News Release

Consumers Energy Installing Innovative Transportable Battery to Enhance Electric Reliability in Standish

Standish, Mich. Wednesday, March 31, 2021

To help increase electricity reliability for residents in the Standish area, Consumers Energy is installing a portable battery at its Standish substation that will help meet peak demand brought by hot summer temperatures.

“Consumers Energy is committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable electric service to our customers across the state,” said Tim Sparks, vice president of electric grid integration. “This project is the next step in Consumers Energy exploring new technology to creatively meet the needs of our customers. We identified the need to enhance reliability for our customers in the Standish area and found an innovative way to provide a positive impact by installing a transportable battery. This battery will help the 2,300 electric customers served by our Standish substation until we rebuild this station in a few years.”

The battery will be built and located on property about 300 feet west of the company’s existing substation at 408 Washington St. in Standish. In the future, a new substation will be built adjacent to the battery to accommodate future area growth. Once this occurs, the battery will be moved to serve customers in another location.   

“The City of Standish is thrilled to have the Consumers Energy Battery Park project in our community. The innovative plan is exciting, and we are happy to have it happening here,” said Brad Mason, Standish city manager. “Consumers Energy is a great corporate partner in our community, and we look forward to working with them in the future to meet the needs of our residents.”

The 2 MW battery was purchased from Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. (MEPPI) and will be installed by the end of April. Testing and commissioning of the battery will take place from April through May, and it will be operational in June. Consumers Energy worked closely with the City of Standish to purchase land and receive approval to locate the battery at the site.

“Consumers Energy is taking a leadership stance by deploying cutting-edge energy storage technology that is versatile, reliable and safe,” said David Gianamore, general manager, MEPPI. “Implementing transportable storage provides flexibility and delivers both short-term and long-term benefits to all their customers.”

Consumers Energy is already using batteries in two other areas of the state -- Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo -- but this is the first transportable battery to be installed. The benefit of a transportable battery is that it can be moved to other locations when electric reliability needs call for it until/when substation upgrades can be completed. Battery technology is an integral part of Consumers Energy’s Clean Energy Plan as it is an enabler for a wider adoption of renewables.

Consumers Energy 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.

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Media Contacts:  Debra Dodd, 586-918-0597 or Roger Morgenstern, 517-499-6320