Consumers Energy buys Southwest Michigan natural gas power plant for $815M - MLive.com

Consumers Energy buys Southwest Michigan natural gas power plant for $815M - mlive.com

VAN BUREN COUNTY, MI -- Consumers Energy is now operating a natural gas power plant it recently purchased for $815 million, the company said.

The Michigan utility announced the move on Thursday, June 1, for the Covert Generating Station at 26000 77th Street in Covert, which is near South Haven.

Natural gas plants are a part of the company’s strategy to become carbon neutral in its electric operations by 2040, Consumers Energy Spokesman Brian Wheeler told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.

“This, and the two other natural gas plants, they work as this important bridge as we ramp up the renewals,” Wheeler said.

Consumers is working toward “net zero,” which is when all emissions released by human activities are calculated at zero. The term can refer to counterbalancing emissions to “net-zero” by removing carbon from the atmosphere.

The 1,200-megawatt, natural gas-fired Covert plant can produce enough energy to power more than 1 million Michigan homes, Consumers said. It began operating in 2004.

The Covert plant is the 8th largest source of fossil fuel emissions in Michigan, according to federal data. It released more than 2.7 million metric tons of carbon in 2021.

Burning natural gas contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, but less so compared to coal plants.

“One rule of thumb is that a natural gas power plant produces half the emissions as coal burning ones,” Wheeler said.

Covert joins two other Consumers Energy natural gas plants in Zeeland and Jackson, along with coal, hydroelectric, pumped storage, wind and solar energy sources that also produce energy for Consumers.

Natural gas plants are a backbone to the company’s energy production, Wheeler said, because they can be run about 24/7 to light up homes and other customer power needs.

Other more renewable sources, like solar, can not produce energy constantly, Wheeler said, though the company remains committed to expanding that and other renewable options.

Buying an existing plant adds affordable, reliable power generation without creating new greenhouse gas emissions, since the facility was already operating before the purchase, the company says.

The Covert plant’s 29 workers are expected to become Consumers Energy employees as the transition proceeds, the company said.

Earlier this month, Consumers Energy offered buyouts to 4,900 of its nonunion employees.

The company recently released its energy forecast for this summer.

Consumers plans to close its final coal-burning power plants by mid-2025.

“We appreciate that our customers count on us around the clock to power their lives. By adding the Covert plant, we can keep adding wind and solar energy while ensuring we meet the day-to-day needs of our neighbors,” Sparks said.

Consumers Energy is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

The company said the purchase is an important part of its Clean Energy Plan to meet Michigan’s energy needs this summer and for years to come.

Looking beyond 2040, Consumers Energy has a more ambitious goal. The company pledged in March 2022 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s entire natural gas production and delivery system — including customers and suppliers — by 2050.

The Covert natural gas plant is about a mile from the now-closed Covert nuclear plant. Nuclear is seen as a carbon free energy source.

RELATED: Unprecedented but possible: Owner pitches restart of Palisades Nuclear Plant

The nuclear plant was closed in 2022 when its owner sold the facility to Holtec. The new owner has now twice applied for federal dollars to help get the plant running again.

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