Panel Discussion featuring Missy Stults, Jonathan Mallek, Joe Lange, Arin Yu, & Skye Stewart
Rising energy costs, declining public health, more frequent natural disasters, eroding trust in local institutions, and aging infrastructure - Directly addressing these challenges is work often done in silos. But the City of Ann Arbor took a novel approach, attempting to address these issues together, through their recently negotiated Sustainable Heating Franchise and other strategic initiatives.
Adopted in April 2025 and guided by the City's ongoing sustainability work, Ann Arbor’s heating franchise is the first in the country to include a climate agreement while also pushing for deeper coordination (including a dig-once philosophy), greater data transparency, enhanced customer service, and shared programming between the City and DTE Energy around energy efficiency. Signed on Earth Day, the franchise aims to demonstrably improve health, safety and make forward progress toward addressing the climate crisis.
During this session, participates will hear about the Sustainable Heating Franchise as well as real-world projects that are advancing sustainable heating solutions. This includes looking at how sustainable heating is being integrated into affordable housing projects, how the City is piloting networked geothermal, and how Ann Arbor is holistically planning for a transition to sustainable heating city-wide. Following an overview of this work, the panel will engage in interactive dialogue with the audience.