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Utility-scale solar

Utility-scale solar

General information

At the heart of our work is a commitment to conserving, protecting, and managing our state’s natural and cultural resources to ensure their use and enjoyment for current and future generations. Climate change is currently impacting Michigan’s natural resources, and those impacts are predicted to grow increasingly severe. It is important to the long-term health and future of Michigan’s native fish, wildlife, and ecosystems that we address climate change. The DNR has an important role to play in the state’s energy transition. This includes reducing our energy waste and siting renewable energy infrastructure, particularly solar, which is an important component of Michigan’s clean energy future.

Stewarding 4.6 million acres for multiple values

The DNR is the largest landowner in Michigan, managing 4.6 million acres of public land for the benefit of all Michiganders. The DNR manages this diverse portfolio of lands for a number of different values – forestry, public recreation, hunting, fishing and wildlife habitat management. For decades, the DNR has also leased a portion of public lands for a variety of public goods, including industrial development. State land is currently leased for gas and oil wells and processing facilities, pipelines and flowlines, mines, sand and gravel pits, an asphalt plant and cell phone towers. All of these uses are carefully regulated, meet high standards of environmental care, and demonstrate the variety of state land uses that can benefit residents and the economy. The DNR’s approach to land management and leasing balances the state’s economic needs with our mission of conservation and sustainability, making public lands work for everyone.

Balancing public land management with human energy demands

The DNR supports the renewable energy transition and continues to play a significant role in facilitating energy production on public lands, including fossil fuels, such as oil and gas and renewable energies like solar, to meet basic human energy needs across the state.

Utility-scale solar projects are a crucial step toward achieving the state’s clean energy goals and we expect some of our state lands can be used for solar development. Not every acre proposed for development is compatible. The DNR intends to lease strategically to minimize the amount of land developed for solar and does not intend to have widespread conversions. To date, fewer than 1,500 acres of DNR managed public land have been leased for solar development. In total, we expect fewer than 4,000 acres will be leased – less than one-tenth of one percent of the 4.6 million acres of state managed public land, and significantly less than the number of acres currently leased, just over 350,000 acres, for gas and oil wells on state lands. Since 1928, more than 10,000 drilling permits have been issued on state managed forest lands.

A thoughtful approach to solar development on public lands

The DNR approaches solar development with careful planning and a commitment to limiting negative impacts and enhancing benefits. Solar is not a good fit for just any site, so each project begins with a thorough evaluation of potential sites on public lands. To date, the DNR has evaluated over 30,000 acres for potential solar development. Most of those acres have been found incompatible with solar energy. Sites that are selected for solar energy development are carefully vetted to minimize environmental, cultural, and habitat concerns.

The DNR will implement practices on solar sites that mitigate negative impacts and provide additional benefits. Planting and maintaining native vegetation minimizes soil degradation and erosion, while also benefitting pollinators, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and small mammals. Project design elements such as fencing and panel height can also be adjusted to be more wildlife friendly. The DNR also allocates a portion of the revenue generated from leasing land for solar development to buy lands to replace acre for acre those used for solar. In doing this we can ensure that solar projects on public land will result in no net loss of public access, timber production, or wildlife habitat.

Utility-scale solar project highlight - Otsego County

  • A map showing the boundaries of the five proposed areas and their proximity to Gaylord

    Project details

    DNR field staff recently reviewed approximately 1,200 acres of state land for a potential utility-scale solar development site. These lands were considered because there is a solar project being built on adjacent private lands and it is favorable to consolidate those disturbances. In addition, this land is near transmission lines, making it advantageous for this type of development to minimize impacts and costs of additional infrastructure to reach the grid.  

    Of the 1,200 acres reviewed, 420 acres of this land in Hayes Township in Otsego County were identified to put forward for possible solar development leasing. The proposed site was carefully selected based on factors such as the existing isolated public land ownership and the large-scale land change due to the development of adjacent land. The process of potentially leasing this land involved a four-month public comment and input period that closed on April 30th, 2025.

    The Michigan Department of Natural Resources decided not move forward with a proposed leasing of state-managed public land for utility-scale solar development. The DNR made this decision following the public comment period, and consultation with Legislators and interested groups. We heard a significant amount of concern from the public, stakeholders, and some lawmakers regarding the prospect of siting solar panels. Additionally, the private solar company that had approached the DNR with interest in leasing state-managed land for this purpose has since publicly withdrawn its interest. 

    Related maps

Frequently asked questions

  • Isn’t cutting down trees for solar panels counterproductive?

    Siting utility-scale solar on state forest land requires thoughtful planning and site selection to minimize impacts but does not inherently result in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Assuming that every megawatt of solar-generated electricity added to the grid results in one megawatt of fossil fuel-generated electricity removed from the grid, the reduction in carbon dioxide over the 20–30-year life of a solar facility is about 100 times more than the carbon dioxide reduction from forest carbon sequestration.

  • Is there enough sun for solar energy to work in Michigan?

    Yes. Even northern Michigan gets enough sun to make a large-scale solar facility an effective, cost-competitive method of producing electricity. Additionally, solar panels operate more efficiently in cold temperatures like in Michigan, as compared to warmer regions.

  • Does Northern Michigan get too much snow for solar panels to work?

    No. When solar panels are blanketed with snow, they do not produce electricity. However, the annual loss of productivity due to snow cover is quite small. Solar panels shed snow effectively because they absorb the sun’s heat as well as its light. The panels are mounted at an angle, facing the sun, and they are slippery. Snow slides off quickly and prevents the panels from being covered for lengthy periods of time.

  • Will the Pine Baron Pathway in Otsego County be affected by this potential solar site?

    No. The state forest lands that contain the Pine Baron Pathway are not included in the potential sites for solar development.