Last spring, the Dennisons moved to a rural township near Howell in Livingston County to escape city and industrial life.
Their new home is in an upscale neighborhood with privacy. The multi-acre yard is surrounded by trees and a nearby cornfield. They have horses; many of the neighbors raise livestock and crops.
It’s quiet – except for the sounds of nature and the occasional lawnmower or hay baler during warmer times of the year.
But for about the last six months, the Dennisons’ quaint neighborhood and the surrounding area have been eyed by developers for projects like data centers, solar farms and – most recently – transmission lines.
Electric company ITC is proposing a 50-mile stretch of power lines beginning at the existing substation in Oneida Township southwest of Grand Ledge and ending at the planned Sabine Lake substation northwest of Fowlerville.
One of the proposed routes would travel along existing transmission lines near the Dennisons’ home.
Kristin Dennison and other residents from the 15 affected townships have been objecting to the development, citing concerns over property value and rights, environmental impact, farmland use and transparency from the utility.
“Our homes and our property, that's our largest investment,” Dennison said. “These companies have multimillions of dollars, and they decide this is the most cost effective route for them. They can just take your land and really just destroy it.”
Dennison learned about the proposed transmission project at a township meeting and later received a notice in the mail. At the meeting, she said a woman who lives by the proposed substation was “nearly in tears” as she talked about how there’s already a solar project planned across from her property, and now transmission lines and poles could run through it.
One person did cry; more came forward with concerns, Dennison said.
So she organized a community Facebook group to share information and build opposition – “there’s definitely a need for information,” Dennison said. As of Jan. 23, there’s more than 500 members in the group.
“There's this idea that we're a bunch of NIMBYs – not in my backyard – but at some point, we keep getting told to just go move somewhere else. The progress is coming, the development is coming,” Dennison said. “But when's it going to end? At what point will the people who want to be left alone be able to just live in peace?”
Why transmission is needed
For more than a decade, operators like the Midcontinent Independent System Operator – which runs the electric grid in Mid-Michigan – have been calling to replace aging infrastructure and support growing demand for electricity.
Matt Prorok is the policy director at the Great Plains Institute, which works to improve and decarbonize the electric grid. He said new power lines and other projects are “absolutely critical for a reliable and affordable energy supply.”
Operators work in 18-month cycles where they predict how much load will be on the grid and how much things like solar, wind and natural gas are going to cost. They model the regional grid 15 to 20 years into the future, Prorok said, to figure out how to deal with changes.
Demand for electricity has been increasing for reasons like a growing population, manufacturing and electrification — such as electric vehicles and appliances. There's also demand from new energy-intensive industries like data centers.
“[The operator's] process ends with two end points and a line drawn on a map, and it really only captures the electrical characteristics,” Prorok said. “They know that they need a certain voltage level line that connects these two points on the system.”
Then it’s up to the utility companies – like ITC – to figure out how to make that happen in the real world.
Transmission lines connect and distribute energy sources – they provide flexibility, Prorok said. More power lines are necessary now than in the past because more power is needed in more areas.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator alone has about 40 projects in the works. Prorok said more transmission projects will be coming to Michigan and the Upper Midwest and are needed to continue living our electric-dependent lives.
Now the work continues — your monthly gift helps maintain this success and keeps public media free for all.
Experts say community engagement is key
Rural communities are feeling more of the effects of expanded development.
“We are in the midst of asking people across this country to see and feel, experience and host more infrastructure than we have ever before,” Prorok said. “It's particularly going to affect – and already is affecting, but will continue to affect – rural communities where many of these resources are, and they don't feel like they're necessarily seeing the benefit of it.”
Prorok said the benefits of transmission are often “diffuse” while the impacts can be “acute.” Powerlines and poles have to go somewhere, but the electricity traveling is for the entire system.
Benefits – like affordability and reliability over the span of years – feels vague to someone who is going to be asked to see the steel-in-the-ground infrastructure, he said.
“We all get cheaper electricity bills because of the transmission lines that are being built. But that's on my bill once a month, and it's a cost,” Prorok said. “I don't necessarily see the direct savings there, but folks who are being asked to host the infrastructure rightfully want to have some direct benefit as well.”
Prorok’s suggestion: Utilities need to include communities in all parts of the process.
He said working with the community – not just local government officials – and acknowledging and mitigating harm early and throughout the process makes siting and permitting easier for developers.
Prorok said if a transmission line has to run through someone’s property, utilities should practice micrositing – working with landowners to choose where poles are going up on their land.
Meaningful dialogue also means these companies can mitigate or eliminate the need for eminent domain – when the government takes private land for public use with fair compensation.
“We believe that that type of approach can maybe be a little slower and take more time and resources upfront,” Prorok said, “but ultimately help avoid some of the more lengthy and costly legal battles that can really delay needed projects.”
The Great Plains Institute is exploring other models that prioritize host community benefits.
One model is currently playing out in Wisconsin. Large transmission projects require developers to pay a one-time community impact payment up to 5% of the total project cost.
Prorok said the engagement and outreach his institute recommends is a lot of work for utility companies.
“But the notion is, can you do enough to get the majority of folks on board and comfortable with the project as it's going to move forward? Do they feel that they’re getting a fair outcome at the end of the day?” he said.
What's happening in Mid-Michigan
ITC – the transmission company proposing the new routes through much of Mid-Michigan – has been planning the project for about six months with local leaders, said ITC regional manager Ben Tirrell. Tirrell said those leaders include township and city officials as well as people involved with infrastructure and economic development.
“This is a very important and critical piece of infrastructure for the Capital Region,” Tirrell said. “Long-term, this is going to be something that's going to last for 70 to 100 years, and it’s going to be a major asset.”
He said building new transmission means the company can bring power into the area from places with extra electricity. That’s cheaper than building more power plants or running generators.
That'll improve affordability, reliance and resilience of the local power grid, Tirrell said. He said that's important for safety — especially in the winter.
Tirrell said the proposed routes are not finalized, and that the lines can be moved. He said ITC wants to work with the community to decide the final path.
ITC is hosting seven open-house style community listening sessions starting Jan. 26 and ending Feb. 5 in different community centers.
“We don't know the plans that every community may not have shared with us. We don't know the plans that each property owner might have for their property,” Tirrell said. “I know there's concerns, and those are what we're seeking to hear and have conversations about. These routes aren't perfect, but our commitment at the end of the day is to have this messy at times conversation with the public and get to the route that gets this job done for the community in the least impactful way.”
But community members are still worried. Kristin Dennison said she doesn’t think ITC will give straightforward answers to people’s questions, even at the listening sessions.
Others in Dennison’s Facebook page said they've emailed or called ITC with questions but haven't been answered.
“The fact that they're called ‘listening sessions’ says plenty about how they feel about public engagement,” one resident wrote.
Dennison is working with attorneys to get some property rights questions answered. She wants impacted landowners to have the tools to negotiate better compensation, she said.
Dennison said her “unrealistic wish” is to stop the project. But in the meantime, her hope is that the lines will be put up in the least impactful way possible to “help conserve the rural community character.”
ITC’s community listening sessions are scheduled at:
• Monday, Jan. 26 (12–7 p.m.) Okemos Event Center, 2187 University Park Drive, Okemos
• Tuesday, Jan. 27 (12–7 p.m.) Okemos Event Center, 2187 University Park Drive, Okemos
• Wednesday, Jan. 28 (12–7 p.m.) Lansing Community College West Campus Showroom, 5708 Cornerstone Dr., Lansing
• Thursday, Jan. 29 (12–7 p.m.) Hidden Gem Event Center, 4230 Charlar Dr., Holt
• Tuesday, Feb. 3 (12–7 p.m.) Brookshire Golf Course Clubhouse, 205 W. Church St., Williamston
• Wednesday, Feb. 4 (12–7 p.m.) Conway Township Hall, 8015 N. Fowlerville Rd., Fowlerville
• Thursday, Feb. 5 (5–7 p.m.) Fowlerville High School Cafeteria, 700 N. Grand St., Fowlerville
