Good news for Highland Park! Our city is one of twenty two communities that has been selected to participate in Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program). This opportunity is being offered through the Department of Energy’s clean energy deployment work.

To qualify, it was required to submit an extensive application to make the case. Through a collaborative effort amongst multiple stakeholders, including Highland Park Community Crisis Coalition, Soulardarity, Avalon Village, Parker Village, and Highland Park Water and Engineering Department, the city is now eligible to receive up to $500k worth of technical assistance to address the energy crisis. With engagement from Highland Park residents and city government, we will partner with DOE to pursue a path toward 100% local, clean, renewable energy.

Securing this support is a major step forward towards the goals of our Blueprint For Energy Democracy, a vision established by our Highland Park leaders in 2019.

This could not have happened without the offers of support in all the forms they came in. In addition to the community organizations of the multi-stakeholder team, letters of support from the following were included:

• Representative Rashida Tlaib - Vice Chair Subcommittee on Environment
• State of Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification
• State of Michigan Public Service Commission
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Polar Bear Sustainable Energy Cooperative
• City of Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovation
• 5 Lakes Energy
• Elevate: Equity Through Climate Action
• Highland Park Human Rights Coalition
• Vote Solar

We wanted to share this good news with our members. And we want you to know that we will be working hard to ground this process in meeting the real needs of our community - affordable rates, reliable power, healthy environment, and resilience to crisis. We can’t do it without you - so get ready to get involved!