Welcome to MI Safety
Protecting Michigan Communities with Facts, Not Promises
MI-SAFETY was created to help Michigan citizens have a voice in utility safety decisions that affect their own backyards. When elected officials fail to live up to their mission or campaign promises to protect the people, we believe you can always rely on your neighbors — the very people who must live with those decisions — to stand together, share the facts, and fight for safe, responsible communities.
🔍 What’s Happening in Oshtemo Township (Kalamazoo, MI)
In August 2025, developers from NewEdge Power presented plans for a utility scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Oshtemo Township — a project that could place hundreds of semi-trailer-sized lithium-ion batteries just 300 feet from home walls.
While developers claim these systems are “safe” and “remotely managed,” residents across Michigan and the U.S. have seen the truth: fires, toxic fumes, evacuations, and years of cleanup are the norm.
The fires are happening so frequently that even California and New York have started to stop BESS from being allowed in residential areas - that should speak volumes to those that know these very pro-green energy states.
Oshtemo deserves transparency, safety, and facts — not sales pitches.
⚠️ Why It Matters
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are marketed as green energy solutions. But the technology is still unstable, and the rules meant to protect families are dangerously weak.
- Michigan allows BESS within 300 feet of homes, even though the U.S. DOT requires 0.5-mile evacuations for similar toxic hazards.
- 150+ BESS incidents worldwide show that fires are not rare — and cannot be extinguished with traditional methods.
- FEMA-funded research confirms lithium-ion instability remains a major safety risk.
- Developers are rushing to break ground to claim 50% tax credits and 80% loan guarantees, often with little regard for safety or residents.
🧭 Our Goal
We’re not against renewable energy — we’re against unsafe siting and unchecked development that puts neighborhoods, schools, and farmland at risk.
Our mission is simple:
- Inform residents with clear, factual information.
- Urge the township to pass a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance (CREO) to keep some local control.
- Call on the MPSC and Legislators to strengthen state-level safety standards before approving more dangerous projects.
📍 Learn More
Michigan Focus
Understand what’s happening across the state — including in Oshtemo, Comstock, Bangor, and Decatur — and how Michigan law (PA 233 of 2023) removed local authority to stop unsafe projects. 👉 Explore Michigan Articles →
National Incidents
Learn from what’s already gone wrong in other states: fires in California, Arizona, and New York, evacuations, and billion-dollar losses. 👉 Explore U.S. Articles →
💬 Get Involved
This issue affects all of us. If you live within 1.5 miles of a pending BESS project you cannot legally sell your home now without disclosing this BESS project.
- Contact the MPSC and demand stronger BESS regulations.
- Urge Oshtemo Township to create a CREO and have some local oversight.
- Share our site to help neighbors understand what’s coming.
- Follow Us on Facebook for the latest information.
- 📧 Join our mailing list to stay informed on local hearings and actions.
🧾 Quick Facts
- Michigan has 17 GW of BESS projects proposed — that’s 700% more than the governor’s 2030 energy storage goal.
- The 2024 Escondido, CA fire burned for three days, forced 1.5 miles of evacuations, and remains uncleaned due to instability a year later.
- System-level defects in BESS jumped from 48% to 72% just last year due to rushed construction.
Knowledge is power — and our community deserves both.