What Residents Can Do Now
This process in Oshtemo Township is not over, and residents still have a voice - but they must use it now - before the checklist is finished for the developer.
The most important thing residents can do right now is show up. Attend Planning Commission meetings, Township Board meetings, special meetings, ordinance workshops, and any public hearings connected to the proposed Battery Energy Storage System or the Township’s energy ordinance.
Ask questions. Speak during public comment. Put concerns on the public record.
Residents should be asking:
- Who is actually writing the ordinance and what are their qualifications?
- Why has so much of the process been handled behind closed doors?
- Why is a single out of town attorney providing his plan in a closed session?
- Why have residents, farmers, emergency responders, environmental experts, and independent technical experts not been meaningfully included in writing the ordinance they have to live with?
- Why is the Township focused on making an ordinance “workable” for a developer when the residents are against it?
- Why are rural residential areas being considered when industrial-zoned land exists elsewhere in the Township?
- Why is utility scale solar not allowed in Industrial zones? Is so the project must be forced into Rural Residential?
- What independent fire, environmental, groundwater, noise, road, and emergency-response experts has the Township consulted?
- What protections will apply township-wide, not just inside a narrow energy ordinance?
The Township still has authority and responsibility to protect public health, safety, and welfare. That means residents should continue pushing for strong, township-wide protections through generally applicable ordinances addressing fire safety, emergency access, evacuation planning, noise, water use, stormwater, road damage, hazardous conditions, and nuisance impacts.
Residents should also continue recommending qualified experts.
This project involves lithium battery fire risk, toxic smoke, thermal runaway, contaminated runoff, emergency water demand, utility-scale noise, road impacts, wetlands, groundwater, agriculture, and nearby homes. Those issues require more than developer assurances. They require independent review from many people with the technical background to evaluate the risks.
Public participation matters. Every meeting attended, every question asked, every public comment made, and every written concern submitted helps create a record. That record matters to the Township, to the MPSC, and to the community.
And ultimately, residents also have power at the ballot box.
Pay attention to who is making these decisions. Pay attention to who is listening, who is asking hard questions, who is protecting residents, and who is moving this forward without real transparency.
Vote in August. Vote in November.
You do not have to be an Oshtemo residents to take the following actions - all Michigan Residents are encouraged to take action and sign the petitions.
Contact the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)
The MPSC has the power to fix rules that allow dangerous BESS projects near homes and schools - tell them to uphold their own mission to keep Michigan residents safe. A new Governor in November can also choose new MPSC Commissioners Learn How
Sign the Online Petition
Oppose Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Developments near Homes
Voice your opposition to the proposed Van Kal Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Oshtemo Township, or to any BESS facility sited within two (2) miles of homes, schools, or occupied businesses.
https://www.change.org/p/oppose-battery-energy-storage-system-bess-developments-near-homes