Displaying items by tag: DTE Energy

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.

DETROIT — DTE Energy is planning to scale up its voluntary renewable energy program because of growing demand from businesses and residents seeking to offset their electricity usage with clean energy sources.

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.

The first managing director of a venture capital fund that plans to invest in businesses owned by people of color sees an opportunity to pioneer an initiative for greater economic diversity in West Michigan.

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.

The philanthropic arm of Detroit-based utility DTE Energy has awarded more than $350,000 in grants to West Michigan nonprofits to support job readiness, food and education programs.

Statewide legislation introduced this month hopes to resolve a years-long dispute between power providers and local governments over the taxable value of wind turbines and how much revenue is directed to local taxing units.

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.

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.

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 — The West Michigan venture capital fund that intends to invest in growing, minority-owned businesses has garnered attention from interested parties who want to replicate the model elsewhere in the U.S.

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.

GRAND RAPIDS — The venture capital fund formed a year ago in Grand Rapids to invest in minority-owned businesses has netted $8.5 million in commitments from investors and aims to hit $10 million this year.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order in late September creating a long-term climate change plan calling for the state to be carbon neutral by 2050.

After hospitalizations statewide doubled in just two weeks, health care executives across Michigan are emphasizing the need for people to follow public health guidelines to get the spread of the coronavirus back under control.

Michigan’s two major investor-owned utilities are joining other large Midwest power companies in pledging to build out an interstate charging network to support more widespread electric vehicle adoption.

DTE Energy plans to significantly expand its solar energy portfolio in the next two years to support growing corporate demand for renewable energy contracts.

The Grand Rapids City Commission is considering a $250,000 contribution to an emergency pandemic relief fund for undocumented immigrants and mixed status families who reside in the city and need housing assistance.

Four electric vehicle fast-charging stations are now operating along major highway corridors in the Lower Peninsula as part of the state’s and major utilities’ efforts to build supportive infrastructure allowing for EV growth.

A coalition of business and health care leaders across the state today warned Michigan is at a “dangerous tipping point” in the COVID-19 pandemic and “at risk of losing ground it has sacrificed for months to gain.” The group cited increases in new daily cases in the last month after two months of steady decline. They include a record 610 new cases Wednesday, and more than 1,400 between July 2 and 4.

DTE Energy’s natural gas subsidiary has pledged to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through a series of actions involving suppliers, customers and its own infrastructure, aligning with long-term goals for the utility’s electricity operations.

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. 

Michigan’s two largest utilities have operated coal plants uneconomically in recent years, costing customers tens of millions of dollars when cheaper and cleaner resources are available, according to a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

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.

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.