DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dearborn is switching all of its city buildings to 100% renewable energy sources by the year 2026 through DTE Energy's MIGreenPower program. The city hopes this will not only help the environment but save taxpayer dollars as well.
The shift makes Dearborn the largest municipality in Michigan to participate in the voluntary renewable energy program.
City buildings that will see the shift in energy include all police, fire and other city-owned buildings.
"It’s the right thing for the environment and it actually makes financial sense," Dearborn City Councilmember Mustapha Hammoud said.
The MIGreenPower program offers eligible electric customers several different ways to voluntarily support clean energy. Customers can choose to use any percentage of clean energy, but the city of Dearborn decided to fully commit.
"Customers can help the environment by adopting renewables without having to do anything at their either home or their businesses," DTE Energy Director of Renewable Solutions Knox Cameron said. "By 2026, the city of Dearborn can proudly claim that they will be 100% renewable... without adjusting anything to their operations, their buildings."
Hammoud says he signed his personal home up for the program to use more clean energy, and proposed to city council for all city buildings to follow suit. City council passed the change and Hammoud says Dearborn taxpayers will see the positive financial effects.
“Our city budget has been constrained, and so we’re trying to find savings anywhere we can rather than raising taxes," he said.
He expects the 20-year commitment with DTE Energy will save taxpayers approximately $200,000 per year. That money can then be used for other top priorities for the city, including the Warren Avenue project.
"We’re going to need engineers for that and we need to be competitive because our salaries for that are just not it," Hammoud said.
Dearborn business owners on Warren Avenue say they welcome the dedication to expand and improve Warren Avenue and applaud the city for trying to save taxpayer dollars.
“I’m a fan of clean energy, especially if it’s good for the environment," Cell Phones and Repairs owner Hadi Hachem said. “It is a cool thing. I mean, our city here is always making history.”
MIGreenPower is the largest utility green tariff program in the U.S., with more than 1,400 businesses and 97,000 residential customers enrolled. Other municipalities enrolled in the program in Southeast Michigan include Scio Township, the city of Almont, the Village of Deckerville and the city of Southfield.
