Bloomington updates climate action dashboard, outlines solar, resilience and regional Project 46 commitments

Sean Mia, assistant director of sustainability in Bloomington’s Economic and Sustainable Development Department, told the Common Council on July 31 that the city is advancing multiple climate actions tied to the 2021 Climate Action Plan and that a new Climate Action Dashboard has been launched to make progress transparent to residents.

Mia said the city has budgeted $2,092,000 in 2023 and $2,130,140 in 2024 for climate action implementation from a mix of the general fund, ED LIT, CREED and TIF. "We currently have installed 3.9 megawatts worth of solar arrays at 34 municipal sites," Mia said, and described ongoing contracts for operations and maintenance (identified in the presentation as Verigee) and vendor relationships for small-business and nonprofit solar grants (MPI Solar).

The presentation detailed programs intended to expand distributed solar and low-income access: a goal to install 20 grant-funded rooftop systems by year-end, a $300,000 commitment to the Bloomington Housing Authority for solar at Crestmont, Walnut Woods and Arlington Park, and a $250,000 grant to Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County to support on-site solar for low-income homes.

Mia also described energy-efficiency work overseen by Donovan Energy under an 18-month, $215,000 contract and noted a U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant voucher for $141,000 to complete an LED retrofit at City Hall. He said the city has applied for an Indiana EPIC grant to finance a more than $700,000 project (20% match required) to install solar, battery storage and HVAC upgrades at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater; the net city cost was estimated at about $58,000 if the grant is awarded.

On resilience, Mia outlined the NOAA Heat Watch urban heat-mapping campaign, PM2.5 sampling in partnership with the Bloomington Environmental Commission, and a STAYCOOL Bloomington program that will provide free pool admission and half-price admission to WonderLab when heat risk reaches category 2 or higher. He said the city’s community heat survey had received more than 3,000 responses.

Mia also described Project 46, a regional climate alliance with Nashville and Columbus that signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2023. "Each city has committed to an annual contribution of 50¢ per capita, which for Bloomington equals $40,000 per year," he said, adding that Cummins donated $27,360 in March 2024 and Fair Launch Strategies was hired for $134,000 to help formalize governance and complete a regional greenhouse gas inventory.

Councilmembers asked about long-term replacement budgeting for solar arrays and public access to the PowerTrak production dashboard used by the city's vendor. Mia said the 2024 operations-and-maintenance line included $75,000 for O&M and repairs; to date the city had spent about $37,000 on inverter and panel replacements and electrical repairs. On public access to the vendor PowerTrak dashboard, he said he was not sure if a public login was available and offered to follow up.

Mia framed several items as equity initiatives — low-income solar grants, increased rebate levels for the Bloomington Green Home Improvement Program (BGHIP), targeted bus-stop shade projects and an AC distribution program for medically vulnerable residents — and asked council members to publicize the dashboard and consider support for resilience funding in the upcoming budget.

The council did not take formal action on any of the climate items during the meeting; Mia said staff would continue implementation and expected grant award notices (including EPIC) in August.