panels," he said flatly.
Township officials were under intense pressure. Deputy Clerk Kevin Heath found it hard to watch as people yelled at his brother, Phil Heath, Milan Township's supervisor for the past 14 years, and falsely accuse him of corruption.
"I had to stop going, because my own blood pressure and everything was — I couldn't handle it." He laughed, ruefully. (Heath had also planned to lease his farmland for the project.)
Kevin Heath said his brother loved his community and loved public service, which makes what happened next even more tragic. "He was fed up, and he decided to resign," said Heath.
But before he could hand in his resignation, Phil Heath — whose health was already quite poor — died of a heart attack.
"I resigned after my brother died," said Heath.
A few months later, with a new, anti-solar supervisor appointed, the township board had enough votes to ban solar on farmland. A few months after that, voters recalled the last two remaining pro-solar township officials.
But the story of the fight over renewable energy in Milan Township — which is also the state’s story — didn’t end here.
On November 28, 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed landmark clean energy bills, "establishing a 100% clean energy standard for Michigan and giving the Michigan Public Service Commission more tools to fight climate change," she told an excited crowd in Lansing.
One of the new laws allows the Michigan Public Service Commission to handle the permitting process for renewable projects if the local government doesn’t have a state-compliant ordinance already in place.
Clara Ostrander, a small farmer, was among the legislators, environmentalists, union leaders and business groups at Whitmer’s side as she prepared to sign the package of bills.
"We’re making it easier for landowners to build solar panels and wind turbines and big batteries on their land," said Whitmer. "Our perspective is simple, it’s your land. You should have the freedom to use it however you want."
This summer, Ostrander is once again leasing her land to another farmer, who’s growing corn - it's as high as an elephant's eye behind Larry Cymbola's house now - but she is optimistic about soon being able to lease the land for solar panels instead.
She's not so optimistic that Milan Township’s board will do an about face and adopt a state compliant renewable energy ordinance.
"Will they do that? I highly doubt it," said Ostrander. "So yes, obviously Apex will have to ask the township, but I think that will move right to the Public Service Commission, as its going to in many townships in Michigan, and the projects will start going in.
Current Milan Township officials didn’t respond to requests for interviews. Apex Clean Energy thinks it could be resuming its work in Milan Township by the end of 2025.
