GM, Ford to fully power Michigan facilities with local wind from DTE Energy

Dive Brief:

DTE Energy, the largest investor-owned utility in Michigan, will provide 300,000 MWh of wind energy to General Motors to fully power two facilities, according to a joint company statement last Tuesday.
The previous week, Ford Motor procured 500,000 MWh of wind to power a Michigan Assembly Plant and its Dearborn Truck Plant with 100% renewable energy. The Assembly plant already has a 500 kW solar system.
In January, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved DTE's new tariff, dubbed MIGreenPower, designed to serve large corporate and industrial customers as an expansion of DTE's voluntary renewable offerings. Ford was the first to announce its involvement with the new tariff.

Dive Insight:

Investor-owned utilities are increasing their renewable energy offerings to help customers meet their corporate sustainability goals. In Michigan, several customers want to power themselves through locally-sourced renewable energy.

DTE and Consumers Energy, the second-largest investor-owned utility in Michigan, announced last year a target of "at least 50% clean energy" by 2030. DTE proposed doubling its renewable capacity by 2022, largely by adding wind resources.

The MIGreenPower tarriff requires subscribers to commit to a percentage of in-state renewable energy from their total power usage. As the precise capacity of wind generation used by the facilities would vary, DTE could not provide a set amount of power capacity for the contracts with GM and Ford.

The 300,000 MWh of wind will be sufficient to power 100% of GM's global technical center in Warren, Michigan, and its Detroit-based operations at the Renaissance Center.

"Knowing that access to more renewable energy is important to our largest corporate and industrial customers, DTE will continue to expand MIGreenPower to help customers meet their sustainability targets," Trevor Lauer, president and COO of DTE Electric, said in the joint statement with GM.

The utility announced in 2018 the addition of two wind parks in Michigan, Pine River and Polaris, to provide 330 MW of capacity and become DTE's largest wind resources. Pine River will be commissioned this week, according to DTE spokesperson Cindy Hecht.

The utility also plans to build two wind parks for a combined 375 MW capacity in the state, to begin operation in 2021 and 2022. DTE will file its upcoming integrated resource plan at the end of March, which will include forecasts of renewable builds.