Consumers Energy business and residential customers can offset 100% of their carbon emissions
The newly launched MI Clean Air program allows Consumers Energy residential and business customers to enroll in offsets from 10% to 100% of the carbon produced by the average Michigan home or business.
Subscription dollars pay for certified carbon-reducing projects, thereby counteracting customers’ use of natural gas.
“We have partnered with Bluesource LLC to invest in an improved forestry management project in the Upper Peninsula,” Terry DeDoes, Consumers Energy’s senior public information director, told American Gas. Revenue from the project will be used to help create and maintain wildlife habitat and food plots, maintain the diversity of the forest, enhance timber quality and maintain roads and bridges.
Residential customers who select a 100% subscription level—which is 97.9 metric cubic feet per year based on the average annual household use for a Michigan home—would offset about 5.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, for $20 a month, DeDoes said. At the lower end of the spectrum, a subscription for a 10% offset, available at $2 per month, would offset 0.54 metric tons of CO2 annually, he said.
Small- and medium-sized business customers select the percentage of usage they would like to offset at a price based on their actual use. Selection of a 10% offset would cost the average small- and medium-sized business customer about $5 and $15 per month, respectively, DeDoes said.
Consumers Energy works directly with commercial and industrial business customers to procure, manage and retire offsets that meet their preferences and budget, he added.
Initial feedback has been very enthusiastic, especially regarding how affordable it is to make a positive difference for the environment, DeDoes said: “Many people don’t know what a carbon offset even is, let alone trust that it is making an impact on the environment. Therefore, effective and impactful marketing is key.”
Utilities interested in launching a similar program need a thorough understanding of how the carbon offset market works to choose the most workable structure, and they should understand how their regulator will view the program, its accounting and any rate making implications, he said.
Consumers Energy doesn’t profit from the sale of the offsets and has priced the program to cover its administrative costs, DeDoes said. The MI Clean Air program supports the utility’s new plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its natural gas system by 2050.