Consumers Energy relocating mid-Michigan service center from capital to Windsor Township

After 60 years of operations in Lansing, Mich., Consumers Energy announced this week that it plans to relocate its mid-Michigan service center from the state capital to Windsor Township, which it hopes will make for a more accessible, responsive site.

“Relocating from our 60-year-old Lansing Service Center will benefit both customers and co-workers,” Jeff Shingler, vice president of operations support at Consumers Energy, said. “Our customers will see faster response times during electric outages and natural gas incidents, and the new facility will provide a more productive environment for our co-workers.”

This will take time, though. Building construction is not scheduled to begin until 2024 after utility improvements have been completed. At that point, it will sprawl across a 77-acre site in Dimondale, Mich., which the company stated will offer more room to expand and fewer potential safety hazards than its current location. That would also remove the need for large utility trucks to cut through neighborhood streets to access highways.

More than 200 employees will be employed at the new facility, while the old is put to commercial redevelopment. Currently, Consumers, Lansing, and Windsor Township are in joint discussions on tax revenue sharing and water service arrangements that would benefit all three.

“Consumers Energy has been an important employer on the northside of the City of Lansing for many years,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said. “I look forward to working with them to transition this area of the city, which is in one of our neighborhoods of focus, to a clean and repurposed riverfront area for a great future use. I also am happy that I could work with Windsor Township Supervisor Kern Slucter and Consumers Energy leadership to ensure that this does not negatively affect Lansing’s budget due to the tax sharing agreement we have agreed to for utility services.”

Windsor, in turn, will earn new property tax revenue from the previously vacant land.