CMS ENERGY CORP acquires New Covert Generating Facility (Covert Generating Station)

CMS ENERGY CORP acquired New Covert Generating Facility (Covert Generating Station) for $810 million, a transaction completed in May 2023, structured as all cash.

New Covert Generating Facility (Covert Generating Station) operates in Regulated electric utility (Consumers Energy generation fleet), is based in Van Buren County, Michigan. A 1,176-megawatt (1,200-MW nameplate) natural gas-fired combined cycle generating plant located in Van Buren County, Michigan, purchased by Consumers Energy from New Covert Generating Company, LLC, a non-affiliated company. Consumers signed the Purchase and Sale Agreement on June 21, 2021 and completed the purchase in May 2023 for $810 million, with an additional $2 million paid in August 2023 under a post-closing working capital adjustment. The acquisition was a centerpiece of Consumers Energy's Clean Energy Plan to exit coal generation, adding dispatchable natural gas capacity to bridge the transition.

Consumers proposed buying existing Michigan natural gas plants to ensure continued reliable, affordable energy during the company's historic transition away from coal generation; the gas plants would supply steady, reliable electricity for homes and businesses as the company invests more heavily in clean energy.

An existing, already-interconnected combined-cycle gas plant gave Consumers dispatchable capacity to replace retiring coal units (Campbell, Karn) without building new generation, supporting reliability through the coal-to-clean transition. Consumers Energy regulated electric generation fleet