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City briefs commission on Butterworth solar site; staff plans RFP to pursue 2 MW array
Summary
Staff briefed the commission on plans to release an RFP for solar development at the remediated Butterworth site, describing site history, potential energy yields and timing tied to federal tax-credit deadlines.
City staff summarized long-running work on potential solar development at the remediated Butterworth site and asked the commission to support issuing a request for proposals to test private-sector bids.
The Butterworth site was closed as a landfill in the 1970s and designated a Superfund site in the 1980s; staff said remediation reached required status in February 2020. “One of [the EPA’s] options was utilization for something like solar,” said Mister Matthews, assistant city manager, during a briefing. He described prior attempts to develop solar with the utility and private partners that were not financially viable under earlier regulatory structures.
Staff said the city owns about 140 of the roughly 180 acres at Butterworth. The area proposed for the initial solar array is roughly 6 to 10 acres and could produce up to 2 megawatts of daytime power, staff estimated, which would supply the city’s daytime needs for roughly 100 primary-circuit facilities and some street lighting. Staff estimated the array would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by about 2,000 tons annually and account for roughly 7% of the city’s electricity use on the primary circuit.
Staff also described technical constraints: because of the site cap and remediation, panels must be ballasted (set on concrete blocks) rather than driven posts, which raises engineering and cost considerations. The city has a $3 million state-funded project in progress to extend the primary circuit to the site, which reduces developer costs. City staff ran a prequalification RFQ for vendors in 2023–24 and held a workshop; staff said Consumers Energy participated in that process and was included among prequalified firms, while DTE did not participate.
Timing is a driver: federal solar tax incentives are phasing out, and projects begun by July 4, 2026, will have a four-year completion window under current guidance. Staff said the draft RFP is ready and that releasing it in September would put the project on a schedule to start construction in mid-June 2026 and meet the July 4 start date. The commission expressed general support for issuing the RFP, and staff said responses will inform whether a PPA (power purchase agreement) or another delivery model is most cost-effective.
Staff said any use of the site will require engagement with the Butterworth Site Group and EPA approvals under the existing consent decree. They also flagged future uses under discussion — parking, parks activation and partnerships with the amphitheater and other riverfront projects — and said those potential uses will be evaluated separately and brought back to the commission if proposals develop.
