For Friday, July 21, 2023

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1 – DTE Energy says it will end its use of coal for electricity generation in 2032 as part of a settlement agreement.

The agreement pending before the Michigan Public Service Commission includes improvements called for by the state attorney general.

Highlights include ending coal use by 2032, or nearly a decade earlier than the company had planned. 

The attorney general says the settlement closes DTE’s Monroe plant, the fourth-largest coal-fired power plant in the United States, also considered the third-largest polluter in the country by carbon dioxide emissions. 

DTE says the plan continues the utility’s clean energy transition by accelerating investments in Michigan-made solar and wind energy, speeding up the retirement of coal plants and developing new energy storage. 

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2 – Central Michigan University will work on “building flood resilience by connecting students to their watershed.”

That’s the name of a project by CMU, one of seven universities to receive federal funding from the Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training program. 

The Great Lakes B-WET awards are funded through the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. 

CMU plans to engage high school students and teachers in central Michigan to broaden awareness of flood risk and climate change.

Students will collect and analyze climate and flood data; use simulations to explore flood risk; and visit natural infrastructure that helps contribute to flood resilience in their watersheds. 

Students also will develop projects to demonstrate flood risk concepts to the public, along with the role of flood resilience solutions. 

The project targets five school districts in Mecosta, Isabella and Midland counties.

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3 – The city of Caseville is getting $2 million from the state for its wastewater collection system. 

Michigan environmental regulators say the existing system includes an 11,000-foot force main that carries all city wastewater to a lagoon system. 

The state says force main is actively leaking untreated sewage to the groundwater and putting surrounding water bodies at risk of contamination, including Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron.

The $2 million project includes replacement of the force main and the upgrading of outdated pump stations.

The grant is part of the state’s Substantial Public Health Risk Project Program.

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– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Fridays at 9:30 a.m. in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (listen live). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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