Gratiot Farms Wind Project brings 150 MW of wind power to Consumers customers

Published on January 13, 2021 by Chris Galford


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A new wind farm, the Gratiot Farms Wind Project, came online in Michigan last month, bringing 150 MW of renewable energy to Consumers Energy, or enough to power another 58,000 residents.

With this addition, which was acquired from Enel Green Power America, Consumers produces enough power from three wind facilities to power more than 185,000 homes. Gratiot cost $260 million and joins Lake Winds Energy Park in Mason County and Cross Winds Energy Park in Tuscola County.

“We are excited to have completed construction and bring Gratiot Farms online to serve customers,” Dennis Dobbs, vice president of enterprise project management, engineering, and services for Consumers Energy, said. “Each kilowatt we generate from renewable sources such as the wind gets us closer to our Clean Energy Plan goal of a net-zero carbon energy future. We are committed to be good neighbors in Gratiot County, where our project is providing substantial local tax revenue and well-paying jobs.”

The new wind farm brings Consumers one step closer to realizing its Clean Energy Plan, which calls for eliminating coal as an energy source, reaching net-zero carbon emissions, and providing 90 percent of customers’ energy needs through clean energy sources. For the construction of the project, which Consumers took responsibility for in September 2019, Michigan’s largest energy provider brought in approximately 250 workers and will keep 10 full-time employees at a separate electric generation facility to be completed in Middleton, Mich., by late February.