Consumers Energy to open solar program for thousands more homeowners, businesses

Jul 19, 2023

An auto supplier in the area debuted a trio of new technologies at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Zeeland-based Gentex said it launched its new biometric mirror, three-camera rear-vision system and upgraded HomeLink vehicle-based wireless control system during the trade show this week.While the “off-the-shelf” products are available today for vehicle integration, Gentex said most of its products require “deep integration” into a vehicle, and automakers will more than likely customize the products, rather than purchase them as is.Based on new car development cycles, the products will likely be available in new car models in three to five years.Biometric mirrorThe biometric mirror authenticates a driver and delivers “customized security, comfort and convenience features.”When the driver enters the vehicle, the rear-view-mirror-integrated biometric system can identify the driver and if authorized, start the car and personalize set up, by automatically adjusting mirrors, the steering wheel, the seat, music, GPS locations and more.Gentex said the system can also provide added security for home-automation services and vehicle transactions.Steve Downing, Gentex SVP, said the system would be “perfect” for “new and evolving mobility solutions,” such as car-sharing programs.“The biometric system would identify the driver, authorize vehicle use and allocate payment, including incidentals like tolls and parking, and eventually even gas and fast food,” Downing said.Exterior monitoringGentex’s new exterior monitoring system uses three cameras to provide a comprehensive view of the sides and rear of the vehicle.The side-view cameras are discretely housed in reduced-sized exterior mirrors. Their video feeds are combined with the feed of a roof-mounted camera and stitched together into multiple composite views, which are streamed to the driver via a rear-view-mirror-integrated display.Downing said the camera system also provides a “fail-safe view” should weather or system failure impede the digital view.He added Gentex believes its system is the “first practical camera monitoring system” in the industry.HomeLinkGentex’s existing HomeLink car-to-home automation system, which uses radio frequency, or RF, to connect with devices. The system consists of three in-vehicle buttons that can be programmed to operate garage doors, security gates, home lighting and other RF-controlled devices.With next-generation HomeLink with wireless, cloud-based connectivity, the system can also communicate with an app on the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth Low Energy.The app contains pre-defined, user-programmed actions, from single-device operations to entire home-automation scenes.The app, in turn, communicates to the home’s smart hub over the cloud server network and activates the appropriate devices, including security systems, door locks, thermostats, lighting and other home-automation devices.“It’s comprehensive vehicle-to-home automation made easy,” Downing said.He said the driver is able to prepare the home for arrival or departure with one button press.“For the automaker, it allows them to offer a customizable yet proven solution without the engineering effort or security concerns associated with integrating the software into the vehicle’s computer network,” Downing said.Gentex’s new biometric technology can also be used in conjunction with HomeLink to provide added security and convenience for multiple drivers by activating the home-automation pre-sets of different authorized users.

LANSING — State regulators have approved an agreement between Consumers Energy and more than a dozen interest groups that will open a solar energy program to potentially thousands more homeowners and businesses.

LANSING — State regulators have approved an agreement between Consumers Energy and more than a dozen interest groups that will open a solar energy program to potentially thousands more homeowners and businesses.

As part of the Michigan Public Service Commission-approved settlement agreement Thursday, the Jackson-based utility agreed to double the cap on its “distributed generation” program. A successor to what was formerly known as net metering, the program establishes guidelines and the rates at which solar-owning customers are compensated for sending excess power to the grid.

Doubling the cap from 2 percent of the utility’s average peak load to 4 percent is a win for clean energy advocates who have maintained that Consumers and other utilities undervalue customers’ excess solar power sent to the grid.

As well, the settlement slightly increases the amount that solar-generating customers are credited by eliminating transmission service costs.

Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council President Laura Sherman said several intervenors in the MPSC case have argued that the program shouldn’t include any cap on participation.

The 4 percent cap is an improvement “for those of us who want to make sure there’s a market for customers and companies to have certainty over the long term,” Sherman said.

This week’s Consumers settlement comes as Michigan experiences steady growth in the number of utility customers — both businesses and homeowners — who are installing solar to offset their power costs.

A November 2022 MPSC report showed that statewide participation in Michigan’s distributed generation program increased 37 percent in 2021, and that participation has grown each year since 2006. At the end of 2021, 14,262 utility customers generated nearly 125 megawatts of power in the program, mostly via solar energy installations. Consumers and DTE Energy customers accounted for 91 percent of the total program capacity, according to the MPSC.

Over the past year, both Consumers and DTE have inched closer to their program cap limits. Consumers currently has 8,100 category 1 customers and 300 category 2 customers that account for 80 MW of capacity. Doubling Consumers’ cap limit opens the program up to another roughly 10,000 customers.

“Consumers Energy continues to support customers who want to install rooftop solar generation,” Spokesperson Brian Wheeler said via email.

MPSC Chairperson Dan Scripps said that expanding the program cap does not pose engineering challenges, nor does it raise cross-subsidization questions that utilities have previously argued before the commission.

“We believe we are setting cost-based rates, including for distributed generation tariffs, and there’s no engineering rationale” behind not expanding the cap, Scripps told MiBiz.

The Consumers settlement involved several components of the utility’s business, including making permanent a residential electric vehicle rebate pilot program and issuing $25 million in bill credits and financial assistance to low-income ratepayers.

The MEIBC also will be involved in developing a pilot program that aims to replace propane- and fuel oil-powered home heating systems with electric versions at roughly 2,000 Michigan households over three years. The program would likely involve rebates for customers to make the shift.

The pilot is part of a broader clean energy strategy around electrification that hopes to reduce customers’ exposure to volatile price swings in the fossil fuel market.

“These pilots are a chance to figure out what works, what doesn’t work, and how to improve programs,” Sherman said. “Propane to electric is the low-hanging fruit. It’s the most likely place we can all agree to see how it works then move to the tougher case of a natural gas customer who wants to do this. There are some really good opportunities with propane.”

Electric heat pumps, for example, are one technology that’s gaining popularity within the electrification movement, even in cold weather climates.

The electrification pilot program aims for low-income participation and also will determine the ability to leverage federal rebates and incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Scripps noted that the MPSC approved a similar pilot program for Alpena Power Co.

“I think there’s been a focus and conversations through the MI Healthy Climate Plan and a number of other places around the potential electrification of heating from other fuel uses,” he said. “I think it’s a chance to look at the technology from a heating standpoint, and allows for some additional load growth for the utility, which benefits everyone.”