Displaying items tagged: energy

An electric grid engineering and energy storage expert will fill a new vacancy on the Michigan Public Service Commission.

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.

Like many utilities, Consumers Energy is at the beginning of a decades-long transition that will fundamentally change the way electricity is generated. Utilities are gradually replacing large, centralized coal plants with more distributed resources like wind and solar along with battery storage. Consumers announced in February a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Its broader long-term Clean Energy Plan was announced in 2019 under former CEO Patti Poppe, who this month started a new job leading California’s largest utility, PG&E. The reins have been passed to new President and CEO Garrick Rochow, who’s been with the Jackson-based utility for 16 years, most recently as senior vice president of operations.

State officials have announced a second round of grant funding totaling nearly $450,000 to support 18 new electric vehicle fast-charging stations along a coordinated network across Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is preparing to appoint her third member to the Michigan Public Service Commission in less than two years as another vacancy is expected by the end of the month.

JACKSON — Consumers Energy has agreed to expand a solar energy program that advocates say is crucial to continue the sector’s growth in Michigan.

In a move sought for years by environmental advocates, tribes, and hospitality and tourism businesses, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this month notified Enbridge Inc. that it would no longer have the state’s permission to operate the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.

Megan Sall Rydecki comes to Consumers Energy amid major short- and long-term changes at the state’s largest energy provider. Not only is the company in the early stages of a sweeping 20-year transition to clean energy, but its charismatic leader, President and CEO Patti Poppe, last week announced a new job leading California’s largest utility, PG&E Corp., effective Dec. 1.

The state is moving to terminate an agreement that has allowed the Line 5 pipeline to operate in the Straits of Mackinac for the past 67 years, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a bombshell environmental announcement Friday.

A key program that has incentivized small-scale solar projects in recent years is nearing its cap in two utility service territories.

On Sept. 23, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a target for Michigan to be carbon neutral by 2050. While that’s certainly a lofty goal, questions remain over what hitting the target will actually mean in practice. Over the next year, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) will submit a MI Healthy Climate Plan to Whitmer that essentially acts as a roadmap. It will begin to detail ways the state and private sector — including utilities and industrial and commercial entities — can start chipping away at the carbon reduction goal while also outlining strategies for offsetting carbon emissions. Whitmer’s announcement made Michigan the fifth state with a long-term carbon neutral target, and the first in the Midwest. EGLE Director Liesl Clark recently spoke with MiBiz to discuss the climate goal and the pandemic’s effect on the clean energy sector.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer aims to create more clean energy jobs in the state by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and becoming carbon neutral within 30 years.

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.

Consumers Energy is hosting a series of virtual public forums over the next several months to gather public input on the next phase of its long-term clean energy plan.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has awarded nearly $1.7 million to help public and private entities install 36 electric vehicle fast-charging stations across the state.

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 Southwest Michigan poultry farm recently completed a $650,000 solar energy project to offset the facility’s power usage throughout the year.

GRAND RAPIDS — Since the late 1800s, downtown Grand Rapids has been equipped with a network of pipes that heat buildings with steam generated from a series of boilers across from Van Andel Arena.

For nearly five years, the U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan has helped Grand Rapids property owners reduce their energy usage and hosts an annual competition celebrating the “biggest losers” statewide.

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.

Michigan lost another 1,000 clean energy jobs last month, bringing the state’s total losses to 31,000 in the sector since the coronavirus pandemic spread in mid-March, according to an analysis of federal labor statistics.

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.

Utilities regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission will extend shutoff protections and flexible payment options for vulnerable customers through June 12, state officials announced today.

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.

HOLLAND — Jolt Energy Storage Technologies LLC has received $250,000 to further advance its utility-scale energy storage solutions.

Michigan lost nearly one-quarter of its clean energy workforce because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the 30,151 job losses since the outbreak began ranks the state third nationally, according to a new report.

A trade group for advanced energy companies has released a series of policy recommendations for state officials to resolve short-term job losses and allow the industry to be a “pillar of the economic recovery to come.”

COPEMISH — On the afternoon of May 4, three days before an executive order by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allowed construction to resume statewide, Allan O’Shea was “ready to go to the party.”

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.