An accountant, attorney, school teacher, and research scientist walk into a Northport conference room. No, this is not the beginning to a funny anecdote. These individuals and over 40 others gather once a month for one purpose: to advocate for a Leelanau County that is 100 percent powered by efficient and sustainable energy sources.

Founded in 2008, Northport Energy is a group of volunteers from the village of Northport and surrounding areas that have devoted their time to learning, educating, and advocating for renewable energy and energy conservation in their community. “We are a diverse group of people that are really motivated to do something,” said Doug McInnis, board president of Northport Energy. “That’s the key.”

Northport Energy’s journey began how every green energy organization’s journey should begin: with a hike. Climbing to the top of a hill near the Northport Wastewater Treatment Plant, Northport Energy Board Member Phil Von Voigtlander saw an opportunity for their first renewable energy project.

“I stood on that hill and thought, ‘There are power lines coming in to run this wastewater treatment plant. I’m standing on top of this hill, and the wind’s blowing,’” explained Von Voigtlander. “This was a ‘duh’ moment.”

One proposal and a group of investors later, the Northport Wastewater Treatment Plant is being partially powered by a wind turbine and Northport Energy took off running.

In their 10-year existence, Northport Energy has focused on two areas of interest. The first is encouraging more renewable generation projects in their area, like that first wind turbine. “We’ve been involved with four to five different solar projects in the last few years, including the Northport Creek Golf Course: the first net-zero course in Michigan,” explained member Dick Lang. “What we do is help get the projects started and promote them.”

While they are not installing solar panels and wind turbines themselves, Northport Energy is laying the groundwork for these projects to take shape. For instance, Northport Energy has worked with local governmental units to develop language in zoning ordinances that would better prepare communities for interest in home renewable generation. “If you’ve got it on the books upfront, then it makes the whole process easier,” said McInnis.

The second area of interest is educating their community about energy efficiency, or “low hanging fruit” as they call it. The group offers free home energy audits from trained volunteers and encourages homeowners to install energy-saving measures, such as replacing light bulbs and installing insulation. They’ve received grant money in the past to provide these measures to low-income households.

“We have been learning about performing home energy audits along the way and with help from Northport Energy members working in home construction,” said McInnis. “It’s amazing all the information that is out there!”

In recent years, Northport Energy has widened its scope to include advocating for clean transportation technology. In 2017, Northport Energy partnered with the Village of Northport to install public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations—the only EV charging stations in the northern end of Leelanau County.

The Village offers three charging stations: two designed to charge Tesla vehicles and one designed for all other EVs. “As an organization, we reached out to Tesla and they were very happy to install chargers gratis,” said Von Voigtlander. “It was a great cooperative effort among Tesla, the Village, and Northport Energy.”

As an added bonus, drivers can charge their EVs on Northport Energy’s dime. “We have promised to pay the bill, though we haven’t received one yet,” chuckled McInnis.

While they’ve set the bar high, Northport Energy has taken important and diverse steps towards achieving an efficient and clean Leelanau County. “When we started out, we had little knowledge about this,” said McInnis. “We had to discover, work, and explore the different ways to approaching renewable energy and energy conservation. Now we are on our way.”