Michigan community solar bill 2026 sets no statewide size limit
Michigan community solar bill 2026 is House Bill 6041, which would let a household that cannot put solar panels on its own roof buy a share of a solar project built somewhere else and get a credit on the electric bill. Representative Donavan McKinney, District 11, introduced it in the Michigan House on June 4, 2026, with more than 25 cosponsors, other representatives who signed onto the bill. It would add a new community solar program to Part 7a of 2008 PA 295, the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act, an existing Michigan clean energy law, the first such program the state has ever put into law.
The bill text itself, read in full, sets no statewide megawatt target for the program, unlike the community solar laws some other states use. It instead sets 2 project level size thresholds, rules that apply once a single facility grows past a set size, not a cap on how many projects the state can approve or how much total capacity the program can reach.
What every subscriber would be guaranteed
The bill guarantees every subscriber a minimum bill credit. A general subscriber must get at least 10% off the value of the electricity the share of the project produces. A subscriber who qualifies as low income or moderate income must get at least 20% off, double the general floor. Michigan households paid an average of 14.16 cents for every kilowatt hour of electricity in 2024, the most recent year on record, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
House Bill 6041 guarantees a general subscriber at least 10% off, at least 20% off for a low income or moderate income subscriber, and reserves at least 40% of the electricity from each facility for low income households and low income service organizations.
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| General subscribers | 10 |
| Low income or moderate income subscribers | 20 |
| Low income electricity set aside | 40 |
The bill also requires that at least 40% of the electricity from each community solar facility be reserved for low income households and low income service organizations, for as long as the facility operates. It defines low income by 4 tests, including income at or below 80% of the local median, or enrollment in an existing state or utility run program.
What a project must give back locally
Once a single facility reaches 1 megawatt, it must pay 5% of its gross annual revenue to the local government that hosts it, and pay construction workers the government set prevailing wage, using registered apprentices. At 5 megawatts or more, a facility must also give 5% of its ownership, at no cost, to a community based nonprofit, cooperative or trust chosen to receive it, putting a permanent local stake in a project that size.
Where the bill stands, and what happens next
House Bill 6041 has sat in the Michigan House Committee on Energy since the day it was introduced, with no hearing or vote yet on record. A separate bill, House Bill 4590 of 2025, introduced by Representative Gregory Markkanen, District 110, would also direct state regulators to write community solar rules, and it too remains in the same committee. Neither bill has passed, so Michigan has no enacted community solar program today, and House Bill 6041 would create the first one if it becomes law.
If House Bill 6041 passes, the Michigan Public Service Commission would have 90 days after the bill takes effect to set community solar interconnection standards, the technical rules for connecting a project to the grid, and 1 year, 365 days, to set bill credit rates and the rest of its implementing rules.
House Bill 6041 gives the Michigan Public Service Commission 90 days after the bill takes effect to set interconnection standards, and 1 year, 365 days, to set bill credit rates and the rest of its rules. Only 2 deadlines exist in the bill, and the gap between them, about 4 times as long, is the reason this chart runs with 2 rows.
Show the numbers
| Community solar interconnection standards | 90 |
| Bill credit rates and the rest of the rules | 365 |
Vote Solar, an advocacy group that backs the bill under a campaign it calls ACCESS to Solar, worked with lawmakers on the measure.
The introduction of this bill marks an important step toward a cleaner, more equitable energy future powered by the sun.
Patty O Keefe, Midwest regional director, Vote Solar. Source 3.
We're encouraged to see decision-makers champion policies that help expand access to solar and lower energy bills for communities across Michigan.
Patty O Keefe, Midwest regional director, Vote Solar. Source 3.