DTE Energy and Consumers Energy have announced MI Community Solar. It’s an education campaign to promote the efforts of Michigan communities going solar. It was announced Monday during a virtual news brief.
The project will educate Michiganders about ways to participate in renewable energy programs in a regulated, shared energy system.
“We have one of the boldest plans in the industry to invest in renewable energy, including 8,000 megawatts of new solar energy over the next two decades,” says Sara Nielsen, executive director of transportation, renewables and storage at Consumers Energy. “We are all in on solar. Our Solar Gardens program allows customers to promote a cleaner energy landscape without the upfront costs and long term maintenance of owning your own solar panels. So here’s how it works. You subscribe to your desired number of solar blocks.”
The MI Community Solar public education campaign will include experts from DTE Energy and Consumers Energy sharing stories of statewide communities of solar subscribers.
“We’re empowering Michiganders to invest in solar power in the most inclusive and equitable way, growing a statewide community of solar subscribers,” says Knox Cameron, manager of renewable energy solutions at DTE Energy. “Today, DTC generates enough clean energy to power almost 700,000 Michigan homes. one way we do this is through our My Green Power Renewable Energy Program.”
Making solar benefits equitable can be done, but its not always easy.
“Developers come in is that they’re only looking at one little piece of that grid and making it work for those particular customers who are able to oftentimes able to afford that, those solar benefits,” says Nielsen. “But those benefits and costs are not then equally distributed across the grid. And what you end up with is an issue where it’s not just it’s not equitable to be able to spread that across, so that is the issue that we see here.”
Sunrise, a program launched earlier this year, is for lower income customers. Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes and Energy sponsors people so they can benefit from community solar.
“In effect, $9 a month is covered by the nonprofit that their customers are able to get that $4.50 cent benefit per month. So it’s a way for them to participate in solar energy and also get that credit and also for those nonprofits as well,” says Nielsen.
Michigan’s utilities are investing billions of dollars into new community solar projects over the next few years. MI Community Solar programs, such as DTE’s MIGreenPower offering in southeast Michigan and Consumers Energy’s Solar Gardens in three locations throughout Michigan, like Cadillac, allow Michiganders to use clean energy for a few dollars a month.
Every one of DTE Energy and Consumer Energy’s electric customers can join in solar communities.
DTE Energy electric customers can sign up for MIGreenPower
Consumers Energy electric customers can get more information
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