At its July 5 meeting, the Leelanau Township Board unanimously approved a Leelanau Energy proposal for $60,000 of the Township’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to assist 10 economically stressed households.

The resulting program provides eligible households access to the skillsets of both Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency (NMCAA) and Cherryland Electric Cooperative. “It’s really a double whammy in a good way for the participating households” said Joe DeFors, president of the nonprofit Leelanau Energy, which coordinated the project.

DeFors explains that NMCAA currently runs a home energy audit and weatherization program for income-eligible households in 10 area counties including Leelanau. Trained and certified contractors will weatherize eligible homes against heat loss. Leelanau Energy also partnered with Cherryland Electric Cooperative to lease 10 solar panels on the Cherryland Community Solar array for each of the  households. The value of the energy generated by their solar panels will then be directly applied to further reduce the utility bill of the household. 

The entire package is funded through the ARPA funds; the approved $60,000 will allow up to ten Leelanau Township households to participate in the program. DeFors notes, “They save money by using less energy, then the cost of their remaining energy is reduced by the value of the electricity generated from their solar panels.” He says that the project is a win-win for the community, too. “We assist and help to stabilize ten economically challenged households — a goal shared throughout the community — while also furthering the advance of energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy.”

Those wishing to learn more about eligibility for the weatherization program should contact Tish Stave at tstave@nmcaa.net or call 231-346-2185. Those wishing to know more about the Community Solar portion should contact Rachael Johnson at rjohnson@cherrylandelectric.coop or 231-486-9275.