GLREA Updates

GLREA has three important updates to share regarding our Residential Smart Solar Shopping Guide, Community Solar, and Becoming a GLREA Member.

GLREA’s new educational resource, the Residential Smart Solar Shopping Guide, is now available! This guide is geared towards homeowners who are interested in getting a solar energy system. The guide explains the benefits of solar, the process of obtaining a solar energy system, frequently asked questions, and more. To see the guide, click here or visit the GLREA website. 

GLREA strongly supports the enactment of Community Solar into Michigan law. For people who live in an apartment, or those with a roof on their home that isn't suitable for solar, or those that can't afford the full up-front cost of installing a solar energy system, Community Solar is one of the only avenues to be able to access the benefits of clean energy. With Community Solar, interested parties buy or subscribe to solar panels at a Community Solar project, and the electricity generated from those panels is then credited back to their home utility bill. 

However, we still need to enact a law that requires DTE, Consumers Energy and the other utilities in Michigan to work with developers to build these types of projects. There are two bills in the Michigan Senate currently that would enact Community Solar. Senator Jeff Irwin (Democrat) has Senate Bill 153 and Senator Ed McBroom (Republican) has Senate Bill 152. This is a bi-partisan effort, but both bills need to be approved in the Senate before they go to the Michigan House. 

Please send an email to your State Senator to encourage their support for these bills!

We are asking Sen. Sean McCann, the Chair of the Senate Energy and Environment Committee to hold a Hearing and a Vote on these bills. To send an email, click here. It will take you to our software, where you can send an email. All you need to do is to type in your home address and your State Senator will pop up and then you can write an email. A sample email is provided but feel free to personalize the email with your own content! 

GLREA encourages you to become a member. Members are the backbone of the organization and provide the ability to promote renewable energy and make needed changes in Michigan. Members also help to support the creation of our free educational materials, such as the Residential Smart Solar Shopping Guide mentioned above.

To become a member just go to our website https://www.2glrea.org/membership, then scroll down and click on the ‘Become a GLREA Member’ button.