EnergyThursday, November 5
Consumers Energy gave regulators until Dec. 17 to decide on selling 13 dams
The Daily Portage team
Consumers Energy gave state regulators more time to approve the sale of its 13 hydroelectric dams to Confluence Hydro. The Michigan Public Service Commission's deadline moves from Nov. 9 to Dec. 17. Each dam would sell for $1, so the whole sale comes to $13.
The dam sale by the numbers
- 13
- dams in the sale
- $1
- price for each dam
- 30 years
- for the power supply agreement
- $500 million
- in savings Consumers claims versus decommissioning
The Calkins Bridge Dam on the Kalamazoo River is on the list. It created the 1,600-acre Lake Allegan. WHTC says the extra time lets Consumers work “with interested parties to achieve a constructive settlement.” Opponents, led by Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, claim private equity ownership could lead to “catastrophic” dam failures.
$160starting price per megawatt hour Consumers would pay for the dams' power
That's about double the current rate, with a 2.5 percent annual increase over the agreement.
Source: WHTC
- Buyer: Confluence Hydro, owned by Hull Street Energy
- Rivers: Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee and Au Sable