Consumers Energy To Reach 6.2 Percent Renewable Power After Deal With Four New Michigan Projects

With Michigan law requiring that 10 percent of its energy supply come from renewable sources by 2015, Consumers Energy has announced its supply will reach 6.2 percent after it purchases electricity from four new renewable energy projects.

Consumers Energy, which supplies power to more than 6 million of Michigan’s 10 million residents, has reached power purchase agreements with independent developers for more than 240 megawatts of new Michigan-based renewable energy capacity. It’s part of the utility’s “Balanced Energy Initiative,” a 20-year plan to create a mix of power sources that includes renewable energy.

The projects included in the deal are:

  • John Deere Wind Energy, based in Johnston, IA, will develop its Michigan Wind 2 farm in Sanilac County, MI, to provide 90 megawatts beginning in 2012.
  • John Deere Wind Energy will develop its Harvest II Windfarm project in Huron County, MI, to provide 59.4 megawatts beginning in late 2012.
  • John Deere Wind Energy and Great Lakes Wind will develop their Blissfield Wind Energy project in Lenawee County to provide 81 megawatts of renewable energy beginning in late 2012.
  • Waste Management Renewable Energy, based in Houston, will develop an additional landfill gas electric generation facility at its Pine Tree Acres landfill in Lenox Township, MI, to provide 12.8 megawatts beginning in 2012.

Late last month, Consumers Energy deferred building a new “clean coal” plant in Michigan, citing an expected Midwest electric surplus due to the recession.

Author: Howard Lovy

Howard Lovy is a veteran journalist who has focused primarily on technology, science and innovation during the past decade. In 2001, he helped launch Small Times Magazine, a nanotech publication based in Ann Arbor, MI, where he built the freelance team and worked closely with writers to set the tone and style for an emerging sector that had never before been covered from a business perspective. Lovy's work at Small Times, and on one of the first nanotechnology-themed blogs, helped him earn a reputation for making complex subjects understandable, interesting, and even entertaining for a broad audience. It also earned him the 2004 Prize in Communication from the Foresight Institute, a nanotech think tank. In his freelance work, Lovy covers nanotechnology in addition to technological innovation in Michigan with an emphasis on efforts to survive and retool in the state's post-automotive age. Lovy's work has appeared in many publications, including Wired News, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, The Scientist, the Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report, Michigan Messenger, and the Ann Arbor Chronicle.