The wind industry has come a long way in Michigan. Since the passage of a comprehensive energy statute in 2008 that included Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)-10 percent renewable energy from all the state’s utilities by 2015-costs have dropped at a remarkable rate.
Peter Boogaart knows exactly what he’ll do when he retires later this month. The longtime Holland-area resident is leaving the Ottawa County Community Action Agency after six years of helping low-income families tighten up their homes to cut their often budget-crushing energy bills. Now the 66-year-old home efficiency veteran will ramp up his already strong volunteer involvement in the Holland Community Energy Plan’s home efficiency retrofit project, which aims to cut gas and electric consumption of each of the city’s 7,000-plus homes by up to 50 percent over 40 years.
Holland, Michigan’s forward-looking Community Energy Plan is steadily gaining momentum and public support for transforming an old Lake Michigan port city into a world-class clean energy champion.
2015 will be a watershed year for energy policy in Michigan – and few states will be watched as carefully by energy policy experts and interested observers.
Last month, the Michigan Senate passed a package of bills that would invest about $1.2 billion into the state’s aging transportation network. Now with only six days remaining in the lame-duck session, it’s up to the Michigan House of Representatives to act on a crucial investment strategy for Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure. MLUI believes the Senate’s package is the right approach.
Abhilash Kantamneni, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at Michigan Technological University, has an unexpected, spot-on message for Michiganders living in the cold, snowy, and, when it comes to energy costs, pricey Upper Peninsula: There is a large, untapped, economically smart opportunity to develop rooftop solar systems for homes and small businesses in the U.P.