The Los Angeles Post

Consumers Energy Delivers $2.8 Million Incentive to General Motors for Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Flint

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GM Receives $13 Million in Last 10 Years for Reducing Energy Use
GM Flint Assembly Plant Manager Mike Perez (Left) and Consumers Energy senior vice president for customer experience Brian Rich (Right).
FLINT, Mich., March 11, 2019 – Officials from Consumers Energy today presented General Motors with a payment worth over $2.8 million for energy-saving upgrades at the automaker’s Flint facilities that benefit the planet and Michigan’s prosperity.

“General Motors has made a commitment to sustainability, and we are pleased to work with them to take actions that are good for their customers and all of Michigan,” said Brian Rich, Consumers Energy’s senior vice president for customer experience.

Consumers Energy presented the energy efficiency payment at General Motors’ Flint Assembly, where the automaker has completed 21 energy-saving projects in the last year that included a new energy-efficient body shop and building-wide lighting upgrades.

In the last decade, General Motors has received $13.3 million in payments from Consumers Energy for upgrades at its Michigan plants that reduce energy use. The Flint upgrades alone will save enough electricity to power about 1,600 houses and natural gas to heat about 550 homes.

“GM Flint Assembly’s commitment to sustainability enables us to develop an energy-efficient work environment for our team,” said Michael Perez, GM Flint Assembly plant manager. “Our relationship with Consumers Energy allows us to continue to identify new opportunities to reduce and reuse energy.”

Consumers Energy and General Motors have collaborated on recent efforts that protect the planet. General Motors this year became one of the first two participants in a new program that matches its Flint operations 100 percent with renewable energy. Consumers Energy’s parent company, CMS Energy, also opened a wind farm last year that provides renewable energy to General Motors’ operations in Ohio.

Consumers Energy has helped Michigan homes and businesses save over $2 billion in costs since 2009 through its energy efficiency programs and rebates.

“General Motors is an example to all businesses, large and small, of how to take control of energy use and reduce costs while protecting the planet,” Rich said. “They show it’s possible to make decisions that are good for business and the environment.”

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