A government program that bribes Michigan communities to host solar, wind and energy storage projects is costing taxpayers millions, although some are using the funding for roads.

The Renewables Ready Communities Awards program approved by a Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2023 commits $30 million in state funds to provide $5,000 per megawatt grants to communities that permit and host grid-connected wind, solar, or energy storage projects.

The program is aimed at boosting Whitmer’s controversial MI Healthy Climate Plan that forces the state to produce all of its energy from “clean sources” by 2040, designed to entice communities as many faced opposition to the projects.

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It also provides a far larger incentive for communities that voluntarily opt in now, as another law approved the same year allows developers to circumvent local permitting process to gain approvals through the governor-appointed Michigan Public Service Commission.

If developers gain permits through state bureaucrats, rather than local officials, payouts in the latter law drop to just $2,000 per megawatt.

State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, told The Detroit News the RRCA was approved in the final 2023 budget “over my opposition” as the chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee focused on the environment.

Irwin described the program as “a waste of money” because the communities reaping the rewards would have approved the renewable energy projects with or without the taxpayer cash.

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“Those are dollars that could have been used for education or public safety or roads and, instead, they’re going to these communities that host these arrays,” Irwin said. “I don’t think the grants were instrumental in securing the authorization, so I don’t see the strategy in doing that.”

State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, suggested the awards serve as the carrot to entice local communities that now face a stick in the form of state approvals if they don’t comply.

“It’s better to take the carrot because you know the stick is coming,” he told The News.

So far, the state has awarded $7.5 million in two rounds of funding to 17 municipalities, with an additional $5 million in grants expected in the coming months. In August, Whitmer announced the Biden-Harris administration plans to pump another $129.1 million into the state’s RRCA, which lists the grants as one of five strategies to meet Whitmer’s climate goals.

In some cases, the grants double or triple the township budgets where the projects are located.

Cass County’s Marcellus Township, which took in $1.88 million in revenue last year, will receive a $1 million grant, while Muskegon County’s Moorland Township was awarded $750,000, a nearly 100% boost to the $767,000 in revenue collected last year, according to The News.

In Montcalm County’s Day Township, it’s $1.5 million renewable energy grant is more than three times its 2024 operating revenue of $421,000.

“We’re just kind of a small rural township here,” Day Township Supervisor Michael Rasmussen told The News. “That $1.5 million, that’s multiple times our annual budget.”

Others cashing in include Coldwater Township ($500,000), Ovid Township ($449,000), Raisin Charter Township ($400,000), Isabella County ($375,000), Isabella Township ($375,000), Presque Isle County ($375,000), Bushnell Township ($330,000), Evergreen Township ($330,000), Coldwater Township ($281,250), Norway Township ($252,500), Pulawski Township ($222,500), Belknap Township ($152,500), Felch Township ($141,000), and Sangola Township ($106,500).

“Expanding access to renewable energy is critical to meeting the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the state’s climate action plan; protecting our land, air, and water; reducing unhealthy air emissions; and lowering energy costs for families,” Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Director Phil Roos said when announcing the first grants in October. “Today’s grants from the Renewables Ready Communities Awards will support the build out of enough renewable energy projects to power 700,000 Michigan households while providing the communities that host the projects with additional revenue for community improvements and services.”

Several communities that received the grants told The News they plan use the funds to fix the damn roads, a campaign promise Whitmer has yet to fulfill.

“Being a real rural community, we basically, the only thing we qualified for were road upgrades,” Moorland Township Supervisor Dan Nutt said. “That’s where the funds are going to go.”

In Day Township, the Ranger Power company locating its Freshwater Solar project there did not technically need local approval because the township is un-zoned and there was no local opposition, Supervisor Michael Rasmussen said.

Regardless, the township, which will receive the largest grant to date at $1.5 million, plans to invest in roads, as well as its township hall and fire department.

“We’ll be able to put that in some high visibility projects, namely roads,” Rasmussen said. “Paving projects have just become crazy expensive over the past several years.”