Ann Arbor's biggest city-owned solar installation is now generating electricity at Steere Farm Wells on the south side, powering the water pumps that push drinking water uphill to the city's treatment plant.
The 480-kilowatt array near the Ann Arbor Municipal Airport received final inspector approval to activate Thursday, Aug. 13, according to WEMU. The system is projected to generate more than 900,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.
Steere Farm is one of the city's top-10 electricity users because of the energy required to move water uphill to the Water Treatment Facility at Waterhill, according to a city press release dated June 25.
"Our water system is really where a lot of our electricity use comes from," said Simi Barr, senior analyst for municipal operations at the city's Office of Sustainability and Innovations. "Because that uses so much electricity, we were able to size that system a lot larger than we would be at a site like a park."
The savings won't sit idle. Barr said energy cost reductions from the array will be redirected toward additional projects that reduce the city's carbon footprint.
How the project came together
The Office of Sustainability and Innovations led and funded the installation in collaboration with Ann Arbor Water and the city's Information Technology department, along with external consultants and contractors. The city announced the project June 25, but final inspector sign-off to begin generating power came Aug. 13.
The array is part of Ann Arbor's A2ZERO plan, which targets community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030. According to the city's Year 6 annual report, covering June 2025 through May 2026, more than 75% of electricity powering city facilities now comes from renewable sources. The city has installed 16.44 megawatts of solar toward a goal of 78 megawatts of new local renewable generation, about 21% of the target.
Community-wide, total greenhouse gas emissions declined 15% between 2019 and 2024, according to the Ann Arbor Observer. But over two-thirds of DTE's fuel used to supply electricity in Ann Arbor still came from coal or fossil fuels as of 2025, underscoring why city-owned solar matters for the A2ZERO timeline.
What's next
The city plans at least three more solar arrays in 2026, further electrification of its vehicle fleet and the opening of Ann Arbor's first net-zero fire station, according to the press release. In 2025, solar arrays went online at two other city facilities, solar carports were installed at Veterans Memorial Park, an electric patrol vehicle joined the police department fleet and four all-electric refuse trucks began collection.
The city has not announced a specific opening date for the net-zero fire station.
