CMS Energy and its primary business, Consumers Energy, today pledged to protect the planet by achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s entire natural gas production and delivery system — including customers and suppliers — by 2050.
Achieving net zero emissions means eliminating the impact of emissions traced to the burning of natural gas by customers and greenhouse gas emissions caused by natural gas suppliers who produce and transport natural gas to Consumers Energy’s system.
“Natural gas is safe and affordable and now it can be even more clean,” President and CEO Garrick Rochow said. “We’re making historic, industry-leading changes to protect our planet. This commitment is another step in leading the clean energy transformation for Michigan.”
As a next step on our path to net zero by 2050, the company will partner with customers to reduce their emissions by 20 percent by 2030.
CMS Energy is already implementing industry-leading plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include:
Pursuing a net zero goal for all emission sources, including those from customers and suppliers, aligns the company’s efforts with Michigan’s Healthy Climate Plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 as well as the recommendations of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
CMS Energy is executing and exploring a variety of pathways to support customers and suppliers who want to reduce their emissions.
The company is also modernizing its natural gas operations with a 10-year Natural Gas Delivery Plan to ensure the continued delivery of safe, reliable, affordable and clean natural gas. The plan includes accelerated infrastructure replacement, innovative leak detection and key process changes to eliminate, avoid and minimize methane emissions.