A collaborative conservation effort

RES is proud to partner with National Grid Renewables (NGR) on the Bingham Solar Project, a groundbreaking initiative that integrates renewable energy development with large-scale ecological restoration and species habitat enhancement in Clinton County, Michigan.

As part of our advisory services and habitat restoration portfolio, RES led the development of the project’s enrollment in the Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA). This agreement serves to proactively protect the monarch butterfly by creating high-quality habitat while providing regulatory assurances under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Monarch CCAA application and planning

RES prepared and submitted the CCAA application on behalf of NGR, delivering a comprehensive package that included:

• Narrative summaries and detailed maps identifying enrolled and adopted conservation areas
• Acreage estimates of targeted habitat
• ESA Section 7 Threatened and Endangered species documentation
• Net conservation benefit calculations demonstrating the project’s ecological value

Following application approval, RES designed the full CCAA Implementation Plan, ensuring all conservation measures, monitoring protocols, and Best Management Practices (BMPs) were documented and aligned with the agreement’s objectives.

Habitat creation and long-term stewardship

In a key step toward achieving the conservation goals for the monarch butterfly, RES installed a specialized milkweed seed mix across all 25 acres of adopted conservation land. This ensures a target density of 150 milkweed stems per acre, critical to supporting monarch reproduction and migration.

RES ecologists continue to provide technical oversight through ongoing monitoring and reporting, ensuring compliance and adaptive management over the project’s five-year monitoring term.

A model for renewable energy and ecological harmony

The Bingham Solar project exemplifies how non-bank conservation efforts can successfully marry infrastructure development with meaningful biodiversity benefits. By restoring prairie and grassland ecosystems, enhancing native vegetation, and establishing pollinator habitat, this project contributes to regional conservation priorities while enabling clean energy generation.