Ann Arbor owns its own solar and battery assets - DC can too to make energy cheaper
The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan recently rolled out its pilot program for the Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility: a resident-approved municipal utility that installs, owns, and manages renewable energy generation across the city. For those that opt in, Ann Arbor’s SEU installs residential and community solar, battery storage, microgrids, and other resources that make for generating renewable, reliable power at the local level.
The pilot, which will see about 150 homes receive solar-plus-storage in 2026, is aimed to serve low-income and energy burdened households where high utility costs eat more severely into fixed budgets. The main goal? Lower energy costs. Renewable power and resilience are added benefits.
Ann Arbor’s SEU model minimizes expensive distribution costs (i.e. new poles and wires) by utilizing already existing infrastructure. This allows the SEU to place energy generation at the local level (compared to a giant solar field outside of town), reducing the need for costly upgrades and fortifying the grid against potential failures. For example, if an intense snowstorm knocks out powerlines across town, a person’s house may incur an outage. However, within the SEU model, those homes could ride out the storm and power outage by utilizing the solar-plus-storage assets on their property or even within their neighborhood.
With over 1,500 residents already expressing interest, the SEU model is different from a traditional city’s energy program: Ann Arbor keeps ownership of its assets, therefore relieving residents of the liability for maintenance, insurance, and other soft costs. In addition, the SEU pitched charging a flat rate for solar, side-stepping the costly process of billing through a meter so it can pass those cost-savings onto residents and the city budget.
DC has a cousin-like program to Ann Arbor’s: the DC Sustainable Energy Utility. The DCSEU runs the Solar For All program, weatherization upgrades, and other important energy efficiency programs. However, it doesn’t own generation assets like Ann Arbor. That should change.
A city-owned agency that installs, owns, and operates renewable generation would see solar and battery expansion skyrocket across DC. When the initial cost of solar-and-storage is shifted to the city, these opportunities open up for regular people (including renters).
DC is already energy burdened as we rely far too much on the volatile, expensive wholesale market. Our best course of action is to invest in localized, cheap energy like solar, batteries, and other renewable sources to lessen our energy demand and decrease costs. A city-owned energy utility is the answer because we’ve already seen the private market can’t provide.