A controversial Microsoft data center set to draw up to 1 GW of power from Consumers Energy’s grid could see “more progress” on local permitting after next week’s elections, CMS Energy CEO Garrick Rochow told investors and stock analysts on the company’s quarterly earnings call Tuesday.
CMS Energy is the parent company of Consumers Energy, which operates regulated gas and electric utilities in Michigan.
Rochow suggested that much of the opposition to data centers is being driven by political campaigns and could subside after the midterms.
“Some of the spin that you see leading up to the election does not equal reality,” Rochow said.
Without mentioning Microsoft by name, he said the data center — which Consumers announced an agreement to serve earlier this year — was “[continuing] to progress through zoning in multiple locations” after a permitting setback in April.
Still, a “funnel” slide depicting Consumers’ multi-gigawatt large-load pipeline was conspicuously absent from CMS Energy’s third-quarter earnings presentation. Rochow said it was an intentional decision not to include the slide, which had appeared in the past several quarterly presentations.
“It’s a little bit like watching [the University of] Michigan play football. You can spend a lot of time looking at the plays, but you’ve got to get it across the end zone,” he said.
Rochow added that Consumers’ electric utility has energized about 450 MW of new large load in its territory out of a total of 745 MW of signed contracts in its five-year plan. Those contracts cover a “medium-sized data center” plus semiconductor, food processing and manufacturing facilities, but don’t include the Microsoft data center, he said.
One gigawatt of incremental large load could drive $2 billion to $5 billion in capital investment for the utility, CMS Energy executive vice president and chief financial officer Sri Maddipati said.
CMS Energy earned $0.39 per share in the third quarter of 2026, down from $0.92 per share in the third quarter of 2025.
NorthStar Clean Energy update
The company said the EPS results “reflect asset impairment and restructuring activities associated with NorthStar Clean Energy,” the non-regulated clean energy developer and independent power production subsidiary CMS plans to split apart in the coming quarters.
CMS has agreed to or closed on sales for more than 35% of NorthStar’s assets, with the majority of the remainder in advanced negotiations with buyers as CMS works to wrap up the restructuring by the end of the year, the company said. CMS previously said it would retain some NorthStar assets in Michigan, including two gas-fired peaker plants, a 770-MW waste- and gas-fired cogeneration plant and about 500 MW of solar.
The restructuring will allow CMS Energy to reallocate at least $500 million from NorthStar into its utility business, the company said this week. Maddipati said that estimate may be conservative.
“I would be disappointed if we are not above the $500 million funding benefit,” Maddipati said.
J.H. Campbell update
Neither Rochow nor Maddipati on Tuesday mentioned the J.H. Campbell Generating Complex, a roughly 1,420-MW coal-fired power plant that Consumers has continued to run at the U.S. Department of Energy’s behest past its planned May 2025 retirement date.
But in a required securities filing this week, CMS Energy said it has spent $303 million through the end of September to operate the plant under DOE’s Section 202(c) authority after accounting for $344 million in market revenues from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.
CMS said it plans to petition the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to recover the entire net cost to run Campbell. Requests to recover costs incurred during the first three 90-day order periods remain pending before the FERC, it said.
In September, a federal appeals court invalidated DOE’s original emergency order on Campbell, saying it improperly usurped states’ regulatory authority. This week, CMS Energy said it expected DOE to appeal the ruling, which came in response to a suit brought by environmental groups and attorneys general for Michigan and two other MISO states.
Pending rate case and planned system investments
In a rate case pending before the Michigan Public Service Commission, Consumers Energy downwardly revised its requested revenue requirement from $456 million to $443 million. It is seeking a 51.75% equity ratio while keeping its requested return on equity steady at 10.25%. It expects a final order from the MPSC by early April 2027.
In a separate investor presentation earlier this month, CMS Energy said it plans to invest more than $17 billion in its electric system and boost its companywide rate base for both gas and electric by about 10.5% annually over the next five years.
Over the longer term, Consumers’ most recent integrated resource plan — filed this year — envisions adding nearly 16 GW of clean energy resources and 4.1 GW of batteries by 2040, putting the company on track to achieve Michigan’s energy law target of 100% clean energy by 2040, it said.
