Wind country: turbines on the skyline

Gratiot County is one of the most wind-developed places in Michigan. Since the first turbines went up in 2012, the county has become home to six wind farms with more than 400 turbines, spread across the open farm country. Eleven of the county’s sixteen townships now host part of a wind farm; five — Arcada, Elba, Seville, Sumner, and Fulton — have none. If you’re buying rural land here, there’s a good chance you’ll see turbines on the horizon, and maybe right next door.

For a lot of landowners that’s a good thing. Wind companies pay yearly lease payments to the farmers whose land hosts turbines — money that has helped keep family farms going — and the projects have added millions of dollars to the tax base for local schools, roads, and services. But turbines aren’t for everyone. Up close they’re tall and visible for miles, the blades make a steady whoosh, and at night the lights blink red on top. People who live near them have different opinions: some barely notice, others find the look or the sound a real change from quiet country living.

Where turbines can go is set partly by local township rules and partly by the state. Some townships here have welcomed the projects, while Fulton Township’s board voted a big wind farm down a few years back. But a 2023 state law (Public Act 233) gave the Michigan Public Service Commission the power to approve large wind and solar projects, which in some cases can now override a township’s own setback or zoning limits. If you’re buying with wind in mind — for or against — it’s worth asking the township what’s already approved nearby and checking whether any new project is in the works.