DTE Energy announced today that its 60-MW solar park in Lapeer, Michigan, is fully operational. Set on 250 acres of land, the park boasts a 200,000-panel array of photoelectric material, making it the largest such facility in the state, according to DTE.
The company’s plans were outlined by Irene Dimitry, VP of Business Planning and Development:
“DTE plans to reduce carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050 in a way that works for Michigan’s economy, homeowners and businesses. We will achieve these reductions by incorporating substantially more renewable energy into our diverse energy mix while also transitioning our 24/7 power sources from coal to natural gas, continuing to operate our zero-emission Fermi 2 nuclear power plant, and improving options for customers to save energy and reduce bills.”
In total, DTE Energy currently operates 1,000 MW of renewable energy at 13 wind parks and 31 solar arrays, with the Lapeer park bringing its total investment in solar energy since 2008 to $170 million. DTE also claims to be the largest investor in renewable energy in Michigan, having invested over $2 billion since 2008.
Michigan is no stranger to solar power, but being the center of the automobile world has given the state some deep ties with all kinds of power – renewable and otherwise. Unfortunately, its irrevocable integration with the fossil fuel industry has left the state lagging behind in solar rankings. In 2013 Michigan was ranked 14th in the country for solar jobs, and it currently ranks a dismal 36th in the 2017 United States Solar Power Rankings.
Today, however, it is quickly becoming the new hub for electric vehicles as General Motors and Ford both push for electrification across their product lines. With GM’s Chevy Bolt already on the market, the pace of EV adoption will only increase from here.
But how does this impact the general public and the state of solar power?
With the proliferation of electric cars on public roads over the next several years, the need for electric power will increase. People need to charge their cars, and most of the time they would prefer doing it at home. With more solar power connected to the grid, that increased consumption will, at least, be coming from a clean and renewable energy source.
DTE Energy’s electric utility division, DTE Electric Company, currently serves 2.1 million consumers in Southeastern Michigan. Its commitment to move towards renewable energy options is laudable, but the timelines are unduly long.
The need of the hour is more installations, not only at the corporate or industrial level, but at the consumer level. Home installations are sorely needed, but the state has little to offer consumers in the form of incentives. The 2017 ranking report shows that Michigan scores the worst possible score, an F, in several areas, including tax credit, rebates, performance payments, property tax exemption and sales tax exemption. The payback time for 5-kW is 15 years, compared to 4 years in Massachusetts and 6 years in New York.
Energy laws in Michigan are in serious need of review, and earlier this year the state woke up to this reality. In March 2017, a two-year implementation period officially began, which originally started out as a two-year legislative process to iron out several issues on a range of energy bills. The state even launched a webpage to track the progress of various groups involved in how utilities project future needs of the state. Unfortunately, the page was not found on the site when we checked.
Essentially, the site was intended to track the procurement of renewable energy by utilities to meet the increased standard of 15 percent by 2021. The previous standard was implemented in 2008, and were met in 2015 by have leveled off since then.
DTE’s push might help it meet the new standard by 2021, but will it help the public? The net metering program, which allows homeowners to install on-site renewable energy generation projects to reduce their energy bills, only had 2,500 participants in Michigan as of 2016. Overall adoption in the United States is still at a very low level. Even in California, one of the leading solar states, only .77% of total utility customers have net metered installations.
However, with utilities now pushing to increase their renewable contribution to overall output, there’s hope that the added power consumption requirement generated by a growing EV industry will come from renewables rather than fossil fuels.
This will take decades because of our deep dependence on fossil fuels. Such a transition to cleaner energy is not going to happen overnight. But every new solar park or wind farm that opens for business takes us one step closer to that ultimate goal.
In the meantime, companies like DTE are carrying the torch, taking us ever closer to a world that consumes more energy from renewable sources than from non-replenish-able natural resources. And the burgeoning EV market driven by companies like Tesla and GM are helping the cause by creating the need for more clean power.
