Consumers Energy is responding to its customers’ interest in renewable energy with their Solar Gardens project and Green Generation program.
“Right now about 10 percent of the energy our customers use comes from renewables,” says Tim Sparks, Consumers Energy vice president of energy supply operations.
Sparks talks with Kirk Heinze to share renewable energy options available to Consumers Energy customers, no matter where they live.
In the past, coal has primarily fueled Consumers Energy’s business. Today, the company and other utility companies around the U.S. are adapting to the public’s growing concern for the environment. For Consumers Energy, this meant closing over half of its coal plants, and replacing that gap with natural gas, fire generation, and renewables, says Sparks.
One of these renewable energy programs is the Solar Gardens, giving customers the option to use energy derived from over 15,000 solar panels constructed at Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University. By subscribing to the program, customers can power their homes sustainably without needing to finance, maintain or position solar panels at home.
Customers can also subscribe to the Green Generation program, helping to lead the sustainable energy movement. The subscription fee includes power generated from Michigan wind parks and helps fund the future development of other renewable energy programs.
Despite the gradual process thus far, Sparks predicts factors such as the high demand for affordable natural gas will lead to exponential progress in renewable energy options.
“As time goes on, I think you will see more and more renewables as the technology develops and it becomes more economic for customers,” he reveals. “They continue to get better and the cost of them continues to come down.
“The more customers are interested in renewable energy, the more we will respond to that demand,” says Sparks. “We will build more and more solar gardens around the state if customers want them.”
Greening of the Great Lakes airs inside MSU Today Sunday afternoons at 4:00 on AM 870.