JACKSON—Officials at Consumers Energy have announced an agreement to purchase 140 megawatts of clean, renewable energy—enough to power about 70,000 homes—from the Calhoun Solar Center. Invenergy, a Chicago-based developer and operator of green energy installations, is building the project.
Said Tim Sparks, vice president of electric grid integration at Consumers Energy: “We are committed to protecting the planet while providing the energy our homes and businesses need for decades to come.”
The agreement makes Calhoun Solar Center one of the largest single projects providing solar energy to Consumers Energy customers. The plan requires approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Calhoun Solar Center will have a total capacity of 200 megawatts and is expected to be completed in 2022. Under the proposed agreement, Consumers Energy would purchase 140 megawatts from the solar plant for 25 years. (The photo above shows a 160-megawatt Invenergy solar farm in Georgia.)
The 1,800-acre solar power center will be located in Calhoun County’s Pennfield Township, northeast of Battle Creek.
Solar energy is a major component of Consumers Energy’s Clean Energy Plan, a blueprint to eliminate coal and dramatically boost renewable energy to help achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. The plan calls for adding approximately 1,100 MW of solar through 2024. To learn more, visit MiCleanEnergy.com.
Consumers Energy announced earlier this year that eight projects in two Michigan counties recently began generating solar energy for its customers.
Consumers Energy is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas or electricity to 6.7 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.
