Renewables Ready Communities Award

The Renewables Ready Communities Award (RRCA) is a funding initiative originally launched by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in 2023 with a one-time state budget allocation of $30 million. The primary objective of the RRCA is to support local units of government that have either permitted or are hosting large-scale renewable energy projects—specifically grid-connected wind, solar, or energy storage developments within Michigan. With an emphasis on incentivizing local government cooperation in renewable energy deployment, the RRCA offers financial awards based on the megawatt capacity of permitted or hosted energy infrastructure. Eligible municipalities are those that have permitted or expect to host projects that received land use or site plan approval on or after October 1, 2023. The minimum qualifying project size is 50 megawatts for solar or storage and 100 megawatts if any portion involves wind energy. Permitting is defined as securing zoning or land use permissions, while hosting refers to the geographic containment of the energy technology within a municipality's boundaries. A municipality performing both roles—host and permitter—is eligible for $5,000 per megawatt, while performing only one role qualifies for $2,500 per megawatt. The maximum award per project is capped at $3 million. Funding is disbursed in two stages: 50% upon project construction and the remaining 50% upon the project's operational start. Awardees are obligated to notify EGLE at both of these milestones and are expected to spend the funds in alignment with their Award Use Plan. Additional reporting obligations include biannual check-in meetings and summary reports to document the use and impact of the award. Although the original $30 million allocation has been fully awarded, the State of Michigan has since been granted $129.1 million by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with $90.4 million anticipated for a second round of RRCA. This funding is pending state legislative appropriation. In the interim, EGLE has opened a waitlist for interested and eligible municipalities. The waitlist does not constitute a formal application but reserves a position for future consideration should the refresh be approved. To join the waitlist, municipalities must provide project-specific data, including the total megawatts involved, the municipality's specific role, and contact details. This is a preparatory step; EGLE will notify those on the waitlist when and if the formal application process becomes available. Interested municipalities are encouraged to review the program dashboard and resources provided by EGLE for further details. Inquiries can be directed to Ian O’Leary via email at [email protected].

Notify EGLE at both construction and operation milestones; ensure project is >50 MW (or >100 MW if wind); only one municipality per form.