City of Ann Arbor – Green Power Purchasing

Ann Arbor’s Living Carbon Neutrality Plan

The city plans to power their electrical grid with 100% renewable energy by implementing community choice aggregation, supporting onsite renewables and battery storage, developing community solar programs, and launching the landfill solar project. These four actions are projected to reduce community-wide greenhouse gases by 41%. 

The Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program is an agreement among stakeholders to allow local governments to procure power on behalf of their residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from an alternative supplier while receiving transmission and distribution services from their existing utility providers. CCA allows communities to have more control over the production of their energy, including integrating community values such as 100% renewable energy into their purchasing decisions. 

History of Green Power Purchasing in Ann Arbor

In May 2006, the Ann Arbor City Council adopted a resolution that established a goal of 30% renewable energy for all municipal operations by 2010, with an associated 20% reduction in greenhouse gases. The resolution also established a goal of 20% renewable energy for the entire Ann Arbor community by 2015. In July 2009, the EPA announced that the city of Ann Arbor was among the top-20 users of on-site renewable energy in the nation. The city generates and uses roughly 8.9 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually from green energy sources, primarily biogas, solar, and small hydroelectric facilities. This amounts to roughly 20% of the annual electricity consumption in city facilities.

The city came short of its 2010 goal, achieving 19.8% renewables by 2010. In April 2011, the City Council passed a new goal to reach 30% renewables by 2015 (compared to 2000 levels) in municipal operations, and 5% renewables community-wide. The resolution also encourages the city staff to reach this goal using long-term, fixed-rate contracts with in-state wind generation.