DETROIT, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- DTE
Energy today announced a bold new goal to reduce carbon emissions
80 percent by 2040 – accelerating by a full decade the carbon
reduction commitment it made to Michigan residents and businesses just two
years ago. In the company's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)
being submitted to the Michigan Public Service Commission on
Friday, DTE outlines the steps it will take over the next five
years, and beyond, to transform to a cleaner generation mix –
adding more renewables, increasing energy efficiency for its
customers above state requirements and retiring coal plants sooner
than previously announced. DTE also announced it will reduce carbon
emissions at least 50 percent by 2030, surpassing its previous
carbon reduction commitment of 45 percent by that timeframe.
"In Michigan, we are in the midst of a fundamental energy
transformation. Two years ago, we were one of the first energy
companies in the country to commit to reducing carbon emissions 80
percent by 2050. Our plan has evolved, and we now are accelerating
that goal by a decade," said Gerry
Anderson, DTE Energy chairman and CEO. "Achieving these
goals will require significant investments in the years ahead – and
we are convinced we can make those investments while ensuring that
electricity remains highly reliable and affordable for Michigan homes and businesses."
The 2016 energy law passed by the Michigan Legislature requires
energy companies in the state to file an Integrated Resource Plan
every five years. The IRP provides a comprehensive road map for
meeting customers' energy and capacity needs.
DTE's plan includes:
- Accelerating coal plant retirements: DTE plans to close
the St. Clair Power Plant and the Trenton Channel Power Plant in
2022, one year ahead of schedule. The River Rouge Power Plant also
will be retired in 2022. DTE is working closely with the impacted
communities to help with economic development during this
transition. DTE is committed to no employee layoffs and will
provide training opportunities for employees to find new roles
within the company. We also expect to continue hiring during this
timeframe due to anticipated employee retirements.
- Investing $2 billion in
renewables by 2024: DTE will more than
double its renewable energy production over the next five
years, generating enough clean energy to power 800,000 Michigan homes. By the time DTE removes all
coal from its generation fleet in 2040, its renewable energy
portfolio will have quadrupled.
- Offering homes and businesses the opportunity to voluntarily
buy more clean energy to meet their sustainability and carbon
footprint goals: DTE is moving aggressively to expand its
voluntary renewable program, which will accelerate Michigan's transition to renewable energy and
empower companies to meet their sustainability goals through
voluntary investments. As demonstrated by DTE's recent
partnerships with Ford and General Motors, DTE's
MIGreenPower program allows large business and industrial
customers to meet their own sustainability goals, while residential
and small business customers can choose to source a percentage of
their energy from Michigan wind
and solar projects.
- Investing in energy efficiency: DTE previously committed
to reducing energy usage by 1.5 percent each year within its
service area by working with customers to help them save energy.
The 2019 IRP steps up the annual energy savings to 1.75 percent,
which is 75 percent higher than the state requires. This
will help DTE customers save even more energy and more
money.
- Investing in hydro energy storage to ensure reliability:
An $800 million upgrade project is on
schedule at Michigan's
Ludington pumped storage facility,
co-owned by DTE and Consumers Energy. This investment allows DTE to
protect reliability because the facility operates like a giant
battery that can be tapped when renewable output drops. When
customer demand increases or generation from intermittent resources
decreases and electricity prices increase, the water from
Ludington's reservoir can be
released, generating electricity for customers. When the project is
complete in 2020, Ludington will
generate enough power to serve 175,000 DTE households.
The plan DTE is submitting today focuses most heavily on the
next five years and considers the most affordable and reliable mix
of generation sources that are currently available. Longer-term,
DTE will continue to evaluate and refine future options to meet its
carbon emissions commitment as technology develops and costs
decline.
With this plan, DTE's average annual carbon
emissions will drop by 400,000 tons in
2020 and 2021. In 2022, when Trenton Channel, St.
Clair and the River Rouge
power plants retire, DTE's annual carbon emissions will
be reduced by an additional 7.5 million tons. That's the
greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of nearly 1.6 million passenger
vehicles driven for a year. 1
"As we developed this plan, we reached out into the community
and listened to our customers' inputs and feedback," Anderson said.
"Our customers care about climate change and want to make sure we
are doing everything we can to transition to cleaner energy. All of
our customers want us to ensure high reliability as we transition –
and we know we need to keep energy affordable for Michigan's homes and businesses as we evolve
as well."
For more information about the Integrated Resource Plan and
DTE's journey to 80 percent carbon reduction by 2040, visit
www.journeyto80.com
About DTE Energy
DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy
company involved in the development and management of
energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating
units include an electric company serving 2.2 million customers
in Southeastern Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3
million customers in Michigan. The DTE portfolio includes energy
businesses focused on natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage,
power and industrial projects, renewable natural gas, and energy
marketing and trading. As an environmental leader, DTE will reduce
carbon dioxide and methane emissions by more than 80 percent to
produce cleaner energy while keeping it safe, reliable and
affordable. DTE is committed to being a force for good in the
communities where it serves through volunteerism, education and
employment initiatives, philanthropy and economic progress.
Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com,
empoweringmichigan.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and
facebook.com.
1 EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
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