GM commits to purchase 70 MW of renewables from Consumers Energy to run its automotive plants in Michigan

Michigan — Consumers Energy and General Motors announced a new pledge to power Michigan automotive plants in Flint, Burton and Wyoming with clean energy.

“We’re thrilled to see General Motors pledge to use 100% clean energy that Consumers Energy will provide, highlighting our shared commitment to our state’s prosperity and protecting the planet,” said Garrick Rochow, Consumers Energy’s president and CEO.

“General Motors is committed to combatting climate change and transforming the communities where we work and live by striving toward zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion,” said Rob Threlkeld, senior manager of energy strategy and grid decarbonization at GM.

GM made a 20-year agreement with Consumers Energy to use clean energy at its Flint Assembly Plant, Parts Processing Center in Burton and GM Components Holdings Plant in Wyoming. This commitment supports roughly 70 megawatts of emission-free renewable energy in Michigan.

Through new and existing GM plants in Consumers Energy’s Renewable Energy Program, which puts Consumers on a path to add more renewable power to its generation fleet, GM is offsetting 235,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. That is equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions produced by 51,000 cars, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations. Consumers Energy and GM started partnering on clean energy projects in 2018.