Caledonia Solar: 115 megawatts, zero applications.
This file opens before the fight starts.

A project that exists on paper — corporate paper only

Caledonia Solar appears on Consumers Energy's official solar-projects page with a dedicated contact mailbox, and the utility's project map pins it just west of Spruce, northeast of Hubbard Lake. A grid-interconnection queue entry matching its profile (120 MW, Alcona County, Iosco–Spruce Road 138 kV interconnect, in-service April 2027) was filed in April 2024 — but its engineering study hasn't started, which makes the 2027 operating date ambitious. Unlike Gustin Solar next door, no news outlet has covered it, no predecessor developer surfaced, and no easement filings have come to light.

One physical fact on the ground: Consumers energized a new Alcona County substation this January for "increased electrical capacity" in the Lincoln–Harrisville–Mikado area — the utility hasn't publicly tied it to its solar plans.

While nobody watched, Caledonia Township did its homework

This is the part of the file that distinguishes Caledonia from its neighbors. The township adopted a full zoning ordinance in April 2025 whose Section 7.28 already governs Large Solar Energy Systems — engineer-certified site plans, screening, decommissioning — and it operates under a joint master plan with Alcona and Hawes Townships, the planning foundation whose absence is a live controversy in Harrisville. Solar interest here isn't new: the commission held a solar-ordinance hearing back in 2021, with farmers speaking for leases and neighbors against.

Right now, with NEMCOG's regional planners, the commission is amending its solar, wind, and battery provisions — the June minutes moved the amendments toward a public hearing expected in September. Read against PA 233, this looks like compatible-ordinance alignment: the work a township does to keep its seat at the table when a 115 MW project eventually files.

Key records, mirrored

As with every file we open: verbatim copies, integrity fingerprints. New township documents will be captured automatically as they publish.

The five things that happen next

• Aug 10, 2026 — Planning Commission meets; expected to set the date for the ordinance public hearing.
• Sept 2026 — The public hearing on solar/wind/battery zoning amendments: the input moment that precedes any application.
• Any time — An application files, either with the township under its ordinance or at the MPSC under PA 233 (115 MW is far above the 50 MW state threshold).
• Ongoing — The interconnection study for the matching queue entry has not started; if 2027 operation slips, expect the target to move publicly.
• Statewide — The Supreme Court decides how much local authority survives PA 233 — which determines what Caledonia's careful ordinance work is ultimately worth.