Renewable Energy

Patti Poppe likes to joke about the bumper sticker she once stuck on her Chevy Volt electric hybrid car: “I ♥ coal.”
These days, the sticker sits in Poppe’s office at Consumers Energy’s headquarters in her hometown of Jackson. It’s a symbol of her personal evolution on climate change — and the transformation she’s leading at Michigan’s largest natural gas and power provider.

At Consumers Energy, we’re more than pipes, poles and wires. We’re part of Michigan’s landscape. That’s why we’ve worked proudly to maintain the Mitten for more than 130 years. As we reflect on our efforts to pursue our purpose of World Class Performance Delivering Hometown Service, we know our business is about more than profits. It’s about enabling the communities we serve to share in our success. Learn more about Consumers Energy’s commitment to the Triple Bottom Line in their 2019 Sustainability Report.

HARC and Green Mountain Energy Sun Club leaders celebrated the completion of a sustainability project signifying a major step towards the organization’s goal of achieving a highly regarded net zero energy (NZE) status, which would make the HARC headquarters in The Woodlands the first commercial building in Texas to accomplish the feat.

Southern California Edison announced that it has signed seven contracts for 195 megawatts of battery-based energy storage resources to meet local capacity requirements in the Santa Clara sub-area of its electrical system. Contracts were the result of SCE’s Aliso Canyon Energy Storage 2 Request For Offers and last year’s Local Capacity Requirements Request For Proposals.

Mars, Incorporated announced today that it will source all electricity for its Mexico operations from a new wind farm in Dzilam Bravo, Yucatan, moving the company’s energy consumption to 100 percent renewables in Mexico.

Manufacturing plants using oil-free compressed air solutions like pharmaceutical, food and beverage, chemical and automotive industries can lower their environmental footprint and reach their ISO 50001 goals in energy management with the new Energy Recovery Units (ERU) from Ingersoll Rand®. The new sustainability oriented solutions work with oil-free compressors transferring the heat generated throughout the compression process to warm water, which customers can use in industrial processes or to heat spaces in the plant.

We at Timberland think it’s time for a more progressive look at clean energy policy in our state. That is why Timberland is one of many companies, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, MegaFood, Stonyfield Farm, Worthen Industries and more supporting the House and Senate bills (House Bill 365 and Senate Bill 159), which would raise the project cap on net metering.

Lamar University has reached a $20 million energy savings milestone as a result of its energy efficiency project with Schneider Electric. Lamar University achieved this milestone after a 15-year partnership with Schneider Electric. To date, the project has reduced campus-wide utility consumption by 43 percent, saving on average $1.63 million in annual utility costs. Additionally, this project has generated $21,276,086 million in energy savings.

Local officials will join Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB) students, staff, and Board of Trustees, for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the M. Christine Murphy Horticulture and Education Center - a LEED-Silver certified and planned Net Zero Energy greenhouse - on Friday, May 10 at 10 a.m.