ZEELAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Zeeland Township neighbors opposing a proposed $330 million solar farm are working to secure their place in the state regulatory process after the developer's legal team moved to remove some of them from the case.
WATCH: Zeeland Township neighbors fight to stay in solar farm approval process as legal battle takes shape
Residents in Zeeland and Jamestown townships have spent several months pushing back on RWE Americas' Silver Maple Solar Farm proposal — a 200-megawatt project that would be built on 1,900 acres of agriculturally zoned land and generate enough electricity to power more than 34,000 homes.
RWE Americas officially filed an application with the Michigan Public Service Commission in April. A pre-hearing was held June 4.
A number of Zeeland Township neighbors have filed petitions through the MPSC to become intervenors in the case.
"Our entire north boundary shares with a field that is part of the design plan," Valerie Driesenga, a Zeeland Township neighbor, said. "We're an adjacent landowner, so we immediately have the right to be part of the case."
Driesenga and more than 20 others secured intervenor status at the pre-hearing, alongside both Zeeland and Jamestown Charter Townships. However, neighbors who do not share an adjacent border with the project — including Cadence DeVree and Christi Meppelink — face a higher hurdle.
The day before the pre-hearing, RWE's legal team filed an "omnibus opposition to permissive petitions to intervene" motion.
"The attorney for the solar farm had filed a petition to dismiss extra interveners, because they said … our case would be handled by other interveners, and it was duplicative," Meppelink said.
Administrative Law Judge James Varchetti gave Meppelink, DeVree, and 14 others one week to file a response to RWE in order to remain in the process.
"Then the attorneys for RWE get a week to respond to our responses, and then a week later, the ALJ judge will make a decision on whether or not we can stay in or not," Meppelink said.
Varchetti is expected to issue that ruling on June 25.
In the meantime, the neighbors have banded together to retain legal representation.
"It would allow the attorneys to talk back and forth, whereas the attorney can't, from the townships, can't talk to us as individuals, so it would create an extra layer of assistance," Meppelink said.
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To fund that effort, the group is planning a pancake breakfast fundraiser at the Ottawa Executive Airport on June 20, with a goal of raising $35,000.
"From 8am to 11am - the pancake breakfast itself is by donation. We'll have a bounce house for the kids," Meppelink said. "Then we have somebody who's donating their time as a pilot and their aircraft to provide airplane rides, which will have a set price with it, which will be purely fundraising money."
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Fox 17 reached out to RWE regarding the pre-hearing and overall process. The company said in part:
The pre-hearing went well – it was largely procedural and went as expected. … We look forward to our continued engagement with the community throughout the MPSC process and to providing reliable, affordable energy from the Silver Maple project.
DeVree said she is not giving up.
"I just hope everybody would see and come together and see how amazing our community is, and how precious it is to save and keep what we have going here," DeVree said. "I'm still fighting as hard as I can."
Varchetti confirmed the following schedule for the MPSC review process. The commission is expected to issue a final decision on the Silver Maple Solar project by April 3, 2027 — one year from when RWE filed its application.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Testimony | Aug. 24, 2026 |
| Rebuttal testimony | Sept. 25, 2026 |
| Motions to strike | Sept. 30, 2026 |
| Response to motion to strike | Oct. 6, 2026 |
| Cross-examination | Oct. 12-15, 2026 |
| Briefs | Nov. 13, 2026 |
| Reply to briefs | Dec. 7, 2026 |
| Proposed final decision target date | Jan. 13, 2027 |
| Exceptions to proposed final decision | Feb. 3, 2027 |
| Replies to exceptions | Feb. 12, 2027 |
| MPSC final decision | April 3, 2027 |
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