Ann Arbor awarded $10 million DOE grant for Bryant neighborhood community geothermal system
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Summary
City staff told the Energy Commission on Jan. 14 that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Ann Arbor a $10 million grant to design and build a community geothermal system for the Bryant neighborhood, with a targeted operational date of 2028.
City staff announced at the Jan. 14, 2025 Energy Commission meeting that the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the City of Ann Arbor a $10,000,000 grant to proceed with a community geothermal heating and cooling system in the Bryant neighborhood.
According to the staff presentation, the award funds a second phase of technical and design work building on earlier community engagement. The staff briefing said the project is planned under the city’s newly forming Sustainable Energy Utility and will aim to "provide nearly all of the heating and cooling needs for all 262 homes in the Bryant neighborhood," with planned expansions to the neighborhood elementary school and the community center as funding permits.
Why it matters: staff said a community geothermal system would reduce on-site fossil fuel use for space heating and cooling at neighborhood scale and that the award moves the project toward construction planning and contracting. Staff said the city expects to finalize design details and initiate contracting in the coming months with a target to have a fully operational geothermal system in Bryant by 2028.
Other staff announcements during the same report:
- The city is hiring a grant-funded electric vehicle coordinator for a four-year period to support planning and deployment of charging infrastructure and incentives; the job posting was listed on the City of Ann Arbor jobs site.
- Peace Neighborhood, a community-based nonprofit, was selected for up to $100,000 in U.S. Department of Energy funding for building upgrades to lower energy consumption and support resilience hub work.
Staff framed the DOE award as a multi-year, staged effort: phase‑one community engagement and planning informed the current design work, and phase‑two DOE funding will allow the city and partners to complete design and start procurement. The city’s consultant and staff will return with more specific contracting and schedule details as they are finalized.
Ending: City staff said the geothermal project is part of a cluster of resilience and decarbonization activities and invited commission members and the public to monitor procurement and design updates as they are posted to OSI materials.
