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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 17, 2024
Jeff Johnston, EGLE Public Information Officer, [email protected], 517-231-9304
Nine communities receive first round of Renewables Ready Communities Awards
EGLE announces grants that will help build out enough utility-scale solar to power 700,000 Michigan households
LANSING, Michigan —Today, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced the first round of grants from the Renewables Ready Communities Awards (RRCA), made available by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
RRCA grants aim to accelerate the buildout of large-scale renewable energy projects, like wind, solar, and storage, by providing flexible incentives to local units of government that permit and host the projects. RRCA grants are provided in addition to the tax revenue and community benefits already received by host communities.
“Expanding access to renewable energy is critical to meeting the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan, the state’s climate action plan; protecting our land, air, and water; reducing unhealthy air emissions; and lowering energy costs for families,” said EGLE Director Phil Roos. “Today’s grants from the Renewables Ready Communities Awards will support the build out of enough renewable energy projects to power 700,000 Michigan households while providing the communities that host the projects with additional revenue for community improvements and services.”
Deploying renewable energy at scale is essential to meeting the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan goals. The RRCA is a key tool to meeting the state’s 60% renewable energy and 100% clean energy standards set under the recently enacted clean energy laws.
The first round of grants from the RRCA will support the deployment of 700 megawatts (MW) of solar energy, enough clean energy to power 700,000 Michigan households.
The first round of the RRCA grants totaled $3.5 million, supporting nine local units of government:
- Freshwater Solar I & II:
- Day Township in Montcalm County, $1.5 million.
- Groveland Mine Solar
- Felch Township in Dickinson County, $141,000.
- Norway Township in Dickinson County, $252,500.
- Sagola Township in Dickinson County, $106,500.
- Little Trout Solar
- Belknap Township in Presque Isle County, $152,500.
- Presque Isle County, $375,000.
- Pulawski Township in Jackson County, $106,500.
- Mission Road Solar Park
- Isabella County, $375,000.
- Isabella Township in Isabella County, $375,000.
These grants provide funds for communities to make improvements and offer additional services to their residents. Examples include road and bridge repairs, fire department upgrades, park and playground enhancements, accessibility accommodations and grounds improvements, energy upgrades for public buildings, and streetlight upgrades.
There is no deadline to apply for this funding opportunity. Grants from RRCA will remain available until funds are depleted.
For more information on the RRCA, including eligibility requirements, funding amounts, and awardee obligations, visit EGLE’s Renewables Ready Communities Award website.
Earlier this year, EGLE was awarded $129.1 million from the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program to scale this program; launch a pilot to build renewable energy projects on brownfields; strengthen EGLE’s community Renewable Energy Academy that provides technical assistance for local and tribal governments to improve planning, siting, and permitting processes for renewable energy facilities; support clean energy-related workforce development programs; and develop a comprehensive strategy to meet the state’s 60% renewable energy by 2030 goals.
In addition to the CPRG award, the state has undertaken several efforts to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy resources. To date, the state has set renewable, storage, and clean energy standards, supporting a market for clean energy growth; streamlined the process and taxation for permitting renewable energy projects; removed barriers to clean energy deployment; incentivized and provided technical assistance to host communities; provided resources to support the deployment of large-scale, community-serving, and rooftop solar; onshored the renewable supply chain and supported clean energy manufacturing; led by example by powering state government with 100% renewable energy and deploying projects on state-owned properties; and more.
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