If you live in Michigan, especially near Detroit, you’ve probably taken the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel – or at least heard of it. The tunnel connects Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario and is the only existing underwater tunnel for automobiles that crosses international borders. First opened to traffic in 1930, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel has been recognized as one of the great engineering wonders of the world.
Today, the tunnel announced its enrollment in DTE’s MIGreenPower program, one of the top three voluntary renewable energy programs in the United States. Program participants can attribute more of their energy use to DTE’s wind and solar parks, reducing their carbon footprint and helping create a cleaner future for all Michiganders. The tunnel has enrolled at 10% with a goal of escalating its enrollment to 100% by 2030.
The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is part of American Roads, a company that owns and operates transportation infrastructure throughout North America. Most of American Roads’ electricity use comes from DTE at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, so enrolling this location in MIGreenPower was an easy choice.
“The tunnel’s MIGreenPower enrollment was partially driven by the Net Zero goal of our parent company, DIF Capital Partners, as well as our own internal motivation,” said Kyle Krukowski, Director of Internal Audit and Financial Planning, American Roads. “We’ve taken it upon ourselves to determine the best approach for reducing our carbon footprint and greenifying anywhere we can.”
In 2020, American Roads launched an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiative to become a more sustainably responsible steward of its assets. As part of that initiative, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel implemented a recycling program as well as employee and customer education programs around best practices for reducing, reusing and recycling.
“All of American Roads, including our team at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, is highly dedicated to our new ESG initiatives,” said Krukowski. “We’re proud of the recent sustainability initiatives we’ve completed, and excited for others that are in progress. We’re ahead of the industry in terms of reducing our carbon footprint and being an environmentally friendly company, and MIGreenPower is a significant part of that.”