I&M looking to use more renewable energy sources - News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
I&M looking to use more renewable energy sources | News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
Indiana Michigan Power has filed a new generation resource plan with the Michigan Public Service Commission outlining how it intends to meet the electricity demands of its customers in the coming years.
I&M spokesperson Kara Stevenson tells us the company continues moving toward its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2045. To do so, it will rely on multiple sources of power.
“With these generation sources, the biggest focus for us is offering the affordability, but also making sure that we’re targeting reliability, sustainability, and resource diversification,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson says the plan maintains the Cook nuclear power plant as the anchor of I&M’s output, but expands capacity by adding new solar, wind, and natural gas generation.
“The two solar plants, the wind, and the natural gas are purchasing agreements, meaning I&M will not own and operate any of the facilities.”
The solar, wind, and natural gas plants are all in Indiana.
If approved by the MPSC, I&M says the resources named would complement its current clean-energy generation, which includes five solar plants, wind from four plants, six hydro-electric plants, and the Cook plant. Stevenson doesn’t know the timeline for the MPSC to make a decision on I&M’s plan.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: renewables
Renewable energy sources — once the fuel of the future, then practical in specific, narrow applications — are increasingly economic mainstream sources of power generation. Hydropower was long the mainstay of U.S. renewable electricity generation, although wind power surpassed hydro for the first time in 2019, and solar continues its rapid growth. The continued growth of wind and solar, with their fluctuations, is tied in part to improvements in storage technology: batteries.