Michigan Man Rejects Solar Farm for the Strangest Reason
A Michigan man is aggressively campaigning against solar farms. The reason why is a head scratcher.
He seems to have good intentions. However, is seems like he is fighting to stop a win win situation for him and his community. Ranger Power has been leasing land all around New Lothrop, Flushing and Montrose, Michigan for solar farms. When Ranger Power offered Rex Wheeler $1,000 an acre to lease his land with his choice of a 20, 30 or 40 years, he did more than say no. Wheeler put a thousands of signs that say "NO SOLAR FARMS." Wheeler is worried that property value will drop after putting in solar farms according to the Tri-County Citzen,
Wow, that’s a lot of money, but what about the residential homeowners around my farms? My concern is will it drop their property values.
A representative of Ranger Power, Drew Vielbig assured him that solar farms do not lower property value. However, Wheeler is determined to stop the construction of these solar farms to help the local home owners.
It turns out, according to an independent study by the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in 2018 found that solar farms either had no impact or a small positive impact on property value. That's without factoring in the cheaper and cleaner energy for the community.
It's unclear how many acres of land Wheeler could be leasing to this solar company. But it's clear, this cause is important enough to him to kiss a ton of money goodbye. The county board has already approved the farms and many landowners have accepted deals with the solar company.
Theses solar farms will be located in lightly popluated areas between Saginaw and Flint.