DTE Energy turns on its largest wind park, first of four new wind parks coming online in 2020

• New parks will increase clean energy generation capacity by more than 50% in 2020
• Three of the new wind parks will be Michigan’s largest
• Parks will offset 1.2 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually*

DETROIT, April 23, 2020 – DTE Energy today announced that its Polaris Wind park, located in mid-Michigan’s Gratiot County, is operational, providing enough clean energy to power more than 64,000 homes. With 68 turbines generating 168 megawatts, Polaris Wind is now the largest operating wind park in Michigan and the first of four new wind parks DTE will commission in 2020.  

Polaris will offset more than 355,000 metric tons of CO2e annually – the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking more than 76,000 cars off the road for a year* – and represents a significant step toward the company’s goals of reducing carbon emission by 50% by 2030.

“DTE is leading Michigan’s clean energy transformation,” said Trevor F. Lauer, president and COO, DTE Electric. “Bringing projects like Polaris Wind online provide tremendous benefits for our customers, the environment and the state of Michigan. We are committed to continued growth of our renewable energy portfolio, including wind and solar, as we work to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”    

Since 2009, DTE has driven investments of $3 billion in renewable energy infrastructure, and the company will invest an additional $2 billion in wind and solar assets over the next five years.

DTE wind projects provide more than clean energy for DTE customers – they also provide a stable source of income for landowners who have turbines on their property, jobs that help young people stay in the community, and tax revenue that can be used to support improvements in roads, schools, emergency services and other vital community needs. Greater Gratiot Development, Inc. reports that between 2012-2018, the county received nearly $43 million in tax revenue from its wind parks.

“Wind development has unquestionably brought increased economic prosperity to Gratiot County,” said Jim Wheeler, president, Greater Gratiot Development, Inc.   “In addition to tax revenue that benefits the County, townships, and schools, investment from wind development was used to leverage a grant for infrastructure in the Breckenridge Industrial Park, which now houses five companies and over 100 jobs. The area economy also benefits from increased consumer spending at restaurants and retail shops by temporary construction workers and permanent maintenance technicians, in addition to increased spending from local landowners who receive lease payments. Overall, wind development has offered Gratiot County a renewed drive toward the future with new opportunities for its citizens.”

Including Polaris, DTE has over 1,300 MW of renewables online and will be adding another 800 MW by the end of 2022. DTE’s renewable energy portfolio includes 15 wind parks and 31 solar arrays, all located in Michigan. To learn more about DTE’s long-term carbon reduction goals, please visit dtecleanenergy.com.

DTE also offers customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint and support the development of additional Michigan-made renewable energy through its MIGreenPower program. Thousands of residential customers have enrolled in the program as have some of our state’s most well-known companies, including General Motors and Ford Motor Company. DTE Electric customers can enroll by visiting www.migreenpower.com or calling 855.613.4445.

About DTE Energy

DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include an electric company serving 2.2 million customers in Southeast Michigan and a natural gas company serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE portfolio includes energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects; renewable natural gas; natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage; and energy marketing and trading. As an environmental leader, DTE utility operations will reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions by more than 80% by 2040 to produce cleaner energy while keeping it safe, reliable and affordable. DTE Electric aspires to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. DTE is committed to serving with its energy through volunteerism, education and employment initiatives, philanthropy and economic progress. Information about DTE is available at dteenergy.com, empoweringmichigan.com, twitter.com/dte_energy and facebook.com.

*Avoided emissions and equivalencies are based on Egrid 2017 non-baseload emissions factors by subregion and the Environmental Protection Agency equivalencies calculator at http://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator.

For further information, members of the media may contact:

Cindy Hecht, DTE Energy, 313.235.5555