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Sustainability office: $32 million in grants under management; SEU progress and funding uncertainty
Summary
Ann Arbor sustainability staff said they have secured about $32 million in grants but face risk from federal/state shifts; the administration plans a second reading for the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) ordinance and is recruiting an executive director as startup work continues.
Missy Stultz, representing the city’s sustainability office (OSI), updated the council March 24 on grant funding, SEU startup work and budget requests.
Stultz said OSI has secured roughly $32 million in grants over the past 18–24 months and that most of those awards are under signed grant agreements. She cautioned that changes in the federal and state funding landscape have put those awards at risk but that the city is continuing to draw down and spend under existing agreements.
“We have successfully secured $32,000,000 and we will fight to maintain that $32,000,000,” Stultz said.
Stultz identified one larger award that remained unsigned at the time of the work session: a $10 million award for the Bridal Geothermal Project. She said federal executive orders that identified geothermal as a priority gave staff reason for cautious optimism and that city staff were actively engaging federal project managers.
On the Sustainable Energy Utility, Stultz said the council has seen the ordinance first reading and staff expect to bring the SEU ordinance back for a second reading. The city has posted the executive director role and has over 800 individual addresses signed up on the SEU waitlist. Staff told the council the SEU needs about 20 megawatts of subscribed demand to be operational under current assumptions, a threshold that could fall to roughly 12–15 megawatts if lower financing costs are secured. Stultz said conversations are ongoing with potential large anchors including Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Stultz also explained a funding shift: OSI historically received a public safety rebate from the county mental health and public safety millage (about $1.2 million). That rebate will move away from OSI effective the next fiscal year, and staff requested that two positions be moved into the general fund so those employees remain on payroll if county rebate revenue is no longer routed to OSI.
Stultz outlined additional operational constraints including limited office space for AmeriCorps members and pressure on rebate and grant programs. She said OSI was focusing on “bread‑and‑butter” initiatives and philanthropic partners to sustain programs given an uncertain federal and state funding outlook.
Stultz closed by asking council members to refer residents with SEU interest to staff; she said staff are developing community engagement events and working with rate firms and financing partners with the goal of potentially having SEU assets producing electricity and revenue by late 2026 if funding and agreements come through.
