General Motors Co. in Detroit has signed a 15-year renewable energy purchase agreement with Ann Arbor-based NorthStar Clean Energy for three GM assembly plants.
The pact has NorthStar’s Newport Solar project in Newport, Ark., supporting the electricity needs of GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Lansing Grand River Assembly in Michigan, and the Wentzville Assembly site in Missouri by adding renewable energy directly to the grid from which it sources.
The Newport project has a capacity of 180 megawatts. NorthStar Clean Energy is a unit of CMS Energy, the parent company of Consumers Energy in Jackson.
This is the automaker’s largest power purchase deal yet, it says, and “an important milestone in our goal to be carbon neutral by 2040.” In 2022, GM announced it had finalized the energy sourcing agreements required to secure 100 percent of the energy needed to power all our U.S. sites with renewable electricity by the end of 2025.
The Newport site generates enough electricity to power 30,000 homes per year.
“By expanding our renewable electricity portfolio, we are taking a major step forward in reducing our carbon footprint and advancing our broader sustainability goals,” says Rob Threlkeld, director of global energy strategy at GM. “This facility not only supports our renewable electricity strategy, but also demonstrates our dedication to a sustainable future for all.”
GM says it now has in place sourcing agreements from 17 renewable energy plants across 11 states, making GM the automotive industry’s largest buyer of renewable power by capacity.
