Renewables Ready Communities Award

The Renewables Ready Communities Award (RRCA) is designed to reward municipal renewable energy adopters in the state. The program provides local units of government $2,500-$5,000 per megawatt of large-scale solar, storage, or wind that they permitted for, or will host.

To be eligible, an applicant must be a municipality which hosts or permitted for any portion of an eligible project. An eligible project is a grid-connected wind, solar, or energy storage project in Michigan which received a land use permit or approved site use plan on or after October 1, 2023. All projects must be at least 50 MW, unless any wind energy is involved, in which case a project must be at least 100 MW. All capacity values refer to nameplate capacity in alternating current.

The initial $30,000,000 allocation made in 2023 has been fully applied for and is currently closed. However, EGLE received additional funding through the Environmental Protection Agency for a second round expected to launch in early 2026. In the meantime, an RRCA Waitlist is open for eligible local governments to submit their interest for the pending refresh. EGLE will reach out to applicants on this waitlist if funding becomes available to submit a full application.