If Northern Michigan had been running on solar panels this month, folks wouldn’t just be cold – they’d be ice sculptures with no hope of thawing. Even though there are still thousands of people without electrical power, the utilities are making progress in northern lower Michigan and the U.P. to get people hooked up to power again – power from the old reliable sources of coal and natural gas.

But just imagine if these folks were running on the solar panels they installed in their house – or from ones generating power for them from the solar farm down the street. Those solar panels would’ve been buried under snow and ice – or smashed to bits like the trees and power poles all around them. And that’s not good news for anyone who wants reliable energy production.

Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her Democratic allies have been busy pushing Michigan into a bright, green future powered by mandating that Michigan’s utilities use solar power.

Michigan’s Public Act 235, passed in 2023, says utilities have to get 50% of their energy from renewables by 2030 and 60% by 2035. That includes stuff like wind and solar. The big end goal? They’re aiming for 100% clean energy by 2040. Sounds great, right? Not exactly. It sounds like Whitmer and the Dems have mandated that our energy comes from things they can’t control like sunshine, the weather and unicorns.

Michigan just got a frosty reminder that Mother Nature doesn’t always RSVP to climate policy dreams. And as families are huddled around propane heaters and praying their generators didn’t conk out, I am sure many are thankful that they are not at the mercy of the solar gods to keep them warm.