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A2SEU in the News

City news releases

May 19, 2026 - Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility marks milestone with first installations in Bryant Neighborhood
March 17, 2026 - Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility selects first vendors as customer launch nears
Feb. 24, 2026 - Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility invites residents to express interest in local, renewable energy
Nov. 4, 2025 - Ann Arbor City Council votes unanimously to accept $11 million for district geothermal System
Sept. 29, 2025 - Ann Arbor awarded $250,000 grant to advance Sustainable Energy Utility
July 16, 2025 - Ann Arbor introduces first executive director of Sustainable Energy Utility
Nov. 7, 2024 - Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) authorized in the City of Ann Arbor

News coverage

Ann Arbor sets $600 flat yearly rate for new electricity alternative to DTE Energy (Mlive, May 20, 2026)
Ann Arbor is rolling out city-owned solar and batteries at homes. It can help lower electric bills (Fast Company, April 30, 2026)
Ann Arbor's first-of-its-kind sustainable energy pilot program approaches implementation (WEMU, April 29, 2026)
City of Ann Arbor budget's main priority is SEU implementation (WEMU, April 21, 2026)
Ann Arbor to generate its own renewable power through new Sustainable Energy Utility (Concentrate, April 8, 2026)
Ann Arbor making big purchases to launch new sustainable energy utility (Mlive, March 18, 2026)
How Ann Arbor, Michigan, is creating its own clean energy utility (Grist, March 17, 2026)
Affordable clean energy in Ann Arbor: Can a city-created utility deliver? (Planet Detroit, Jan. 28, 2026)
New Ann Arbor energy utility may offer customers flat-rate billing for solar (Mlive, Dec. 12, 2025)
Ann Arbor is reinventing the power company (Fast Company, Sept. 2, 2025)
Ann Arbor wants to build its own renewable-energy grid (The New York Times - subscription only)
Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility aims to build the electric power grid of the future − alongside the old one (The Conversation, March 10, 2025)
A Michigan city’s ‘sustainable energy utility’ got the green light from voters. What now? (SmartCitiesDIve, Dec. 10,2024)
Voters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, create a local clean energy utility (Canary Media, Nov. 20, 2024)

A2SEU Newsletters

A2SEU Newsletter June 29, 2026 (PDF)

It was a busy month of June for the SEU! We continue installing solar in the Bryant neighborhood pilot and preparing for expansion city-wide in 2027.

On June 2, as part of the A²ZERO Week, the public was invited to “watch the SEU be built.” More than 20 community members joined us at an installation in Bryant (left) to watch the panels go up and chat with SEU staff, vendors, installers, and fellow residents.

As of this writing, we have 40 Bryant residents officially signed up for SEU service, with 10 installations complete and many more in queue. Many residents participating in the SEU are also receiving roof repairs and weatherization through additional grant funding with the Office of Sustainability and Innovations.

More than a quarter of the Bryant participants so far are in rental homes. This is exciting because historically rentals have been very difficult to serve with renewable energy upgrades. The SEU’s model makes this clean, affordable energy accessible to homeowners and renters. We’re thankful for the Bryant landlords and tenants joining the SEU!

We are preparing to scale city-wide in 2027. Our initial offerings in 2027 will be solar and solar-plus-storage. Many residents are asking what to expect. We’re still working on details but here’s a rough anticipated timeline:

Mid Fall: SEU will propose rates to City Council and ask for authorization
Late Fall: Residents who have signed up on the “expression of interest” form will be invited to begin an intake process to gather all the details necessary to assess viability and get you officially signed up
With more than 1,000 residents on the interest list, we expect to take all of 2027 to complete installations (did you know, for comparison, the City has had about 200 residential solar installations per year for the last 5 years?)

Ann Arbor is talking a lot about energy. We love that! But we also know it can be confusing to understand the different options. If you’re interested in learning more, please see this study, commissioned by the City in 2023, to evaluate potential pathways to renewable energy in Ann Arbor: Renewable Energy Pathways

A2SEU Videos

General/For Residents