SPI Insights

Washington, D.C. – Twenty-two U.S. communities will receive assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop local action plans that will help them take direct control of their clean energy futures.

The DOE will work with these overburdened areas through the Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) to create plans that reduce local air pollution, increase energy resilience, lower utility costs, and address energy challenges.

These communities will develop roadmaps for clean energy economic development pathways with assistance from DOE and its network of technical assistance providers, government and non-governmental partners, community-based organizations, utilities as well as environmental justice, economic development, and equitable investment organizations.

One of the communities is Highland Park, Michigan, a historic city of 3 square miles surrounded by Detroit. The community is in an energy crisis; roughly two-thirds of residents live without streetlights. While the city has continued to seek funding to get the lights replaced, a local community action group installed 17 solar streetlights to mitigate the loss of units and to restore the necessary street lighting.

The majority of those solar units were placed in two local residential communities, Avalon and Parker Villages, home to Highland Parker-led sustainable community developments. The multi-stakeholder team — with engagement from Highland Park residents and city government — will partner with DOE to pursue a path toward 100 percent local, clean, renewable energy.