DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) unveiled its latest proposed integrated resource plan Thursday, pledging to end its use of coal by 2035 and go carbon free by 2050.
The utility’s proposed “Clean Vision Plan,” released in a 141-page report, also calls for DTE to boost its renewable energy generation to 60% by 2040, as promised at its most recent earnings call. (See DTE Energy Pledges Fast-tracked Energy Transition.) CEO Jerry Norcia also said the plan would invest $9 billion into the Detroit area’s economy over the next 10 years.
Under the proposal, DTE will significantly increase its electric storage capacity to 1,800 MW.
DTE’s current generation mix | DTE Energy DTE, the electric generating source for 2.3 million people and businesses in Detroit, unveiled the plan about five months after Michigan’s Public Service Commission approved a similar IRP for CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS).
DTE released its plan shortly after the PSC revised the parameters of IRPs in line with the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan.
Norcia said across the U.S. and Michigan the energy landscape is changing “as coal gives way to natural gas and renewables to power what we call the modern grid.”
Norcia said DTE intended to cut carbon emissions by 32% in 2023, two years ahead of a similar statewide goal in the state’s MI Healthy Climate Plan. Carbon emissions would be further slashed by 85% by 2035 and 90% by 2040. In 2017, DTE had called for cutting carbon emissions by 80% in 2050.
Now, the DTE plan calls for eliminating carbon emissions by 2050, the deadline set in the Healthy Climate Plan.
In cutting carbon emissions, DTE plans to end coal use at the Belle River Power Plant by 2026 and repurpose it to run on natural gas.
The 3,280-MW Monroe Power Plant, one of the largest coal-fired generators in the U.S., will close by 2028. The closure could affect the southern Michigan city’s economy. The Monroe harbor, which has handled coal for the power plant as one its major commodities, has received an $11 million federal grant to help convert part of its piers along Lake Erie to handle wind turbine components.
DTE said it will provide retraining for plant workers and “partner with the local communities.”
DTE’s plan calls for increasing renewable energy production to 15,000 MW by 2042. Renewables currently represent only 10% of the company’s 11,840-MW system capacity, with coal representing 59% and nuclear 22%.
Bob Allison, deputy director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said DTE was falling short in what it should achieve. Blasting DTE for its electric rates and its struggles with power outages during major storms, Allison said, “We are at a pivotal moment in our state’s clean energy future, and DTE must meet the moment with more ambition.”
Reacting to the criticism, DTE spokesperson Cindy Hecht said, “In preparing our Integrated Resource Plan, DTE Electric undertook a year-long, comprehensive analysis that reflected insights shared by the company’s customers and other stakeholders to build the plan, and we look forward to continued collaboration.”