CMS Energy to explore selling 13 hydroelectric facilities

CMS Energy announced it will be issuing a request for proposal, or RFP, to explore the possibility of selling its 13 hydroelectric facilities as the energy provider continues to evaluate the future of the dams and considers all options to safely maintain the dam reservoirs. Consumers Energy last year held a series of public meetings with community members and local leaders about the dams’ future. Based on community feedback, Consumers Energy understands how important these facilities and the associated reservoirs are to local communities. Therefore, the energy provider is exploring all options to safely maintain the reservoirs – the lakes created by the dams — while reducing costs for Consumers Energy’s customers. Consumers Energy began working with local officials and meeting with community leaders last year as licenses for the company’s dams begin to expire in 11 years. Consumers Energy’s 13 dams together produce less than 1% of energy used by the energy provider’s nearly 2 million customers, and they are several times more expensive than other energy sources. Consumers Energy is planning another series of public community meetings later this summer and into the fall with the goal of collecting community feedback and discussing what a potential sale of the dams would mean, as well as other options continuing to be considered.