DTE Energy Begins Operating its Largest Solar Park, Sauk Solar

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE), Michigan’s largest producer of and investor in renewable energy, today announced that its largest solar park, Sauk Solar, is now operational. Located in central Michigan’s Branch County, the 150-megawatt solar park has nearly 347,000 solar panels and generates enough clean energy to power approximately 40,000 homes.

Sauk Solar is more than three times the size of DTE’s second largest solar park in Lapeer. It is also the first of six new solar parks to come online as DTE continues to build renewable energy projects to meet customer demand for more clean energy through its CleanVision MIGreenPower program. Sauk Solar, and the other five parks under construction, are funded by customers who are voluntarily enrolled in MIGreenPower. These new solar parks represent significant advancement toward the company’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions and reaching Michigan’s new renewable energy standard of 60% by 2035.

“As our largest solar park yet, Sauk Solar is a major accomplishment for DTE and all the teams that made it happen – but it’s also the first in a series of new solar developments that will have a major impact on the state of Michigan as a whole,” said Matt Paul, president and chief operating officer, DTE Electric. “Building out these parks is not only a critical step in ending our use of coal by 2032, but it will also help us meet our sustainability goals and deliver the clean, Michigan-made renewable energy our customers want. We thank the leaders and residents of Union Township, Branch County and Union City for helping make the new park a reality, so together we can strengthen local economies and build a cleaner energy future for generations to come.”

Sauk Solar created more than 350 local jobs during construction. Since 2009, the company’s investment in renewable energy has created an estimated 20,000 jobs in Michigan. Additionally, Sauk Solar will bring Branch County millions of dollars in added tax revenue over the life of the project, funding which can be used for roads, schools, first responders and other vital community services.

“DTE has been a great partner to work with,” said Bud Norman, Branch County administrator and controller. “It’s been exciting to collaborate with DTE on this knowing we’re not only creating a cleaner world for our kids and grandkids, but also bringing real, lasting change to our local economy.”

DTE already generates enough clean energy from wind and solar to power more than 750,000 homes and plans to power approximately 5.5 million homes with renewable energy by 2042. The company’s MIGreenPower program, one of the largest voluntary renewable energy programs in the country, is helping accelerate this clean energy transformation. MIGreenPower has nearly 100,000 residential and 1,900 business customers enrolled, and DTE plans to add more than 2,400 megawatts of new wind and solar to support those enrollments over the next 10 years.