MI Offices Will Use 100% Renewable Energy by 2025, Whitmer Says

LANSING, MI — State-owned facilities will utilize 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday on Earth Day.

The governor said the state's goal is possible through partnerships with three of its major utility companies — DTE, Consumers Energy and Lansing Board of Water and Light. The energy purchased will expand the utility’s renewable portfolio in Michigan, officials said, rather than simply rerouting existing renewable energy that is already being generated.

“Since my first day in office, we’ve continued to make real, lasting progress on environmental and climate issues across our state,” Whitmer said. “By moving state-owned buildings to 100 percent clean, renewable energy, we are working towards protecting public health and our environment, while attracting more clean energy jobs to Michigan. Actions like this and the MI Healthy Climate Plan will be paramount within the next 10 years to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. I will continue to work towards building a stronger, more sustainable future for Michiganders and for future generations to come.”

Michigan also is launching an interagency team across state government departments to identify its potential solar footprint and develop and implement a plan to deploy solar across our state-owned lands and properties, officials also announced Thursday.

Both initiatives align with an executive order passed by Whitmer in September 2020 that sets to make Michigan carbon neutral by 2050.

Read More: Michigan Announces Plan To Develop Clean Energy Jobs

To ensure steady progress toward this goal and prevent irreparable harm to Michigan’s ecosystem, residents, and businesses in the interim,

The executive directive submits that Michigan will aim to achieve a 28 percent reduction below 1990 levels in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, something that would ensure steady progress toward the state's goal of preventing harm to its ecosystems.

Transitioning to carbon neutrality will mitigate the future harms of climate change and enable Michigan to take full advantage of the ongoing global energy transformation — from the jobs it will generate for our skilled workforce to the protections it will provide for natural resources, to the savings it will bring to communities and utility customers, officials said.

Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, released a statement following Whitmer's announcement saying that the governor is "leading by example" in making this initial step toward renewable energy use.

“Tackling climate change will take local, state and federal government working together," she said. "Here in Michigan, we have a real opportunity to get to work with the MI Healthy Climate Plan that will create clean energy jobs, reduce energy costs and protect our air, water and health for the future."