Consumers Energy’s power plan could become clean energy model for other IOUs
A widely supported proposed settlement agreement reached between the Michigan Attorney General and Consumers Energy on the investor-owned utility’s 15-year power plan is slated for action on Thursday by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC).
Known as an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Consumers Energy is required by law to file its plan no later than June 30.
“If approved, this historic settlement agreement would make Consumers Energy one of the country’s leading clean energy utility companies,” said Mike Berkowitz, Michigan Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. “Other IOUs should take note that you truly can reduce pollution while saving ratepayers money by transitioning to clean, renewable energy solutions instead of fossil fuels.”
IOUs should also recognize there is a deep bench of organizations, businesses and elected officials who care about their IRPs, Berkowitz told Daily Energy Insider. “And if they file underwhelming plans, they’ll be met with organized resistance,” he said. “We encourage robust stakeholder processes preceding any IRP modeling or planning, especially with frontline community groups and those disproportionately impacted by fossil fuel pollution.”
The proposed settlement reached between the AG and Jackson, Mich.-based Consumers Energy, which provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of Michigan’s 10 million residents, would create more savings over the utility’s original proposal and result in Consumers ending its use of coal by 2025 — 15 years earlier than planned, according to state AG Dana Nessel.
“Not only is this settlement a win for our environment, it’s also a win for Michigan ratepayers who have struggled to stay current on their bills,” Nessel said in April after reaching the settlement with Consumers. “This agreement was truly a collaborative effort from all involved parties and a symbol of what we can achieve when stakeholders work together to create positive change.”
Consumers Energy was met with a tremendous amount of advocacy work that went into making the proposed settlement happen, according to Berkowitz.
For example, his group helped launch a public campaign with a broad and diverse group of 75 organizations, businesses, elected officials, and volunteer leaders calling on Consumers Energy to spend the next 15 years helping them build a clean energy future for Michigan instead of investing in more dirty fossil fuels.
The coalition also sent a letter last summer challenging the utility to become one of the cleanest in the Midwest, and organized more than 55 signers in requesting that the MPSC hold public hearings. “We promptly dominated the participation of those hearings, with literally only one public commenter not aligned with our coalition,” Berkowitz said.
Additionally, educational resources were created for Sierra Club members, allies and the public about Consumers’ IRP and how to engage, and the advocates released talking points, social media language, pre-written emails, and graphics to make it easy for coalition members to participate, he said.
Other advocacy efforts included successfully getting the Traverse City (Mich.) Light and Power Department Board to pass a resolution requesting that Consumers Energy speed up the retirement of its J.H. Campbell coal plant, from which the city department has purchased generation since 1980. The proposed settlement would secure 2025 as the plant’s retirement date.
Clean energy advocates also delivered 2,500 petitions to Consumers Energy’s Grand Rapids, Mich., office, with more than 4,000 public comments submitted into the docket, said Berkowitz, who noted that 50 elected officials also signed a letter sent to the MPSC, ranging from state level to local, county commission, city council, and utility board members across Michigan.
Berkowitz also pointed out that advocates not only called on Consumers Energy to shut down its coal plant, but also that the utility not acquire three fossil gas plants and instead replace a majority of that capacity with renewables and battery storage. These moves, said Berkowitz, would save ratepayers hundreds of millions. The utility also would be required to provide more than $30 million in shareholder funds — not ratepayer funds — for low-income bill assistance, he said.
The MPSC should approve the settlement, he added, so that Consumers can get to work moving beyond coal by 2025, planning for worker transitions, and building out clean energy.
“This is a groundbreaking agreement that ensures Consumers Energy is meeting the urgency demanded by the climate crisis while creating homegrown green jobs,” said Berkowitz. “West Michiganders will be able to breathe easier knowing the J.H. Campbell coal plant will soon stop polluting their air, as well as Pigeon Lake, a tributary to Lake Michigan.”
And if the settlement is approved, “we’ll be organizing to ensure Consumers Energy meets their commitment to retire the J.H. Campbell plant by 2025 and secure a just transition for the plant’s workers and surrounding communities,” he added.
On another note, Berkowitz said that if the MPSC approves the settlement, then Detroit-based DTE Energy will be the only major Michigan utility that hasn’t yet moved beyond coal. “They intend to file an IRP in October, and I anticipate that being the next major inflection point for energy policy in Michigan,” he said.
