DTE Energy to cease coal usage at Belle River Power Plant by 2028

DTE Energy announced this week that it will cease all coal usage at its Belle River Power Plant in St. Clair County, Michigan by December 2028, effectively moving the schedule up two years and achieving a goal of 50 percent carbon emissions reduction earlier than planned. 

Originally, DTE had intended to end coal usage at the plant in 2030, to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Steam Electric Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) rule. Already, DTE has retired four of its other coal-fired facilities. Four remain, but two of these — St. Clair and Trenton Channel — will retire next year, as the company pushes into cleaner energy alternatives.

The end result of all this? DTE intends to accelerate filing of its updated Integrated Resource Plan, or Clean Vision Plan, to a year earlier than initially planned — in fall 2022.

“A key part of DTE’s Clean Vision Plan involves the sequential retirement of our coal plants,” Jerry Norcia, CEO of DTE Energy, said. “By making this important generation decision now, DTE continues to be proactive in improving our reliability, addressing the expanding needs of our customers and accelerating our journey to cleaner energy generation that is affordable for the customers and communities we serve.”

This plan will provide an assessment of the current and future energy needs of DTE’s customers, as well as the company’s plans to address them. Among these considerations will be conversion of the Belle River Power Plant to cleaner resources, although that evaluation will not be assessed until future regulatory filings are made.