Shoshannah Lenski, Executive Director, Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility
You’re probably tired of detours after construction season, but here’s one I think you will enjoy: next time you’re in the vicinity of the Jewish Community Center, head one minute south on Stone School and turn onto Champagne Drive to enter the Bryant neighborhood. Mosey your way down a few cul-de-sacs, and look at the roofs. A full 20% of the homes – maybe more by press time – have solar panels! And tucked away on the back or side, they have whole-home batteries, too, providing resilient power during inevitable grid outages. This is a picture of a neighborhood, and an energy system, in metamorphosis.
As we started the secular year in January, I wrote here about the new Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility (A2SEU), a bold idea, but still an idea. As we usher in the Jewish New Year now, that idea has turned to reality: the A2SEU is operating – delivering clean, affordable, and reliable energy to our first customers. More than 80 households in the Bryant neighborhood have signed up to receive service as part of our pilot operations. And we’re getting ready to expand city-wide, where only a few percent of households have solar today, though many thousands want it.
In a few years, all of Ann Arbor could be resilient like the Bryant neighborhood, with houses and apartment buildings and businesses all generating and storing their own clean energy. Imagine not worrying about losing your refrigerated food and medicine every time a storm blows through! Imagine the joy of capturing God’s first creation – light – to power our lives, while protecting health and well-being for our fellow creatures on earth!
The process is simple: sign up, get A2SEU-owned solar and battery installed at no upfront cost, pay an affordable monthly bill for the energy that’s being produced and stored, and, as a result, enjoy lower bills from your other, current utility. The Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility is already operating – your votes two years ago, in the 2024 election, made it happen. Learn more or express interest in service, commitment-free, at A2SEU.com.