Ann Arbor launches Sustainable Energy Utility pilot, installs rooftop solar and batteries in Bryant neighborhood

Ann Arbor has begun operating a new municipal Sustainable Energy Utility that will own and operate rooftop solar and battery systems for residents and businesses who opt in, city officials said in a GreenLight interview.

"The model for the Sustainable Energy utility is that it is 100% renewable energy and it is optional," said Shoshana Lenski, executive director of the Sustainable Energy Utility, describing a system voters approved in November 2024 and that the city council established as a department in April 2025. Lenski said the SEU's assets will supplement the traditional utility rather than replace it.

The pilot is under way in the Bryant neighborhood, where the city and local partners will place solar-plus-battery systems on roughly 100 homes out of about 260 households in the neighborhood. "We have funds to put solar and battery systems on about 100 homes in the neighborhood," Lenski said, noting grant funding from the Michigan Public Service Commission and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Why it matters

The SEU model aims to lower energy costs and reduce pollution while easing the process for residents by owning and maintaining equipment. Lenski said customers will not pay upfront for installations; instead participants will remain connected to the traditional grid, pay a monthly SEU bill for the portion of service provided by city-owned assets, and should see their combined bills be equal to or lower than before.

"You don't have to talk to a dozen contractors to figure out who you want to put what on your roof, and you don't have to maintain the systems," Lenski said, describing the SEU's plan to handle procurement, installation and lifetime maintenance for participants.

How it works

Systems installed in the Bryant pilot combine rooftop solar arrays and whole-home batteries. Lenski described typical rooftop systems in the pilot as about 10 panels, roughly 4.5 kilowatts of capacity, paired with batteries that store daytime generation for nighttime use and provide backup power during outages.

By aggregating these distributed systems, the SEU expects to create a virtual power plant (VPP) that can be dispatched to meet local or grid needs. "You take all these small systems and you aggregate them, and you say, 'I'm going to sum those up and deploy them sort of together, and together they are like a big power plant,'" Lenski said.

Pilot, funding and timeline

Lenski said the SEU began installing its first systems in May as part of a Bryant pilot that is funded in part by two grants from state agencies. The city's Office of Sustainability and Innovation has worked with the Community Action Network and neighborhood residents on design and priorities, Lenski said; officials cited affordability, comfort and resilience as key aims.

The SEU is preparing to offer services citywide in 2027 and aims to enroll hundreds and potentially up to a thousand participants in coming years, Lenski said. Rates and formal enrollment details are expected to be released this fall; until then the SEU is collecting nonbinding expressions of interest at a2seu.com.

What the SEU does not do (yet)

Lenski emphasized the SEU is an optional supplemental utility and does not remove customers from the traditional grid. She said details about exact rates and the share of energy each rooftop system will supply (examples mentioned ranged from 25% to 99% of a household's load) will be finalized before broad enrollment begins.

Where to learn more

The SEU is collecting expressions of interest at a2seu.com and will publish rate details in the fall. The Office of Sustainability and Innovation posts broader program information at a2z.org.

The pilot marks the SEU's first installations; officials said the effort is intended as a tested pathway to scale clean, locally owned energy across Ann Arbor.