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Consumers Energy has marked a significant milestone in its ongoing project to shape Michigan's clean energy future with the formal closure of two Karn coal plants in Michigan's Bay region. The company has one of the most aggressive clean energy and reliability plans in the country, and the decommissioning of the two facilities puts Consumers Energy one step closer to closing all its coal plants by 2025.
The closures are part of Consumers Energy's Clean Energy Plan, the company's roadmap in the shift away from coal toward renewable energy sources. The ongoing transition balances the responsibility to provide safe, reliable energy to power nearly 2 million Michigan homes and businesses with the need to protect the state's natural resources.
Consumers Energy continues to evaluate the site and is working closely with local leaders to determine next steps for the grounds. The plant property is already home to a diverse array of wildlife, including eagles, deer, and fish.
"Consumers Energy has worked for years to carry out this transition safely and efficiently, not only for our customers, but for our employees, for the land, and for the community that Karn has been a part of for years," said Tonya Berry, Consumers Energy's senior vice president of transformation and engineering. "Leadership in this transition means not doing what is easiest or cheapest, but doing what is right, and we intend to leave this space better than we found it."
Two additional generating units on the site, Karn 3 and 4, will continue to operate on natural gas and oil through to 2031 as the company continues to build its renewable energy portfolio. Consumers Energy has a target of having 90 % of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2040.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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