Michigan Commission Approves Consumers Energy’s Plan to Phase Out Coal-Fired Generation by 2025

The Michigan Public Service Commission on June 23 approved a settlement agreement that allows Consumers Energy Co. to exit coal-fired generation by 2025 and add 8 gigawatts of solar energy to the grid. The settlement pertains to the company’s integrated resource plan, or IRP, which identifies the optimal mix of resources to serve customers over a 20-year planning horizon.

Approval of the settlement agreement allows the company to close all three of its J.H. Campbell coal plant units in 2025. The plan would make Consumers the first utility to go coal-free by 2025 by replacing coal with cleaner natural gas and renewable energy resources, according to a press release from the company. Under the plan, Consumers will purchase a natural gas-fired power plant, the Covert Generating Station, worth $815 million in Van Buren County’s Covert Township in the next three years. Under the agreement, the deployment of energy storage resources will advance from 2030 to 2024. This will create a storage capacity of 75 megawatts by 2027 and 550 megawatts by 2040.

The company expects the plan to result in:

• More than 90 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2040
• 5 gigawatts of additional renewable energy capacity by 2030
• Coal retirements, which ensure that the company will transition to renewable energy sources by 2040

Consumers Energy, a key subsidiary of CMS Energy, is one of the largest energy providers in Michigan. The company provides electricity to around 67 percent of the residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

The Settlement Agreement has been executed by Consumers Energy Company, the Michigan Public Service Commission Staff, Michigan Environmental Council, Institute for Energy Innovation, Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC, the Sierra Club, Hemlock Semiconductor Operations, Attorney General Dana Nessel, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Union of Concerned Scientists, Vote Solar, Ecology Center, Urban Core Collective, Citizens Utility Board of Michigan, Clean Grid Alliance, and Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association.

Initial comments on the commission’s order are due on Aug. 1.