Investing For Our Future 100% Carbon-Free Electricity

Leo Sfikas
2 min readJan 6, 2023

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Through a new agreement with DTE Energy (DTE), Ford Motor Company will soon be able to attribute all its electricity supply in Michigan to clean energy, a major step toward Ford’s goal to reach carbon neutrality. Ford will purchase enough carbon-free electricity in Michigan annually to account for all the electricity Ford currently uses to manufacture its vehicles in Michigan. The purchase is the largest renewable energy purchase ever made in the U.S. from a utility*.

Ford plans to invest more than $50 billion globally by 2026 to transform its business and scale EV production. Through this new agreement, DTE will add 650 megawatts of new solar energy capacity in Michigan. According to data collected by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), once installed, the arrays will increase the total amount of installed solar energy in Michigan by nearly 70%. DTE plans to have the new solar projects online by 2025.

According to American Clean Power, the clean power industry is an important job creator in Michigan with a clean energy workforce of 10,900. DTE estimates that the construction of the solar arrays will create 250 temporary jobs and 10 permanent jobs. Local communities that host renewable energy infrastructure can also benefit from the additional tax revenue these projects generate.

Today, DTE’s MIGreenPower is among the largest voluntary renewable energy programs in the country. On an annual basis, MIGreenPower customers have enrolled 2.8 million megawatt hours of clean energy in the program, which has the environmental benefit equivalent to avoiding 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.** DTE is Michigan’s largest producer of renewable energy and the company plans to add thousands of megawatts of new clean energy projects to support the program.

Ford manufactures more vehicles in the U.S. and employs more hourly workers in America than any other automaker and was one of the first U.S. automakers to align with the international community to limit the impacts of global warming as part of the Paris Agreement.

Michigan has been home to Ford since its founding in 1903. Since 2016, Ford has invested nearly $10 billion in Michigan and created or retained more than 10,000 jobs. This includes refurbishing Michigan Central Station, developing a new Ford Research and Engineering campus in Dearborn, creating Ford’s Ion Park in Romulus and more.

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Leo Sfikas

Leo Sfikas — Former GM at Currie Motors Auto Group