Candidates split on path to 100% renewables as Ann Arbor pursues A20 target

The future of Ann Arbor’s electricity system and the city’s A20 carbon-neutrality target were a major point of debate at the League of Women Voters forum.

Ysef Robi said municipalizing the electric grid is the only reliable route to reach 100% renewable energy and accused DTE of using political influence to block state-level fixes. He called municipalization and a fully public power model the ‘‘only way to achieve 100% renewable energy’’ and supported local groups such as Ann Arbor for Public Power and the SEU as steps toward that goal.

Christopher Taylor said he supports public power in principle but warned that municipalization would require buying DTE assets, decades of litigation, and hundreds of millions in up-front costs. He framed the Sustainable Energy Utility as a practical, achievable path, pointing to SEU rebates and programs that aim to electrify homes and expand renewable purchases in the near term.

Both candidates described the A20 goal as ambitious. Taylor said he helped fund a sustainability office and a community climate-action millage and highlighted rebates and SEU programs as achievable milestones. Robi said the city must be more assertive and regional in resisting fossil-fuel interests and that municipalization is needed to remove structural barriers to full renewables.

The candidates’ differences reflect a choice between an incremental, administratively driven strategy (SEU, rebates, partnerships) and a more radical structural approach (municipalization) that Robi argues will achieve full renewable supply more quickly but which Taylor says faces significant legal and fiscal hurdles.

Sources: Candidate statements at the League of Women Voters forum.