CONSUMERS ENERGY

'Consumers Energy' is a public utility that provides natural gas and electricity to more than 6 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. It serves customers in all 68 of the state’s Lower Peninsula counties.

Contents

History

System Information

Interconnections

Generating Plants

See also

External links

History

The company was founded in 1886 as Commonwealth and Southern Company by W.A. Foote, originally tasked to install electric lighting in downtown Jackson. (His wife later founded Foote Hospital, also in Jackson, Michigan.) The company in 1968 changed its name to Consumers Power Company. In 1996, the name of the company was changed to Consumers Energy The company's headquarters are still located in Jackson, Michigan. The company is now a subsidiary of CMS Energy.
Consumers operated the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant in Charlevoix from 1962 to 1997 and built the Palisades Nuclear Plant near South Haven in 1971, which is still in service.
Consumers Energy's trademark slogan as of 2005 is "Count on Us".

System Information

Because of utility regulatory changes, Consumers had to give up control of its transmission system; it opted instead to sell the system to the Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC), currently an ITC Holdings company (which also owns Detroit Edison's transmission system under the "ITC''Transmission''" brand.)
Consumers Energy has an electric generating capacity of 6,000 megawatts. The METC system, which covers the entire Consumers Energy electric service area, uses line voltages of 345,000 volts and 138,000 volts. The subtransmission system voltages are 23,000 and 46,000 volts. Consumers Energy's primary distribution voltages are 4.8/8.32 kV, 7.2/12.47 kV, and 14.4/24.9 kV. Consumers retained radial 138 kV lines as well.

Interconnections

Consumers/METC has four 345KV interconnections with American Electric Power, via AEP's Indiana Michigan Power division: Palisades-Cook #1, Palisades-Cook #2, Argenta-Elkhart #1 and Argenta-Elkhart #2.
Consumers has interconnections with Detroit Edison: four 345KV (Oneida-Majestic (known as "Majestic-Battle Creek-Oneida" by Detroit Edison), Tompkins-Majestic, Pontiac-Hampton and Thetford-Jewell) and five 138kv (Custer-Whiting line, Genoa-Latson, Hemphill-Hunters Creek, Atlanta-Karn-Thetford and the Washtenaw-Lark-Blackstone).
Consumers has six other 138kv interconnections with other utilities: one 138kv interconnection each with Northern Indiana Public Service Company (Barton-Batavia line) and Alpena Power Company; two with Edison Sault Electric Company in the eastern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (McGulpin-Straits #1 and McGulpin-Straits #2; these lines are submerged under the Straits of Mackinac); and two 138KV interconnections with the Lansing Board of Water & Light (Davis-Oneida #1).
Three 345kV interconnections between First Energy Corporation in Ohio and Detroit Edison (Bayshore-Monroe line, Majestic-Monroe-Allen Junction line, and the Majestic-Lemoyne line), which pass through a very small portion of Consumers Energy's service area in southern Monroe and southeastern Lenawee Counties. These lines, however, are owned by ITCTransmission (for the Detroit Edison system).

Generating Plants

Consumers Energy's largest power plant is the Karn-Weadock coal-fired generating station located on Saginaw Bay near Bay City. Other Consumers Energy Coal fired plants are the JH Campbell power plant between Holland and Grand Haven; the Cobb power plant in Muskegon and the Whiting Power Plant on Lake Erie in Luna Pier, just north of the Michigan/Ohio state line.

See also

★ Lists of public utilities

External links

★ Official CMS Energy site

★ Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC)