In 2011, DTE Energy Company removed 1,200 streetlights from the city of Highland Park, Michigan. A Black working-class suburb of Detroit that was once a boom town for the automotive industry, Highland Park was on the verge of bankruptcy. Unable to pay DTE the $4 million it was owed, the city went dark.
The streetlights were removed as part of an agreement between DTE and city leaders to pay the debt. Literally without light, residents were left to find a solution. In the weeks and months following the decision, Soulardarity, a local organization that promotes “people-powered clean energy,” stepped up. The answer:
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