Consumers Energy will be bringing several large rechargeable batteries to Bay and Iosco County that will store excess energy from the grid. They're roughly the size of shipment containers and will be able to power over 5,000 homes.
"These are batteries that are, at a large scale, allow us to store energy for our consumers that we can use at times where there's the highest demand," said Consumers Energy spokesperson Brian Wheeler.
He says that the company is excited to bring these batteries to more areas, and for them to be able to serve customers 24/7, 365 days a year.
The battery storage systems in Iosco County will be located on the former site of the now retired John C. Weadock Power Plant in Hampton Township.
"It has yet to go to our planning commission, but they [consumers] will be applying for a special use permit with our planning commission to be able to install this battery energy storage system on their property," said Terri Close, supervisor for Hampton Township.
She says that the location for these battery storages will be easily accessible by fire equipment, if necessary.
The battery systems in Bay County will be located in Oscoda Township.
In the Oscoda Township Planning Commission meeting on Sept. 2, Dena Isabell with Consumers Energy answered questions about the battery energy storage systems.
"The number one concern from folks is how do we manage emergency response for any of these batteries?," Isabell asked.
Isabell said that when the batteries arrive on site, they will do a walk through with first responders and then another one once the batteries become active.
During these walk throughs, Consumers Energy and first responders will make sure that the area is secure to ensure that nobody goes into the facility.
"It's designed for daily cycling, that means when we have the high cost of energy, in the middle of the afternoon, we can release what was stored from the night into these batteries," Isabell said.
Local officials in Oscoda Township are in coordination with Consumers Energy to approve local permitting efforts.
We note Consumers Energy is a financial supporter of WCMU. We report on them as we do with any other organization.
