Detroit’s Solar Neighborhood Initiative will expand with three new solar fields at Houston/Whittier-Hayes, State Fair, and the Gratiot/Findlay neighborhoods. This initiative will help Detroit toward its clean energy goals while…
Detroit’s Solar Neighborhood Initiative will expand with three new solar fields at Houston/Whittier-Hayes, State Fair, and the Gratiot/Findlay neighborhoods. This initiative will help Detroit toward its clean energy goals while giving 200 select residents up to $15,000 for home repairs. Additionally, residents will receive electrical upgrades, attic insulation, new doors, a new central air conditioning unit, and a basement with a window. Some residents will receive 18 months of rent payments plus moving costs rather than repairs after flooding.
DTE Energy owns the solar fields, and the Detroit City Council approved that DTE take over construction of the three sites, after the Boston-based power company Lightstar Renewables backed out of the deal when a private equity firm purchased the company. However, some council members voiced concerns about expenses and DTE’s past performance.
Council Member Denzel McCampbell voiced doubts about contract language and pricing. He referenced the O’Shea Solar Park, where residents never received the benefits DTE had promised during earlier work.”Residents were promised a lot more in their area, not only around beautification in the area, but also benefits around the solar array, and we just not have seen that being recognized and actually happening in that neighborhood,” McCampbell said.
“What I want residents in the city to know is I am absolutely in support of clean energy; I feel deeply that as a city, as a state, as a country, we need to move away from using fossil fuels,” McCampbell said. “With my vote on this contract, it was not so much about the solar itself; it was about the terms of the contract, the cost, and really the overall deal.”
Sandra Turner-Handy, an east-side resident whose backyard sits near one construction site, also works as an environmental activist. She said climate change has brought more flooding to her neighborhood.
“To move toward solar energy, even though that solar energy is only going to provide energy to municipal buildings, that’s ok because we’re moving in the right direction,” said Turner-Handy, according to CBS News Detroit. “As we look at climate change, it’s real, and we understand that it’s real because we’re looking at the magnitude of our rain patterns, our heat patterns, different things going on that are really impacting our health.”
The Solar Neighborhood Initiative started in 2023 with the plan to convert 165 acres of empty land into solar installations that will power 127 city-owned structures, including City Hall, police and fire stations, recreation centers, and health clinics. Officials expect completion of the projects by 2027.
The two contracts, one for Houston-Whittier Hayes and the other for State Fair and Gratiot/Findlay, will span about 35 years, as the solar panels will require regular maintenance. Annual upkeep costs will be determined each year but could reach $477,606 in 2028, then climb to $3.2 million by 2029.
Download the app to LISTEN LIVE wherever you are and connect with us like never before!

source