Displaying items by tag: Consumers Energy

The global energy transition that is underway to combat the worst effects of climate change can be encapsulated along roughly 125 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline.

GRAND RAPIDS — CMS Energy and Spectrum Health West Michigan are partnering on a new solar energy project that will help meet the power needs at a planned 80-bed subacute rehabilitation center on the city’s northeast side.

Michigan’s two major electric utilities that jointly own the Ludington Pumped Hydro Storage power plant along Lake Michigan claim the contractor hired for a $500 million upgrade of the facility has “delivered defective work” and is failing to meet contractual deadlines.

COVERT — The owner of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Southwest Michigan disclosed last week that 184 jobs will be eliminated soon after the plant permanently closes on May 31.

KENTWOOD — Certified B Corp and food producer The GFB: The Gluten Free Bar is now participating in a Consumers Energy program to offset its Kentwood production facility’s electricity usage entirely with renewable energy.

Here is the MiBiz People in the news report for March 14, 2022

Michigan electric vehicle registrations climbed nearly 60 percent over the past year, which comes as the state is preparing to deploy tens of millions of dollars for additional charging infrastructure.

Consumers Energy announced plans today that it will issue 200 rebates over the next two years to help offset the cost for site hosts to install electric vehicle charging stations.

JACKSON — Consumers Energy plans to provide 200 rebates for electric vehicle charging stations in its Lower Peninsula service territory over the next two years.

Roughly a week after lawmakers passed a $1 billion program to incentivize major advanced automotive projects in Michigan, state energy regulators followed suit today by approving special electricity rates to support such industrial projects.

Major investor-owned utilities Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are seeking expedited approval from state regulators to create new economic development electricity rates aimed at attracting major manufacturing projects.

Michigan’s two largest investor-owned utilities seek to play a more active role in economic development — particularly in luring advanced manufacturing facilities to the state — with plans to offer new electricity rates for large expansion projects.

Advanced automotive battery suppliers are considering a pair of West Michigan cities for new or expanded manufacturing facilities, MiBiz has learned. 

The state Legislature has been active in recent weeks on energy bills being championed by West Michigan lawmakers. 

Michigan’s two largest investor-owned utilities have launched an “education campaign” as clean energy advocates tout the potential economic benefits of community solar energy and as lawmakers consider bills on the topic that the utilities oppose.

A state lawmaker from West Michigan has introduced legislation that would give industrial electric customers an opportunity to select alternative power suppliers in what supporters say is an effort to reduce electric costs and attract investments.

Low industrial real estate vacancy rates and ongoing construction backlogs are pushing industrial projects to more rural and outlying areas.

Consumers Energy expects to start purchasing power next year from four new solar projects that will add more than 100 megawatts of renewable energy to the utility’s generation mix.

CADILLAC — Consumers Energy has unveiled a new “brownfield to brightfield” solar project that converted formerly abandoned industrial property into a clean energy power source.

Environmental and ratepayer advocates are withholding their full-throated support for Consumers Energy’s new long-term energy plan that eliminates coal usage by 2025, citing concerns over potential rate effects and the scale of ongoing fossil fuel reliance.

JACKSON — Michigan’s largest energy company announced today that it plans to phase out its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2025, which would be 15 years earlier than planned, as part of its updated long-term energy plan.

JACKSON — CMS Energy Corp. plans to sell a Utah-based bank that specializes in home improvement lending nationwide.

JACKSON — Investor-owned utility Consumers Energy has launched a new electric vehicle program that provides rebates and consultation to businesses looking to transition to electrified fleets.

Michigan’s two major investor-owned utilities want to negotiate with state legislators and advocates on a proposed bill that would expand access to the companies’ rooftop solar programs.

JACKSON — Consumers Energy plans to help ramp up the number of fast-charging electric vehicle stations across the Lower Peninsula in the coming years to ensure EV drivers can travel longer distances while maintaining access to charging equipment.

Michigan’s mandates for renewable power and energy efficiency programs — first set in 2008 and slightly increased in 2016 — are scheduled to level off this year, although it may make little difference as the clean energy transition rolls on under market forces.

The ability to store intermittent renewable energy from wind and solar and capturing methane emissions from common waste streams to displace natural gas usage are two technologies poised to play a bigger role in a lower carbon future.

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers has again proposed legislation backed by clean energy advocates to expand utility programs for customers who generate their own solar power.

GRAND RAPIDS — Six West Michigan corporations earned top scores in this year’s Corporate Equality Index rankings recently published by the Human Rights Campaign, showcasing the companies as among the best places to work for LGBTQ equality.

The corporate foundations of the state’s two major energy utilities have distributed nearly $26.5 million in direct relief funds to meet basic needs such as food, shelter and personal protective equipment since the COVID-19 pandemic began.