(Dow Fellows Program 2018)

Project Description

Traverse City recently committed to sourcing 100% of the energy used for city operations from renewable sources by 2020. To help reach this goal, the Groundwork Center is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge to create a model for harnessing the revenue from large, local, utility-scale solar projects. Through this project, the Traverse City Rural Independence through Solar Energy project, the Groundwork Center and its partners hope to create a series of solar and efficiency success stories that taken together will help rural and urban communities improve their homes, create jobs, and save residents money.

The Groundwork Center has identified several ongoing projects in the Traverse City area that would be good candidates for developing and using a community-benefit model. 5MW of renewable energy are needed to meet Traverse City’s goal of running all city operations using renewable energy.  To move renewable energy efforts forward, the team identified a needs for developing a business case and plan to demonstrate the benefits to the community.

The Dow Sustainability Fellows team worked with the Groundwork Center to identify a business plan and models for community engagement for Traverse City. The team ensured that efforts were community-driven and recommended that the benefits be inclusive to low and middle-income residents. They also developed a model that can be replicated in other communities in the nation.

Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of the regulatory, utility, developer, and other relevant stakeholder landscape as it relates to renewables development in Michigan
• Identify and evaluate case studies of community benefit models from other renewable energy projects, and make recommendations for which models could work in the greater Traverse City area
• Review literature on community engagement strategies and make recommendations on effective ways to involve the community in this project
• Develop a business plan for installing an additional 4mw of renewable energy in the greater Traverse City area, including the potential dollar amount to be allocated for community benefits
• Develop a community engagement matrix outlining the pros and cons of various strategies the Groundwork Center could consider adopting

2019 Project Report — Beyond Renewable: Incorporating Social Sustainability & Community Benefits

Project Partner:

• Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities

Project Team:

• Elana Fox, Ross School of Business and School for Environment and Sustainability

• Emily Futcher, Ross School of Business and Ford School of Public Policy

• Augusta Gudeman, Ford School of Public Policy and Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning

• Monika Johnson, Ross School of Business and School for Environment and Sustainability

• Advisor: Sarah Mills, Ph.D., U-M Ford School of Public Policy
   

Project Report