Ford Procures 500,000 Megawatt Hours of Wind Energy in Michigan

(Photo: DTE Energy’s Pinnebog Wind Farm. Courtesy of Ford Motor Company)

Ford Motor Company is collaborating with DTE Energy to procure 500,000 megawatt hours of wind energy in Michigan. The automaker says the deal should help power two plants and several additional buildings with 100% renewable locally sourced energy.

The collaboration is part of Ford’s commitment to procure renewable energy through DTE Energy’s MIGreenPower voluntary program. Ford says that their Dearborn Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant, and several new buildings on the Ford Research and Engineering Campus and Corktown campus will soon be entirely powered by renewables. Michigan Assembly already has a 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system.

This new wind initiative builds on the company’s 30% per vehicle carbon reduction target, said Andy Hobbs, director of the Environmental Quality Office at Ford. “That early achievement reduced the company’s annual footprint by 3.4 million metric tons.”

Last month the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a special rate structure for DTE from to expand their MIGreenPower program for large corporate and industrial customers. This week Ford became the first company to take advantage of that special rate structure, Crain’s Detroit Business reported.

“Expanding MIGreenPower to help our largest corporate customers meet their sustainability goals is another milestone in our clean energy transformation,” said Trevor F. Lauer, president and COO of DTE Electric.

DTE plans to more than double its renewable energy generation capacity, investing an additional $2 billion in wind and solar by 2024. In 2017, DTE committed to reducing carbon emissions by more than 80% by 2050.

Ford says the automaker will announce their own new global carbon reduction strategy focused on renewable energy in June.

The 4th Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 13 – 15, 2019 in Denver. Learn more here.