Michigan's Energy Plan
Michigan policymakers in 2008 passed a landmark energy package that touched virtually every facet of Michigan’s energy industry.
The comprehensive law:
- Reserved 10 percent of the state’s power market for alternative electricity suppliers while providing Michigan utilities with the certainty they need to invest in new power plants.
- Created a renewable portfolio standard that requires 10 percent of the power used by customers to come from renewable sources by 2015.
- Established Michigan’s first statewide energy efficiency policy, which sets aggressive energy efficiency targets and requires utilities to launch energy efficiency programs for all customer classes this year.
- Updated Michigan energy regulatory structure, including the creation of a new forward-looking process for evaluating and approving plans for new baseload power plants.
The package was designed to:
- Keep customers rates lower than they otherwise would have been, saving billions of dollars over the long term. According to a Public Sector Consultants study, electricity customers likely would have paid up to $6 billion for purchased electricity in order to supply enough power to Michigan. That’s $4 billion more than what they would see under the initiatives contained in the comprehensive energy law.
- Encourage Michigan utilities to build new power plants and update Michigan’s distribution systems to help make sure customers have the power they need, when they need it. Under that new law, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy continue to develop plans for new baseload power plants.
- Develop renewable resources, such as wind and biomass, to help create jobs, spur economic development, and reduce emissions. Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison will launch aggressive renewable energy plans this year. Detroit Edison has nearly 55,000 acres of land under lease in Michigan’s Thumb for future wind development efforts and Consumers Energy has more than 44,000 acres under easement for wind development in the Thumb and on the western side of the Lower Peninsula.
- Create an estimated 10,000 to 15,800 new, ongoing or supporting jobs for Michigan workers.
- Provide the Michigan Public Service Commission with more power and resources to regulate the public utilities.
- Safeguard Michigan’s energy future by encouraging the development of new generation sources in the state, reducing the need to rely on other states and Canada in the future for power to serve Michigan’s families and businesses.