Lansing earns low score for energy-efficient economy

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A new scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy was released Tuesday and for the first time, it included Lansing in the data.

The study looked at data from 75 different cities and it was not impressed by the capital area. Lansing received one of the worst scores on the list with only 15% of the goals being met.

Researchers behind the new study say they have a lot of improvements in mind for the city. “Thinking about what to do next as a city is thinking about sort of who you are, and sort of you know what, what the context is that you’re working with and that’s one of the things that we’ve tried to address more and more in our city scorecard,” Stefen Samarripas with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said.

The council’s recommendations include improvements in community-wide initiatives, building policies, transportation policies, and government operations.

Lansing officials didn’t know about the study until 6 News contacted it Tuesday morning. The city is defending its track record during the last few years including $8 million to build E.V. charging stations.

Lansing has already pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050. Lansing has also received multiple awards for its efforts including earning a gold-certified green community from the state of Michigan.

City officials told 6 News they are excited that BWL is moving forward with several new clean energy projects.

Lansing has also received multiple awards for its efforts including earning a gold-certified green community from the state of Michigan.

City officials go on to say they are excited that BWL is moving forward with several new clean energy projects. “New wind projects, new solar projects, new battery projects and all of that is designed to meet our goals of carbon neutrality by 2040,” Anna Munie, manager of the carbon neutrality program at BWL told 6 News.

By late Tuesday afternoon, the Lansing Mayor’s office did release a statement on the study.

When Mayor Schor first took office he made sustainability a priority for Lansing. He hired a Sustainability Manager for the City and created a Sustainability Advisory Commission. They drafted the city’s Sustainability Action Plan and Climate Action Plan, which together with the scorecard can serve as guides for future progress.

This is the first year Lansing has been scored by this group and we are one of only 3 communities in the state of Michigan on this list, and one of only 75 in the country.
In the meantime, we were recently awarded over $8 million from the US Department of Transportation to build EV charging stations throughout the region. Lansing has also set an ambitious goal of reducing ghg emissions by 59% by 2030, with carbon neutrality by 2050.

We have been a gold-certified Michigan Green Community for the last couple of years and were recently designated as a SolSmart Silver community. We have also secured millions in federal Inflation Reduction Act grants for projects that will help us reach our goals.

Lansing will continue to work with our partners at the Board of Water & Light to move our region forward. We know that we can’t go back and change actions from decades ago, but we can use tools like this scorecard to plan for a better tomorrow and leave a cleaner, healthier community for future generations.

Scott Bean, Director of Communications – Senior Advisor to the Mayor

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.