The Township Board of Oshtemo in Michigan has voted in favour of enacting a one-year moratorium on the approval of any new BESS facilities.
Energy storage has been a hot topic of discussion within the Township (population c.23,000) over the past few months, after representatives from greenfield pure play developer NewEdge Renewable Power gave a general overview of BESS technology as part of a presentation to officials in August.
Headquartered in New York, N.Y., NewEdge claims to have a developed portfolio of 36 renewable energy projects, representing a cumulative capacity of around 4.3GW.
Initial discussions
In the absence of BESS zoning standards in Oshtemo, the director of permitting at NewEdge, Rachel Walker, gave a presentation to the Township during one of its regular board meetings on August 14.
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“Our company has a strong ethic around meeting with communities early and often to educate … and try to get in front of concerns that people have,” said Rachel Walker.
The presentation was very broad in nature, with Walker providing the Township with an overview of the science behind BESS technology, why it’s needed, fire safety measures and industry best practices.
When questioned over what NewEdge was proposing to build in the Township, Walker explained that they weren’t there to “talk about any specific project,” but that their current projects were in the range of 100MW to 200MW.
However, despite not wanting to divulge specific details, local documents filed with Oshtemo’s land register reveal that NewEdge has entered into a lease and easement agreement with a local land owner.
Signed in December 2023, the agreement entitles NewEdge to develop an approximately 52-acre portion of land (parcel no. 05-30-305-028), located on South Van Kal Street in Oshtemo across the road from a substation owned by utility ITC.
With NewEdge being a greenfield developer, Walker explained that it specialised in carrying out early development, before selling projects onto third parties such as independent power producers (IPPs) and utilities.
Ordinance discussions lead to moratorium
In November, NewEdge informed Oshtemo officials that although it had not yet submitted plans for a BESS project, it recently learned of changes in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) that had the potential to affect its project timeline.
With these changes in mind, NewEdge stated that it would look to submit an application for a project located on South Van Kal Street during the second half of 2026.
NewEdge noted the many questions and concerns from local residents regarding the project, but said that it could not present specific details without the passage of a BESS ordinance.
This memo from NewEdge, alongside a BESS ordinance moratorium, was discussed by the Township Board during its 10 November 2025 meeting.
Oshtemo Supervisor Cheri Bell opened the discussion surrounding BESS by acknowledging that although a moratorium wouldn’t “solve the problem,” it may “allow for the opportunity to perhaps consult with some professionals” in the creation of its energy storage ordinance.
“[A moratorium] doesn’t shut the door to a developer going to the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) … [but] it does send the developer a message that we’ve got to pump the brakes a little,” explained Bell.
Similarly to the US states of California and Massachusetts, developers of energy storage projects in Michigan exceeding 50MW or 200MWh can opt for a locally administered permitting process, or one overseen by the state regulator.
Although the MPSC still considers the opinions of local governments as part of its permitting process, the final decision ultimately falls to the state regulator. Because of this, officials at Oshtemo Township will be looking to create their own BESS ordinance that isn’t overly restrictive, dissuading developers into using the MPSC’s process.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news, this is similar to officials in California’s Solano County, who recently created their own ordinance with the aim of dissuading developers into using the California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) opt-in certification process.
During the 10 November Township meeting, officials disagreed over the message that enacting a moratorium would have to potential BESS developers.
“Theoretically, [the moratorium] could make it worse for us,” said Township Trustee Michael Chapman.
In reference to the members of the public present at the meeting, Chapman added that “a lot of the folks here tonight feel that [the moratorium] would be a strong statement for their cause to stop BESS in Oshtemo, but it would actually be a shortcut [for developers] to establish BESS [here] with no say from the Township.”
“In my opinion we need to send the message, [lithium-ion batteries] are too new … if they want to go to state [for approval], let them go to state,” said fellow trustee Kristin Cole.
Following the back and forth discussion, the first reading of the BESS moratorium was approved in a split 5-2 vote by Oshtemo Township.
At its 25 November meeting, the second and final reading of the one-year moratorium was unanimously approved by the Township of Oshtemo, meaning applications to develop energy storage projects won’t be considered until a zoning ordinance for the technology has been developed.
Energy-Storage.news has reached out to NewEdge for comment over its plans and will update this article once it receives a response.
