February 21, 2019    |   back to news

Consumers Energy's Jackson Smart Energy District - a four-square-block area near the Consumers Energy headquarters - aims to achieve 2040 Clean Energy goals 15 to 20 years early. These include producing 40 percent of the District's energy needs from on-site renewable sources.

Consumers Energy will work with private businesses and the city to reduce the Jackson Smart Energy District's carbon emissions by 90 percent and provide 40 percent of its energy from on-site renewable sources such as solar panels and with advanced energy efficiency technologies.

Consumers Energy is putting out a Request for Information nationally to attract the best ideas from entrepreneurial and high tech companies that can provide the next generation of energy solutions.

"We want to connect with the companies, technologies, business models and innovative solutions that will meet our community's energy needs," said Patti Poppe, Consumers Energy's president and CEO. "We are striving to provide clean energy and to put Jackson, Michigan on the map as a magnet for energy innovation and the top ideas in the world."

Ideas for the Smart Energy District may include solar panels, battery storage, energy efficiency, energy management and electric vehicle charging stations.

Consumers Energy is working to modernize Michigan's electric grid and develop clean energy across the state. The company recently dedicated Michigan's first rooftop solar array and battery storage system in the Circuit West energy district of Grand Rapids.

Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest energy provider, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.7 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

Source: Consumers Energy