In June, DTE Energy announced the completion of construction and the start of full commercial operations for the Gratiot County Wind Project. The wind park is a 212.8-megawatt (MW) project featuring 133 1.6-MW GE wind turbines. It generates enough renewable energy to power more than 50,000 Michigan homes.
The wind park, located on approximately 30,000 acres of private land in the townships of Wheeler, Bethany, Emerson and Lafayette, is part of DTE Energy’s plan to meet Michigan’s renewable energy goals. DTE Energy expects to add about 1,000 MW of renewable power to meet its goal of 10 percent renewable energy by 2015. The company plans to own facilities to supply up to half of that energy and contract with third-party producers for the remainder.
DTE Energy expects the majority of its renewable energy to come from wind resources and is planning to build another wind park in Huron County, which will add another 110 MW to the company’s renewable energy portfolio. The company also has a solar energy pilot program that could produce approximately 20 MW. The utility’s renewable energy projects under contract will provide about 7 percent of retail energy sales by 2015.
Installing a wind turbine at your location can help you reduce the amount of electricity used from conventional sources, reduce your carbon emissions, lower your electricity bills, and generally make the world a more beautiful place.
At Oak Electric Service, we are standing by to answer your questions about residential wind turbines. Give us a call today at (248) 206-5980. We invite you to visit our website at www.oakelectric.com to learn more about us and our wind turbine installations in Michigan.