Ann Arbor's city council may soon ask voters if they want to reduce their reliance on DTE Energy.
In the long run, the city is also considering cutting ties with the utility completely.
Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor says at first, the city hopes to build a network of renewable energy nanogrids and microgrids that connect multiple units of rooftop solar, battery storage, and geothermal.
Residents could opt in to the network, called a Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) and use the locally produced renewable energy to supplement electricity from DTE Energy. The local network would also be able to continue producing power for residents who've opted in, during DTE outages.
The program would likely also include bulk buys of heat pumps, as well as helping residents make their homes more energy efficient, thus reducing the amount of electricity that's needed to keep electric lights and appliances running.
The city is also studying if it's feasible in the long run to produce all its electric power, without DTE. That could be a costly and lengthy process, involving a court battle to establish the value of DTE Energy's infrastructure inside the city, as the city moves to condemn it and take it over.
Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor said he supports the shorter-term clean energy supplementary network, as well as further study on a city-owned utility.
"Our electric infrastructure is inadequate," he said flatly. "The services that we receive here in Ann Arbor are substandard and we need to do something about it."
DTE says it's working with the city to meet its reliability and clean energy needs.
DTE Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
