Dive Brief:

• Jackson, Mich.-based Consumers Energy can delay for one year the planned 2015 retirement of seven coal-fired units with a total of 950 MW of capacity.
• The utility had asked for the approvals from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, citing increased demand.
• If the retirements had occurred as scheduled, Consumers would have had to buy wholesale power in the market, potentially exposing its ratepayers to higher costs. 

Dive Insight:

Michigan is among a number of Midwestern states that has seen a strong recovery in power demand, especially from industrial customers.  Consumers is forecasting load growth of about 1% annually for the next ten years, which is on the high side in a sector that is seeing flat or even negative load growth as the result of energy efficiency measures.