Michigan State Representative discusses road to community solar legislation

Michigan State Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-14, said he's fighting “tooth and nail” to get renewable energy bills that strengthen grid reliability and support low-income customers passed in the Great Lakes State.

McKinney is the author of House Bill (HB) 4840 which aims to amend the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act by adding distributed generation (DG) and energy storage provisions.

The bill has sat idle in its respective committee since its June introduction.

“If we don’t get this done by the end of this year, I will reintroduce the bill at the top of the new year,” said McKinney in an interview with NPM.

The Michigan legislature runs on two-year sessions, with the current session ending on December 31. Bills that don't clear the legislature before then will be considered dead.

HB 4840 directs electric providers to file tariffs that provide customers that install behind-the-meter electric facilities with a rebate of USD 500 per kilowatt nameplate capacity. For income-qualified customers, the rebate would be increased to USD 1,000 per kilowatt.

The tariffs will also provide energy storage system rebates at USD 300 per kilowatt and USD 600 for income-qualified customers.

Income-qualified customers are households that do not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level set by the US Department of Health and Human Services or are enrolled in any federal, state, or local program with a similar income eligibility requirement.

McKinney is serving his first term representing the 14th district comprised of northeast Detroit, as well as Warren and Center Line.

“It’s a very diverse district but the needs are so great when it comes to energy—not only for affordability but reliability issues,” McKinney said.

According to McKinney, a recent audit found that Detroit power lines were older than the rest of the state, some dating back to the early 20th century.

McKinney said his neighborhood has lost power about 28 times over the last several years. Most memorably, the day he brought his first-born child home from the hospital, forcing them to check into a hotel room where they stayed for the first four days of his son's life.

Not everyone can afford a hotel at the drop of a dime and moment’s notice when many residents are living paycheck to paycheck, McKinney said.

According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income for the residents of Detroit is about USD 38,000 annually.

“A lot of folks are struggling,” McKinney said. “They’re trying to figure out how to survive, where their next meal is going to come from, and how they’re going to pay their bills.”

“There’s not a week that goes by that I don’t have a couple neighborhoods in my district without power,” McKinney added. “It’s absurd what’s going on. Community solar in my view can help supplement and help our low-income families. This is something that needs to be done. It’s long overdue and we’re going to keep pushing it.”

Multiple bills similar to McKinney's have been dropped in the Michigan legislature over the last few years.

HB 4839, introduced by Rep. Jenn Hill in June, is similar to McKinney’s bill as it aims to compensate DG projects and storage facilities. This bill doesn’t set specific guidelines but rather directs the commission to initiate a proceeding taking in stakeholder feedback to develop the program requirements.

To date, neither bill saw a hearing.

In the Senate, two community solar bills were also introduced this year, Senate Bill (SB) 152 and SB 153. The bills would enable the development of community solar facilities up to 5 MW with a 30% carve out for low-income households or low-income service organizations.

The bills received a hearing in June but have not had any movement since.

Despite this, McKinney is optimistic that a hearing could come after elections.

“We’ll see if we can hold not only our leadership but people’s feet to the fire after election,” McKinney said. “There should be no excuse to get this done.”

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.

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