MIC will empower the public sectors to be leaders and role models in our clean energy journey. As outlined in the MI Healthy Climate Plan, broad decarbonization of Michigan’s economy is critical for ensuring Michigan remains a great place to live and work. Infrastructure operations including streetlighting, pumping of stormwater and sewage, water and wastewater treatment, fleet operations, and conditioning of ancillary buildings comprise a meaningful portion of the statewide energy consumption and carbon emissions. Due to the age of these systems, many of the assets use obsolete technology that is energy intensive compared to their modern counterparts. By strategically eliminating this energy waste and greening our infrastructure operations, we can lower the costs of operating these systems.
MIC Will Work With MPSC, EGLE, Private Utilities, and the Private Sector to Explore Development and Procurement Options for Municipal Energy Management Systems.
Gathering and analyzing energy usage data is the first step in effective energy management. Historically, this process has been time consuming for public sector customers given their total energy burden is spread across multiple bills paid by different employees across departments. Piecing this data together to understand the big picture of municipal energy usage is critical to developing municipal energy strategies. Today, commercial software solutions exist to aggregate this data and transform it into actionable steps. Unfortunately, these software solutions are often cost prohibitive for municipalities with already limited resources. Overcoming this obstacle and improving access to energy management software for the public sector is a key first step in municipal decarbonization.
Working With the MPSC, Local Governments, and the Legislature to Implement the New EWR Provisions of Michigan Clean Energy Future Law.
Energy waste reduction (EWR) offers a substantial return on investment, with every dollar invested generating $2.73 in benefits. As our annual EWR budget surpasses half a billion dollars and targets double, ensuring equitable distribution of these benefits becomes paramount. Instead of solely focusing on individual customers, strategically targeting municipal infrastructure operations with future EWR funding creates a multiplier effect. By improving pump efficiency, switching to LED lighting, weatherizing public buildings, and electrifying fleets, we can unlock significant operational savings for local governments. These savings can then be passed through to communities in tangible ways, such as rate reductions, tax credits, or reinvested in further system improvements. This collaborative approach leverages EWR’s true potential, maximizing benefits for everyone.
MIC Will Work With MPSC, Michigan Department of Transportation, and Private Electric and Broadband Providers to Idenfity Current Process and Legislative Barriers That Exist to Better Leveraging the Right of Way for Clean Energy And Connectivity.
Underutilized land can be a powerful clean energy and broadband asset for state and local government. The clean and connected future will require significant adjustments to electric grid layout and finding economic ways to deliver broadband to rural communities. Recent guidance from the FHWA allows state and local governments to allow Clean Energy and Connectivity projects in the Federal-aid highway right-of-way. Among the reasons for the guidance was to better leverage the full value and productivity of existing ROW assets and to promote energy security by diversifying energy generation and delivery methods. By co-locating future solar, broadband, and electric transmission in our highway right-of-way, we can accelerate the time it takes to site, permit, and build our clean energy future with minimal citizen inconvenience at a lower cost.
MIC Will Work With EGLE, MPSC, Local Governments and Private Electric Utilities to Assess the Existing Barriers of Community Solar.
Outreach discussions revealed concerns about the high energy burden associated with the operations of infrastructure systems. Stakeholders worried about rising energy costs throughout the state and their impact on infrastructure providers’ ability to perform and implement proper asset management programs. Many saw potential in using blighted properties for solar panel installations to generate clean energy and offset local consumption helping provide more predictable energy costs in the future. Community leaders expressed interest in pursuing community solar programs similar to other states that allowed for the utilization of blighted and brownfields for solar installations that could offset consumption across multiple sites. The MIC acknowledges the need to explore renewable energy solutions for Michigan’s infrastructure. We will leverage our expertise of both public and private sector energy leaders to better understand the barriers to community solar. This partnership will focus on exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with program implementation, ultimately leading to the development of a roadmap for improved utilization of renewable energy within our infrastructure systems.
