Title
Resolution Directing the Energy Commission to Consider the Question of a Feasibility Study Regarding a Public Power Utility
Body
Whereas, The Energy Commission unanimously endorsed and Ann Arbor City Council unanimously adopted the A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan and the goal of achieving community-wide carbon neutrality by the year 2030;
Whereas, In early 2021 the Energy Commission and Ann Arbor City Council adopted Energy Principles and Criteria to help guide the City’s energy-related decision making;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor Energy Commission identified a series of energy-related initiatives that may be useful to help achieve the A2ZERO Plan and that may align with Energy Commission- and City Council- adopted Energy Principles and Criteria;
Whereas, The Energy Commission established a prioritized work plan to evaluate those initiatives;
Whereas, The Energy Commission has been systematically and purposefully reviewing and learning about its top-voted energy procurement, energy technology, and energy policy options to understand their appropriateness for the City of Ann Arbor in light of state law constraints, local conditions, and resource scarcity;
Whereas, The October 2021 meeting of the Energy Commission is dedicated to learning about municipalization efforts, processes, lessons learned, and other pertinent details;
Whereas, The October 2021 meeting of the Energy Commission was scheduled to accommodate the availability of speakers from two communities who have undertaken municipalization initiatives in the last two decades and, as such, are able to share their experience and answer questions;
Whereas, The Energy Commission, especially the chair and co-chair, have been deliberate in ensuring the commissioners have relevant information to make informed recommendations to City Council;
Whereas, City Council recognizes the value of receiving a fully-informed and well-reasoned recommendation from the Energy Commission upon the completion of all previously-scheduled work on this topic, including the learning session in October 2021;
RESOLVED, Ann Arbor City Council applauds the Energy Commission for its purposeful, intentional, and efficient process of undertaking due diligence on energy-related issues;
RESOLVED, Ann Arbor City Council requests the Energy Commission to provide a recommendation no later than December 31, 2021 as to whether or not the Commission believes the City should undertake a feasibility study to understand options related to creating a municipal utility, including traditional and non-traditional models;
RESOLVED, That any such recommendation is requested to explicitly discuss how municipalization and/or municipal utility options align with the goal of community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030 and adheres to the Energy Principles and Criteria adopted by Council, and should provide the Commission’s perspectives on the advantages, disadvantages, and value propositions of each;
RESOLVED, That any such recommendation is requested to explicitly discuss how it would be sustainable, equitable, and transformative, which are three core values outlined in A2ZERO.
Sponsored by: Councilmembers Nelson, Griswold, Radina, Eyer and Mayor Taylor
As Amended and Approved by Ann Arbor City Council on September 7, 2021.