News · Holland
Silver Maple Solar east of Holland: a judge gives RWE a family’s 562-acre farm, and Ottawa County votes Oct. 27 on joining the state case
HOLLAND, Mich. — A farm family east of Holland has lost the first round of its fight to keep 562 acres out of a planned solar project, and Ottawa County commissioners will vote next week on whether the county should join the case before state regulators.
Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Hulsing ruled Oct. 14 that German-based RWE Solar properly exercised lease options on land owned by the Smallegan family, giving the company the immediate right to possess nearly a third of the 1,900 acres planned for its $330 million Silver Maple Solar project in Zeeland and Jamestown townships, the Ottawa News Network reported.
What the judge decided. After an Oct. 8 bench trial, Hulsing found that the late James Smallegan signed a five-year option agreement with the developer in November 2020 and that RWE gave proper notice before the Nov. 19, 2025, deadline to turn it into a 35-year lease. The family testified they understood the paperwork to cover only early land studies. The judge noted that Patricia Smallegan cashed more than $282,000 in checks from RWE after the lease notices were delivered, according to the Ottawa News Network.
The order lets RWE remove crops and fence the property, ends hunting and farming there by the family and others, bars the family from joining any proceedings that oppose the project and requires them to pay RWE’s legal fees, with a hearing on the amount within 120 days. RWE said it would let the family reach their home and care for livestock while it seeks a settlement. The family’s attorneys say they are considering an appeal, due by Oct. 29.
Local control is the bigger fight. The ruling does not allow construction. RWE refiled its application with the Michigan Public Service Commission last month under case U-22071, and the state review is expected to run into 2027. That is possible because of Public Act 233, a 2023 law that moved final siting authority for large solar, wind and storage projects from local boards to the three-member commission in Lansing, the Ottawa News Network reported. Zeeland Township sued in July, arguing the law violates the Michigan Constitution’s protection of local control; RWE moved the suit to federal court in Grand Rapids, and the township is asking to send it back to state court.
RWE says the 200-megawatt solar and storage project would power about 34,000 homes and pay more than $19 million in local property taxes over its life, $14.5 million of it to schools. Neighbors have raised concerns about lost farmland, open space and property values.
What happens next. Ottawa County must decide by Nov. 12 whether to intervene in the state case, which would let it present evidence to an administrative law judge. The county board is expected to vote at its next full meeting, 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. The case is public and can be followed on the commission’s e-dockets site under U-22071.
For more on the Holland area, see our Holland page.
Sources:
Ottawa News Network, “Ottawa County judge rules for solar developer in $330M land dispute with local family,” updated Oct. 21, 2026, https://www.ottawanewsnetwork.org/ottawa-county-judge-rules-for-solar-developer-in-330m-land-dispute-with-local-family/
FOX 17, “Judge sides with RWE in dispute with Ottawa County family over solar project,” Oct. 2026, https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/holland-zeeland-grand-haven/judge-rules-in-favor-of-rwe-in-dispute-with-ottawa-county-farming-family-over-solar-project-land
Michigan Public Service Commission, e-dockets (case U-22071), https://www.michigan.gov/mpsc/regulatory/e-dockets
Photo: David Kosling, USDA, “Photovoltaic Panels Reap Solar Energy on Farms (20240809-USDA-RD-DCK-0324).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Photovoltaic_Panels_Reap_Solar_Energy_on_Farms_(20240809-USDA-RD-DCK-0324).jpg
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