Can Grand Traverse County Set the PACE?

Can Grand Traverse County Set the PACE?

It’s time for Grand Traverse County to use a state law to help local firms cut energy costs and boost bottom lines. The 2010 law, called PACE-Property Assessed Clean Energy-allows local governments to establish bonds for loans to improve commercial buildings’ efficiency or install renewable energy devices, cutting their utility bills. Local units then use special property tax assessments for loan repayments.

Energy Efficiency Pioneers: Who’s Leading the Charge?

Energy Efficiency Pioneers: Who’s Leading the Charge?

Four different communities-in Virginia, Michigan, and Ontario-have reached the same conclusion: When it comes to making and using energy, it’s time to replace business-as-usual with breakthrough innovation. But each community is also traveling a somewhat different path to a better energy future. Here’s a look at three community energy plans in action.

Public-Private Partnerships Power Business Efficiency

Public-Private Partnerships Power Business Efficiency

You’d never know it driving by, but tucked into a nondescript warehouse district just south of town is an office and production space so airy and dazzling that it would turn heads in the hippest urban enclaves. The comfortable digs and lighting at Britten, Inc., are the result of several recent, major energy efficiency projects. They are making Britten’s workers happy, but the firm’s accountants are smiling, too.

Holland OKs Gas Plant, Turns To Efficiency Projects

Holland OKs Gas Plant, Turns To Efficiency Projects

In an historic vote, the Holland City Council has pre-empted longstanding plans to build a highly controversial coal plant in the city and, instead, approved a natural gas-fired power plant that will likely provide more power than the town actually needs.

Momentum builds for a regional energy plan

Momentum builds for a regional energy plan

The 88,000 people in Grand Traverse County spend $306 million a year on energy. Of those millions, 70 percent leaves the community-a huge tax and a drain on the people and the economy of the region. But what if we dedicated ourselves to making sure more of that money stays in the region? What if we embarked on a deliberate plan to cut back on those energy costs, capture the energy that’s being wasted, and invest in new energy sources locally? Those were the questions asked last week at a workshop in Traverse City.