Electric vehicles are on their way, and Michigan will be ready. Clean Energy Coalition is working under a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and collaborating with Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities, NextEnergy, and more than 30 other partners comprised of municipalities, industry leaders, and agencies to develop a statewide electric vehicle preparedness plan.
The development of the Plug-In Ready Michigan Plan launched in December and is rapidly gaining momentum. Since the beginning of the year, the project team has held four intensive working group meetings where participants tackled issues related to building codes, permitting, zoning, utilities, deployment, barriers, and forecasts. In addition, several project partners recently met with Flint-area business and municipal leaders to discuss the plan’s progress and gather feedback.
Flint is the first of several municipalities working directly with project organizers to implement the plan. Over the next month, discussions are scheduled with leaders in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Houghton, Auburn Hills (who has already taken the leap to adopt zoning ordinance language related to electric vehicles), Madison Heights, and Lansing – municipalities that have committed to support and implement the plan. At the end of March, leaders from these cities will meet in Lansing at the Michigan Municipal League to review initial results and discuss the statewide survey being sent to all of Michigan’s 1,800+ jurisdictions.
Clean Energy Coalition is working with the consulting team of OHM and Governing Dynamic to develop the online survey, which will be distributed in early March through the Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Municipal League, and Michigan Association of Counties. The survey will gauge the level of awareness and on-the-ground readiness for electric vehicle deployment.
Once the survey and municipal review are complete, Clean Energy Coalition and the consulting team will develop initial drafts of the plan. A final version of the plan is expected in July. Stay tuned in late summer for statewide release of the plan that will involve workshops to help users learn about the plan’s tools for local governments, businesses, and consumers.
Check out the Plug-In Ready Michigan page on Clean Energy Coalition’s website to learn more about this initiative and its partners. For more information, please contact CEC Project Managers Mark Rabinsky or Heather Seyfarth.
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Source: Clean Energy Coalition
