Consumers Energy’s PowerMIFleet Program Grows to 50+ Companies
Consumers Energy launched its PowerMIFleet program 19 months ago to augment its existing PowerMIDrive. The latter program, launched in 2019, is targeted to smaller users and offers lower electric rates for off-peak charging for drivers and will provide rebates for residential, business, and public charging stations. More than 2,700 have been granted so far. PowerMIFleet was launched in mid-2021 to build on that program by connecting businesses, large institutions, local governments, and school bus fleets with planning resources, expert guidance, and financial incentives to easily and cost-effectively transition to electric vehicles. One of those large institutions, Michigan State University, is deep in the throes of transitioning 369 vehicles in its fleet of 1,200 internal-combustion vehicles to electric vehicles over the next decade and is working with Consumers Energy and the PowerMIFleet program to do so. SBN Detroit spoke with two individuals deeply involved in MSU’s process, beginning with Jeff Myrom, Consumers Energy director of electric transportation customer programs, and Adam Lawver, director of Campus Services Infrastructure Planning and Facilities at Michigan State University, to gain insights into the process and how it works for Michigan businesses. Q: Jeff, first tell us about the PowerMIFleet program. Myrom: PowerMIFleet is a program designed to help business owners, municipalities, and educational institutions charge off-peak to reduce operating costs, eliminate emissions, and simplify vehicle maintenance by transitioning to electric vehicles. This is a program for those looking to electrify multiple vehicles and potentially a variety of vehicle classes. This, along with PowerMIDrive, is aimed at gaining insights and learnings and then sharing those learnings with different sectors so we can optimize success in the future, and it supports the statewide goal of having 2 million EVs on our state roads by 2030. Q: How long have these programs been in existence? Myrom: PowerMIDrive has been in place for a little over three years. We are getting ready to convert the residential portion of this pilot to a permanent program. PowerMIFleet launched in June of 2021 and has been so successful that it’s now fully subscribed. Q: What is involved in the PowerMIFleet Pilot Program? Myrom: Essentially there are three phases. In this first phase, we are working with fifty customers across a wide geographic base within different industries and sectors. We conduct full assessments regarding their fleets and then develop a five-year plan for conversion and infrastructure. This longer-term plan allows us to build for the future now versus having multiple infrastructure upgrades over time. In Phase Two we move forward with EV infrastructure development and the purchase cycle begins for the customer. Phase Three involves taking a look at the actual experience with electrification to see if the infrastructure is adequate and circling back on lessons learned. For PowerMIFleet, this will take place in 2024. Q: Who are you working with through PowerMIFleet in addition to MSU? Myrom: We are currently working with over 50 customers, including several school districts. For example, Jackson Public Schools are looking to acquire 21 electric school buses. Homer Community School District is bringing on seven electric buses. We are working with Domino’s Pizza on their rollout of 800 GM Chevy Bolt electric vehicles now. We will publish our lessons learned from the vehicle electrification assessments starting in Q1 of 2023 and move from there. Q: What challenges do you face? Myrom: Vehicle availability and costs are a challenge. We recognize that until the supply chain is improved this will be the case. Another potential challenge for those with large fleets is adopting time-of-use rates. Usage across the state is highest between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. We are offering several different time-of-use options to minimize costs for businesses and help alleviate this challenge. A good example of this is the work we are doing with Michigan State University. The PowerMIFleet program is providing rebates to MSU toward their charger installation costs, and we’ve supported the grid upgrades needed, as they prepared to take delivery of forty new EVs in September. Michigan State University is clearly a leader in fleet electrification, and one of the first movers in the PowerMIFleet pilot. Partnering with a leading educational institution like Michigan State University is a real boost to our fleet pilot learnings. Q: Adam, what should we know about your conversion to electrification with Consumers Energy and PowerMIFleet? Lawver: As part of our strategic plan goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from its 2010 baseline, we are converting 369 internal combustion engine vehicles to fully electric vehicles over the next decade. The conversion will decrease the university’s overall carbon footprint by 18,945 metric tons of carbon dioxide long-term – the equivalent of planting 312,584 trees. In September 2021, we connected with Consumers and its PowerMIFleet program. Together we assessed our 1,200 vehicles and built fleet electrification roadmap. Now, one year later we’ve received all 40 vehicles of the initial order and are in process of connecting charging stations. Q: What manufacturers are you working with to build your fleet? Lawver: We selected different types and manufacturers, according to what they’d be used for. Some vehicles are used to move people short distances, some are utility vehicles, some are used by staff to travel around the state for meetings, and so forth, so they all have different uses and needs. So far, we have purchased a combination of Ford E-Transit Vans, Ford F150 Lightening Electric Trucks, Ford Mustang Mach-E’s,Chevy Bolts, and Tesla Model 3s. Q: What can businesses learn from your current experience of electrification and working with PowerMIFleet? Lawver: I think small businesses with a few delivery vans up to entities with large fleets would benefit from completing a fleet analysis and considering electrification. I think you first need to look at the total cost of ownership of your vehicles. Each business owner needs to assess that and evaluate it over their fleet and see if there is a good alternative to convert to decrease their carbon footprint. Then, build a roadmap for
MSU – Driving Future Sustainability Leaders into the Workforce and the World
With the tagline ‘A Better Tomorrow is Up to Us,’ Michigan State University is working to minimize its footprint while driving new generations of leaders and influencers in sustainability. As a pioneer land-grant university and Michigan’s first agricultural college, MSU works to be a change agent for communities to accelerate cross-sector climate response; serve as an important knowledge generator and convener; educate the next generation of leaders that are most likely to be disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change; and influence the lives of students, alumni, and stakeholders for many generations. Sustainability Program Coordinator Laura Young shares with SBN Detroit how the work that’s being done in East Lansing is designed to impact the campus, Southeast Michigan communities, and businesses now and forward. Q: When did sustainability practices at MSU begin? A: MSU’s history is rooted in sustainability as an agricultural school, and It’s been going strong for decades. But one thing I can point to as an example is our work and efforts around reuse recycling. In 1988, students petitioned the board of trustees to bring recycling on campus and two years later it was established. (Recycling) has grown tremendously and in 2010 we opened a LEED Gold Certified Surplus Store and Recycling Center. Today, the operation has greatly expanded. We’ve added a robotic sorter to our material recovery facility to enhance safety and efficiency. We’re able to divert more organic materials from the landfill thanks to expanded food waste programs and a vermicomposting facility at the center. Through all of these efforts, we’ve decreased the amount of trash per student by 66% since 1990. Our progress as a sustainable institution is a continual evolution. When we commit to something there is never an endpoint, we are always driving to do better and improve. Q: Your website states the following: Having the foundational understanding of nature’s complex relationships as a premier land grant institution, MSU is well-positioned to influence the lives of students, alumni, and stakeholders for many generations. Can you tell us more about that? A: When we think about our role as educators and knowledge generators, we are well-positioned to act as agents of change. We are educating our leaders of tomorrow. And we’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t teach them about climate change and sustainability. They need to deeply understand the impact these global challenges have and will have on the world and leave campus ready to do great work around this. We know businesses are going to need graduates who are ready to hit the ground running toward their sustainability goals, and we are prepping them. Q: What are your short-term sustainability goals? A: We are going through a transitional period in the Office of Sustainability. We lost a great leader, Amy Butler, who passed away earlier this year. We are in the process of hiring a new director of sustainability and will continue to build upon many great sustainability accomplishments. Like many businesses, MSU has experienced many hardships because of the pandemic. This is our first year with fully in-person operations. We are doing a lot of rebuilding and piloting new initiatives. MSU is strengthening our Student Organic Farm and bringing back our Green Office program and Eco Rep Program among many others. Q: What is the Eco Rep Program? A: This is a program that is run by Student Life and Engagement. (SLE) Students are responsible for helping to educate other students to become strong environmental stewards. These kids are passionate and have tremendous energy and we know that students are better messengers to communicate with other students. So, this is a peer program – a role model program – ensuring that we launch environmental stewards out into communities and businesses and the world when they graduate. Q: MSU’s sustainability focuses are campus, curriculum, community, and culture. How does that framework help MSU meet its sustainability goals? A: This is our 4-C Framework and it speaks to the holistic and comprehensive perspective that we apply to sustainability. First, “campus” encompasses our sustainable operations such as our nationally recognized solar carports that deliver 10.5 megawatts of peak power. But we also have incredibly impactful initiatives that aren’t as well known. One example is SLE’s Pack Up. Pitch In, a program that supports diverting waste during move-in and move-out on campus, which is in its 25th year. 17,000 students moving in each year can generate a lot of waste. This year we celebrated 25 years of the program and collected over 12,000 pounds of food at move out that we donated to local charities. During fall move-in we diverted over 60% of materials from landfills, including 1,200 pounds of polystyrene and 68,000 pounds of cardboard. Curriculum deals with how we are educating our students about sustainability and the innovative research happening at MSU around global challenges. We have over 800 courses and 20 undergraduate degrees that address sustainability. We have immersive living-learning programs like RISE that let students explore sustainability issues in applied contexts. Campus and Curriculum intersect – our campus is a living lab that gives students real-world experience in solving sustainability problems. They work alongside staff and faculty and use our infrastructure as a testbed for sustainable solutions. An example of this is our Green Walls. The club Sustainable Spartans wanted to create an indoor green wall in 2020, but then the pandemic hit, and they had to pivot. The project gave students problem-solving experience, experience working with multiple campus partners and vendors, experience managing a project, experience with budgets and fundraising, and more. Ultimately the project culminated in a beautiful legacy that they have left behind for students, employees, alumni and visitors to enjoy. In terms of Community, as an institution, we play a large role in engaging and working with community partners to advance sustainability. For example, MSU has played a large role in extending the regional trail system in Mid-Michigan including expansions of the Lansing River Trail and much more. And the fourth C
