Consumers Energy completes installation of five units for natural gas Freedom Compressor Station overhaul

In time to address Michigan’s winter heating needs, Consumers Energy announced this week that it finished a critical piece of a $260 million revamp to its Freedom Compressor Station in Washtenaw County, installing five new natural gas compressor units.

“The upgrades at Freedom Compressor Station are a win for our customers, the communities we serve, and the planet,” said Dennis Dobbs, Consumers Energy’s vice president of gas engineering and supply. “Since 2018, we’ve invested about $1 billion annually to modernize our system — a commitment we plan to continue in the coming decade. We are committed to creating a cleaner and more resilient natural gas future for Michigan.”

Part of a larger 10-year, $11 billion Natural Gas Delivery Plan at Consumers, the upgrade was meant to enhance the transport of natural gas to customers and storage fields in the region. V-12 engines replaced 13 sets of equipment dating back to the 1940s, and while those devices have not yet been removed, they have been retired. The old will be extricated entirely next year, but even now, the new devices will allow Consumers to more readily adjust gas flow, maintain monitoring, and more efficiently reduce air emissions from the system.

“We provide natural gas to more than 4 million people in 45 counties, and we’re working to shield those customers from price volatility,” Dobbs said. “Our vast storage system allows us to buy large amounts of natural gas when it’s cheapest and pass those savings along to customers during the winter when demand is highest. Freedom Compressor Station and our compression fleet are an invaluable component of that equation.”

Freedom station takes in natural gas to push into a network of around 30,000 miles of pipeline. Consumers also oversees a massive underground storage system of 15 fields and nearly 1,000 wells.