CLINTON COUNTY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Eagle Township megasite may be dead, but the power lines once planned to feed it are very much alive – and marching straight through family farms, front yards, and legacy homesteads. This is all thanks to a green energy push championed by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and executed by a foreign-owned utility with a dubious reputation for public engagement.
Canadian-owned company plugs into Michigan’s green push.
The Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC) – a subsidiary of ITC Holdings Corp., the nation’s largest independent transmission company and itself owned by Canadian energy giant Fortis Inc. – has been given the green light to help Michigan Democrats push their clean energy agenda. The plan calls for slicing through six counties with two projects and 94 total miles of high-voltage transmission lines, spanning from Gratiot County all the way to the Indiana border. The goal: drive Michigan toward its target of 100% clean power by 2040.
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According to the public statement from the MPSC (Michigan Public Service Commission), the state regulatory commission that approved the projects, “The Commission found that both lines are needed to ensure increased energy reliability, capacity, and renewable energy integration.” The MPSC regulates energy, telecommunications, and certain transportation services in Michigan. They have three people on the commission, all appointed by Governor Whitmer.
According to the Detroit News, these projects will affect about 450 parcels of land with about 120 residences. The news outlet has also documented stories from many Michigan property owners who are unhappy with the projects because of potential plans to seize their land through eminent domain if they don’t accept the financial offers for easements. Their voices reflect deep unease, rooted in concerns over property rights, transparency, procedural fairness, and the potential long-term impact of utility easements.
Whitmer-appointed commission signs off on power lines through the state.
The project’s route for the transmission lines includes Eagle Township – a community still catching its breath after fending off an unwanted megasite. Even so, the MPSC, stacked with Gov. Whitmer’s appointees, signed off on METC’s plans.
An email obtained by Michigan News Source from November 2022 show that discussions about running ITC’s new high-voltage transmission lines near the proposed Eagle Megasite were already circulating among a long list of key players – far earlier than most residents realized. The email chain included developers, attorneys, municipal leaders, Michigan State University officials, MEDC representatives, LEAP (Lansing Economic Area Partnership), and more.
In the message, Eagle Township attorney William Fahey explained that one purpose of the project was to connect central Michigan to a major extension of the interstate electric grid in Indiana. While no exact route had been proposed yet, he noted that from the megasite’s perspective, it “may be advantageous to locate the new transmission line in close proximity to the site.” By mid-December, ITC planned to contact all potentially impacted municipalities for feedback – a process well underway before the public had any real say.
No vote, no voice.
Zach Rudat, who serves as the District 2 Commissioner on the Clinton County Board of Commissioners, sent out an email on August 3 on a July Clinton County update that says the MPSC approved construction of a 345kV transmission line through their county, connecting a substation near Carson City to one near Grand Ledge. Construction is set to begin in 2028. They’ve also been informed that ITC wants to construct another 345 kV transmission line, connecting Grand Ledge area substation to a proposed new substation near Fowlerville.
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Rudat says in his email, “Under state law, local and county elected officials get zero votes on this. These lines and routes are ultimately approved or denied by an unelected board of three Governor appointees in Lansing, the MPSC.” He goes on to say that multiple property owners had no idea that this was coming in their backyard but all he can do is express his opinion on the matter – which the MPSC can ultimately ignore. Rudat says, “The laws and regulations on this process desperately need to change. We need stronger protections for property owners, and we need government decisions like these in the hands of elected officials who have to answer to the public, not an unelected board that answers to no one.”
Political payback?
Eagle Township Supervisor Troy Stroud told Michigan News Source that he believes that where the lines are going in his township appears to be political payback against former Eagle Township Trustee Dennis Strahle, who voted against the megasite. Stroud believes the project’s route, which takes a suspicious hard turn to go near the home of Strahle was drawn with a side of spite.
Stroud says that the route bypasses open land on either side of Strahle’s 80-acre property. He explains, “it literally runs as close as they legally can to his house, and then makes a hard turn in his backyard and goes back west again.” Stroud added, “We have to be stupid to not think they did this to Dennis on purpose.”
Power grab by foreign hands.
And here’s the kicker – the outfit behind it all is yet another foreign-owned firm, a company based outside the U.S. that is snatching up Michigan farmland in the name of “green energy.” And if that’s not eyebrow-raising enough, the Detroit News reports Fortis chipped in $25,000 to Whitmer’s inauguration and another $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association during her reelection year. Coincidence, or just how the game is played?
The scope of the project, the biggest project approved in 14 years, raises the question of whether the new transmission lines are intended to support future megasite development as well as Whitmer’s green energy goals. Stroud notes that rather than upgrading existing infrastructure, ITC is constructing entirely new corridors.
Democracy unplugged.
Just like Clinton County Commissioner Rudat warned, local governments like Eagle Township and Clinton County have no vote on the matter. The final say lies with the MPSC. And even though some on the MPSC board didn’t like the process, they still voted for the projects.
Commissioner Katherine Peretick of the Michigan Public Service Commission called the company’s outreach lazy and egregious but still voted to let the projects move forward. Peretick said, “In the case before us, I believe it would be generous to call METC’s public engagement lackluster. We heard from impacted parties that METC refused to answer simple questions, ignored glaringly obvious routing problems, like an airport in the path of the transmission line, and took the easy, lazy path for the siting of the route in every place possible. All of this is more egregious in the context that METC is a well- resourced company that has the ability and the means to do better.”
Chair Dan Scripps warned the company to do a “much better job of public engagement in future applications.”
The bottom line.
In short, a foreign-owned company, buoyed by political donations, is using government muscle to cut transmission lines across Michigan farmland. The lines may one day power megasites that aren’t even built, all while fast-tracking a Democratic governor’s green energy agenda. This appears to be the clean energy future of Michigan – fueled by eminent domain and the political priorities of those in charge.
