Displaying items by tag: Consumers Energy

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 15 bars workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and also highlights additional work that needs to be done in Michigan. 

MUSKEGON — The former B.C. Cobb coal plant on Muskegon Lake is anticipated to be “one of the top marine port terminals” on the Great Lakes after officials announced today the site’s remediation and sale to a new owner.

GRAND RAPIDS — BarFly Ventures LLC, the parent company of the HopCat chain of beer bars, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. 

Shareholders of Michigan’s two major investor-owned utilities have recently rejected calls for more transparency on the companies’ contributions to tax-exempt nonprofit advocacy groups.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for May 27, 2020.

Michigan needs a swift build-out of renewable energy and, in the longer term, more transmission projects to account for the energy shortfall that will grow as more coal and nuclear plants are retired.

Michigan solar energy installers have been gearing up over the past week to return to work today following an executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that opens construction, real estate and some manufacturing sectors.

The coronavirus has wiped out recent statewide clean energy job gains as Michigan companies take a patchwork approach to continuing work during the pandemic.

A wave of independently owned solar projects planned in Michigan is driven largely by contracts with Consumers Energy, which has long-term plans to significantly boost its solar portfolio.

Four Michigan small cities rank among the top 10 of their peers nationally for energy efficiency based on the number of buildings saving electricity, costs and greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week.

As a global pandemic began to hit West Michigan, executives around the region stepped up to lead their organizations and their employees through the time of crisis. 

Michigan’s two major investor-owned utilities are taking divergent paths when it comes to building new energy projects as the state escalates actions to contain the coronavirus.

Consumers Energy President and CEO Patti Poppe announced this morning she and her husband have made a $1 million personal donation to a new fund supporting small businesses in Jackson, where the utility is headquartered.

Jackson-based Consumers Energy says it will suspend shutoffs for non-pay for seniors and low-income customers starting today until April 5, citing “unprecedented circumstances” surrounding the spread of coronavirus.

Developers are finalizing the decommissioning of the former B.C. Cobb coal plant in Muskegon as the 115-acre site assumes new ownership and a sole focus as a port terminal facility.

Michigan’s two major investor-owned utilities remain opposed to a series of bills that supporters say are needed to grow the state’s nascent solar industry.

The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved plans to expand energy efficiency programs for low-income customers of the state’s two major utilities.

Consumers Energy has upped the ante on its own long-term clean energy plan, announcing in late February it expects to hit net-zero carbon emissions for its electricity portfolio by 2040 as part of its climate change efforts.

GRAND HAVEN — The J.B. Sims power plant in Grand Haven burned its last supply of coal this month, but local officials are still debating plans for the city’s long-term energy portfolio.

After plans for a wind energy project north of Grand Rapids fell apart late last year, a separate developer is looking to use hundreds of acres of rural land in Montcalm County for solar.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Right Place Inc.’s new venture capital fund plans to target investments toward an area of the economy where capital historically has flowed the least: startups and businesses owned by racial and ethnic minorities.

Ric Evans has yet to find the electric stove he wants to install in his rural Northern Michigan home, but everything else inside is powered by electricity, including the water heater and an air source heat pump.

GRAND RAPIDS — The 308 solar panels installed atop St. James Apartments and Townhomes will help reduce electricity costs included in the rents for residents in the project’s 36 affordable housing units. 

The beginnings of a large-scale solar power build-out, bolstering electric vehicle infrastructure and preparing a power grid of the future are among Michigan’s top energy-related trends expected in 2020.

Michigan ranks among the top Midwestern states for clean energy jobs, but environmental advocates say further policy changes are needed to push the state from “good” to “great.”

Clean energy advocates praised a Thursday announcement by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer highlighting the need to modernize the state’s power grid as it shifts from coal-fired power. 

The polar vortex early this year strained Michigan’s energy supply as the state experiences an “unprecedented shift” in the way it produces power and relies more heavily on natural gas and renewables, according to state regulators.

A settlement agreement approved in September between Consumers Energy and multiple solar energy developers triggers a large-scale buildout across the Lower Peninsula, but also marks a shift in the way the utility will contract for solar power in the future.

HOLLAND — A financing program in Holland that helps residents pay for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades remains one of the only such programs in Michigan, and could be a model for more to come. 

Consumers Energy announced plans Thursday to purchase a majority of the output from a large-scale solar project in Calhoun County, among the first deals under the utility’s shift to renewable energy.