A woke utility has offered to cease its use of coal in Michigan by 2025. This is despite Michigan’s abundance of energy resources including nuclear and natural gas.
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a deal between the state of Michigan and Consumers Energy Company. The company claims that it supplies natural gas and electricity for 6.6 million Michigan residents.
According to the website, it was “leading the clean-energy transformation:
This is our generation’s chance to lead this transformation. We are proud of our commitment to provide industry-leading zero-coal and net-zero-carbon renewable energy for customers and the planet. This important work is possible only if we are innovative and able to partner with you. This is our moment of glory. The best part? It’s our job to make it happen for our customers, the state, and the planet.
Attorney General Dana Nessel reached a settlement with Consumers Energy Company in order to stop its use of coal by 2025, 15 years earlier than originally planned.
Consumers Energy has proposed a settlement in its integrated resource planning case (Case No. U-21090, which requires final approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Consumers Energy submitted its June 2021 resource plan, which proposed closing all remaining coal plants in the state. In 2019, a plan was approved that included the study of closing two of Consumers’ remaining coal plants.
The settlement agreement allows for the construction of nearly 8,000 more megawatts of solar power by 2040. Consumers Energy plans to generate 90% of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2040.
Consumers Energy also donated $5 million to a fund to assist low-income utility ratepayers.
Nessel stated that the settlement was a win for the environment and a win also for Michigan ratepayers, who have struggled with their bills. “This agreement was truly collaborative and represents what can be achieved when stakeholders work together to make positive changes.”
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, Michigan has a lot of energy resources. After natural gas and nuclear energy, coal is the best source of energy for residents.
Only 11 percent of the state’s electricity comes from renewable sources.
The EIA’s Michigan website has a section called “Fast Facts”.
Michigan boasts 44 natural gas storage facilities with nearly 1.1 trillion cubic yards of underground storage capacity. This is more than any other state, and almost one-eighth the country’s total gas storage capacity.
Natural gas was the source of Michigan’s largest electricity generation in 2020. It surpassed coal which dropped to third place after nuclear power. 33% of state’s net generation was generated by natural gas, with coal at 27%.
In 2020, Michigan’s electricity net generated was about 11%. Wind energy provided three-fifths. Michigan is ranked among the top 15 states for wind-powered electricity generation.
Michigan was one of the top five states for residential sector petroleum consumption in 2019 and also had the highest residential sector propane consumption in the country.
The largest Michigan hydroelectric facility is located on Michigan’s Lower Peninsula shores at the Ludington Pumped-storage Plant. It is the largest pumped storage power plant in the world, with a generating capacity greater than 2,000 megawatts.
According to a website that aggregates weather data across the country, roughly half of Michigan’s year skies are cloudy or partially cloudy.
