Ann Arbor's proposed sustainable energy utility could save residents and commercial customers money on their electricity bills, according to a new report commissioned by the city.

Ann Arbor residents will vote in November on whether to establish an optional public utility that would use exclusively renewable energy generated by local systems. The project is part of the city’s A2Zero program, which aims for carbon neutrality by 2030.

In 2020, the City of Ann Arbor took the bold step of committing to reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. “Climate change is real and it’s impacting people today, but we also know that it’s not impacting everyone in the same way,” explains Missy Stults, the city’s sustainability and innovations director. That’s why her team began by asking residents of the city’s frontline Bryant neighborhood what it would look like if they were the most sustainable neighborhood in the country. 

The City of Ann Arbor has launched a pilot program offering a guaranteed monthly income of roughly $530 to certain residents for two years.

City Council approved the pilot program on Monday (June 5) and will use $1.6 million of American Rescue Plan funds. One hundred families or residents will be selected for the program.

The neighborhood of Bryant sits in Ann Arbor, between the hills and valleys that surround this city in eastern Michigan. Its 262 homes are perched across from the city’s largest landfill and stand on a floodplain, so residents grapple with mold, mildew, and water damage. Outdated infrastructure subjects them to high utility costs, and Interstate 94 long ago isolated the community, one of the city’s most densely populated, prompting decades of neglect. 

After the Community Action Network (CAN) installed solar panels on Debra Pulk’s roof in December, her electricity bill dropped from $150 a month to $30

Hi Colette, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.

I grew up in southeast Michigan and pursued a Bachelor of Science in Public Health at Eastern Michigan University. The program at Eastern required an internship, and one of the opportunities was to intern at Community Action Network (CAN). I was intrigued by CAN’s mission and applied for the internship! I was offered the position and completed my internship with CAN in April of 2017. I loved working at CAN so much, I didn’t want to leave when my internship was over! I was fortunate to have the opportunity to stay on part-time...

CAN project outreach liaison Krystal Steward, left, and AmeriCorp VISTA Madison Kase discuss which houses they have yet to visit in Bryant neighborhood in Ann Arbor...

Nestled along Interstate 94 on Ann Arbor’s south side is the Bryant neighborhood, a diverse community statistically distinct from much of the rest of the city.

Corruption erodes the trust that the public has in government and public institutions. It leads to waster taxpayer dollars, reduced economic growth and decreased accountability and politicaly responsiveness -- all to the detriment of taxpayers across the country...

Successful 21st century artists and designers are socially aware, entrepreneurial, and deeply connected to the communities where they live and work. The Stamps alumni net­work also plays a vital role in bring­ing cur­rent Stam­pers into cre­ative, com­mu­nity-focused work. The video shares the story of Stamps alum Laura Amtower (MFA ​’15), Direc­tor of Edu­ca­tion at Com­mu­nity Action Net­work (CAN), and her col­lab­o­ra­tion with Stamps stu­dent Michelle Ha (BFA ​’22) around CAN’s ​“Strive to Thrive” pro­gram for local youth.

Laura Amtower connects with Tom Daldin from PBS's Under the Radar Michigan and the WonderFool Productions cohort to share how CAN is partnering in this year's FestiFool, FoolMoon, and ypsiGLOW.

Frankie Moore interviews with Lucy Ann Lance

Stateside's April Baer will host this conversation about the new normal: learning to live with COVID. We'll discuss the latest science, and the impact the ongoing pandemic is having on jobs, education, and our personal stress levels.

The early-education program works with families to ensure that every child arrives for the first day of school ready to learn...

The Washtenaw County-based Community Action Network (CAN) is taking a neighborhood approach to help those most in need and to build better and more equitable futures.

Ann Arbor's new A2Zero plan to confront climate change calls for creating five "resilience hubs" around the city in the coming years.

A decade ago, Derrick Miller took a summer job at Bryant Community Center. He was twenty-seven and working as a substitute teacher at Huron High. But Joan Doughty, executive director of the Community Action Network, was bowled over by the ex-marine's talent in working with disadvantaged kids and their parents, many of whom were caught in the economic whiplash of the 2008 recession.

Ann Arbor's Bryant Community Center is getting some upgrades.

The City Council voted unanimously this week to approve a nearly $316,000 contract with Cross Renovation Inc. for construction of an addition to the center on Eden Court...

I have researched the achievement gap for over 9 years. This is what I have learned.

Our political leaders have finally begun to recognize the importance of education to the survival of individuals and societies in the 21st century..

A sense of loss has often followed Ann Arbor resident Mary Ryal throughout her years-long battle against Lyme disease.

Ryal contracted the disease in 1995 in Florida during the Fourth of July. Although she has significantly made progress through treatments...

Students at Bryant Community Center enjoy the last day of after-school programs until next school year...

The University of Michigan has decided not to move forward with plans to build a new $38.5 million transportation operations and maintenance center on its North Campus...

Nearly 19 months after a fire ruined six units at the Green Baxter Court public housing complex in Ann Arbor, there is a new building standing...

Kim Pitts is grateful to a man named Mike who several years ago delivered books each week to the Green Baxter Community Center in Ann Arbor. It was because of those books, Pitts said, that her daughter became a good reader...

Ann Arbor’s Northside and Bryant community centers will be operated for another five years by the Community Action Network (CAN) as a result of city council action on June 2, 2014. The partnership between the city and CAN had been recommended...

The first of four “Community Dialogues” was held at Clague Middle School on March 28, and it drew a sizeable crowd. Hosted by alternating AAPS school board members, these meetings are an invitation to the community to share...

Attending a concert Sunday could lead to a 14-passenger van for the Community Action Network. It's true. The Northside Community Church's Concerts4aCause...

The sight of a ton of police officers and firefighters in the front of a store can give a lot of people pause or be a cause for concern...

Nearly a year ago, at its meeting, the Ann Arbor city council voted to appropriate $82,500 from its open space and parkland preservation millage to acquire the property at 5 W. Eden Court. The Eden Court property is immediately adjacent to the city’s Bryant Community Center...

While the Ann Arbor Public School district has indicated it is not policy to send home students who have unpaid fines, it apparently did happen to a number of students at Pioneer High School at the start of the school year...