INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — A massive solar project is headed for rural Ingham County, whether local officials like it or not.

The $100 million Acceleration Solar Project, backed by Ranger Power, would cover roughly 873 acres across Leslie, Vevay, and Onondaga townships and generate enough electricity to power about 20,000 homes. State regulators at the Michigan Public Service Commission are now reviewing the application.

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The project is one of the first major tests of a 2023 law signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that shifted approval authority for large solar developments from local governments to the state.

Township leaders say that change left them with little recourse.

“The legislation pretty much took it out of our hands,” Leslie Township Supervisor Dallas Henney said. “We can’t do much to stop it.”

If approved, construction could begin in 2027. Ranger Power says the project would bring construction jobs and millions in tax revenue to local governments and schools.

But many residents remain opposed, arguing large solar installations are replacing farmland without meaningful local input.

For landowner David Cheney, who agreed to lease part of his property, the outcome reflects a broader reality reshaping Michigan’s rural landscape.

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“This is the way it is, and the way it’s going to be,” Cheney told The Detroit News.