Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Great Lakes are a diamond on the hand of North America,
brightly shining jewel. The friendship bordering fresh Water Highway coming
down from Canada.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
All around the shoreline, you can hear them sing, Sweeten.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Mother Michigan, Father Superior, coming down from Macanon, Sue Saint Marie,
blue water, Heuron flow down to Lake Yi, fall to
Onterial from all out seeds.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Oh, Garrick Roch. You ever heard that song before that?
Patrick Houston Daily. Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? It was
kind of like the Great Lakes. Jimmy Buffett and he
was in sconce that put In Bay in Ohio, there
on the islands in Lake Erie, and he sang this
song and he wrote it with shel Silverstein, if you
(01:14):
remember who wrote The Giving Tree. And I would say,
if only the conditions he's singing about, when the Great
Lakes were as placid as the song sounds all the time,
if only the weather was like that all the time,
well he would have a less interesting job, wouldn't you.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I would have a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
That's an exciting time with the utilities always is exciting time.
I'm glad you put it that way, because it's something
that we trust. And one of the things we've been
talking about at this conference and just it's sort of
in general now is we have to rely on people.
We have to rely on our innovation and people to trust.
And sometimes we don't know who to trust. But when
(01:53):
the lights come on and the heat comes on, and
the power comes on and our laptop comes on and
it's all because of consumer's energy, we have to trust you.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yes, Well, what it's the trust is is our over
a thousand quarkers.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We're authors and every day and guess.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Workers, engineers, accountants, you name it. They play an important
role and make sure a system's safe and responding when
when there's an interruption in service. And so that's what
makes it special. And that's the that's the people you
count on every day out in the field.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And you're at the top of that heap, the buck
stops with you. How does that field you know?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Again, it's it's it's a great team. And so I
counted them to deliver. And so we spent a lot
of time working on here's where we're going from a
direction standpoint as a company, And I think about our
strategy like it's a very exciting time to be in
this industry. But again, it's a great team, and I
get to I am fortunate enough to lead it, and
so put count on that team to deliver each day,
and that's what they do.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
When you drove up through northern Michigan from Jackson, did
you see still remnants of the storms and how are
things going?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's really dramatic up here, particularly northern Michigan. Certainly in
that ice storm, we had an up an inch and
a half of ice. And if you think about ice
and the damage that ice causes. If you think two
poles and there's a span of wire between those two poles,
a half an inch of ice is the equivalent of
a grand piano hanging on the lines. Think about a
grand piano hanging on our that's just half an inch.
We had an inch and a half. It's equivalent of
(03:19):
three grand pianos hanging on that line. Of course, there's
going to be some damage of cours. The's are going
to be some trees come down, and that's the worst
kind of storm, frankly, because it just kind of hangs there.
The ice doesn't melt right away, and so it's a
pretty treacherous storm. The team responded well, and there's a
number of utilities that serve northern Michigan and we went
out and helped some of them too once we were complete,
(03:40):
and so I'm just again proud of the team and
when they came together to deliver for our customers.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
That is a really interesting way to think about it.
You have to get your head around that a little bit,
but it's amazing. I'm reading this morning in the news.
It's just sort of random.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The J. H.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Campbell plant in West Olive where we're heard on the radio.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Of course it's going to open for now.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Does that mean anything to you.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, absolutely, you know that came out from the Department
of Energy on Friday, and so we're going to we're
planning to retire the plant actually this week and so
we're going to continue operation for another ninety days for
that across MISO, which myso is a mid continent independent
system operator. So think about it as fifteen states that
go from Wisconsin, Michigan even up as far as Manitoba
(04:27):
and Canada all the way down to Louisiana. So that's
kind of mid continent and they're responsible for reliability and
there's some needs across that greater region, not so much Michigan,
but across that greater region. And so we've been asked
by the Department of Energy to stay on for a
period of ninety days that over that window, and so
we'll do that.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We'll continue to operate the plant.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
The biggest pieces of how do we ensure our customers
in Michigan, Our customers at Consumers Energy don't pay the
full cost of that, and so we're looking at a
sharing mechanism along with MISO and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's one thing that I think is allowed and clear.
And the messaging we hear from consumers on this program
for years now is that you don't want us to
spend money. Well, I want your customers to have to
pay those bills. I mean you want low bills.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
We want to we want we want it to be
affordable for customers.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
We know it's a you know energy back to your
first questions about trust, right, it's about making sure that
people can afford their their energy bills. Or if you're
an industrial or commercial customer, we want you to be
able to grow in Michigan, and energy is important part
of that equation. We want to make sure that's affordable
for all customers. We want to make sure that's competitive
with other states, and so that's a piece of how
we you know, in this instance where we're going to
(05:37):
keep this plan operational, we want to make sure that
those costs are borne by by a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Because it's not just for Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It's for it's for the broader with the broader region,
broad Midwest region. So that's an important piece of thinking
about how do we keep bills affordable. The other pieces
we have great energy efficiency programs which you're really familiar with,
and that's the way people can save at their home
because it's always a you know, it's an equation of
what is the electric rate, but also how much do.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You use of that rate?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
And if we can if we can reduce the amount
you use, that's better, that's better for our customers.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
And some of it, even though you're the CEO, so
you're way up at fifty thousand feet right on the ground,
it's what time of day you use energy, what time
of the week, as simple as that, Right, Maybe we
launder put the washer and dryer on and early in
the morning instead of the daytime, right, Things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, what I don't I don't think people have a
good appreciation for is that energy costs when we appurchase
it from the market, when we generate it as a
different price at different times of the day. There's times
when there's peak times when a lot of people are
using it and it has a higher price, and so
what we try to do is kind of flatten that
curve or flatten that peak, and so looking at how
people use energy at different times and they can.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Get a better rate as a result of that.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And so we have on peak or off peak pricing
and we look to try to help shift how people
use energy.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
How about electric cars, are they having an impact people
with the chargers in the garage yet or anything?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
We still see growth, I mean ones up for electric vehicle.
Some people prefer a traditional vehicle. We still see a
lot of people that are making the choice run electric
vehicles and having the convenience of that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's kind of like charging at home. It's kind of
like having the gas your gas pump right in your house.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
It's very so charging overnight is the least expensive.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Way to do it.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
It's charging overnight is the least expensive.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Roughly ninety five percent of our customers charge at night
and get a really good discount as a result.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Not a car insight here.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Electric Core Gas on mckinaw Island, Garrick Rochew, Consumers Energy CEO.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Thank you for being here. Yeah, thank you,
Great Lakes are a diamond on the hand of North America,
brightly shining jewel. The friendship bordering fresh Water Highway coming
down from Canada.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
All around the shoreline, you can hear them sing, Sweeten.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Mother Michigan, Father Superior, coming down from Macanon, Sue Saint Marie,
blue water, Heuron flow down to Lake Yi, fall to
Onterial from all out seeds.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Oh, Garrick Roch. You ever heard that song before that?
Patrick Houston Daily. Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? It was
kind of like the Great Lakes. Jimmy Buffett and he
was in sconce that put In Bay in Ohio, there
on the islands in Lake Erie, and he sang this
song and he wrote it with shel Silverstein, if you
(01:14):
remember who wrote The Giving Tree. And I would say,
if only the conditions he's singing about, when the Great
Lakes were as placid as the song sounds all the time,
if only the weather was like that all the time,
well he would have a less interesting job, wouldn't you.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I would have a listen.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
That's an exciting time with the utilities always is exciting time.
I'm glad you put it that way, because it's something
that we trust. And one of the things we've been
talking about at this conference and just it's sort of
in general now is we have to rely on people.
We have to rely on our innovation and people to trust.
And sometimes we don't know who to trust. But when
(01:53):
the lights come on and the heat comes on, and
the power comes on and our laptop comes on and
it's all because of consumer's energy, we have to trust you.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yes, Well, what it's the trust is is our over
a thousand quarkers.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
We're authors and every day and guess.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Workers, engineers, accountants, you name it. They play an important
role and make sure a system's safe and responding when
when there's an interruption in service. And so that's what
makes it special. And that's the that's the people you
count on every day out in the field.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And you're at the top of that heap, the buck
stops with you. How does that field you know?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Again, it's it's it's a great team. And so I
counted them to deliver. And so we spent a lot
of time working on here's where we're going from a
direction standpoint as a company, And I think about our
strategy like it's a very exciting time to be in
this industry. But again, it's a great team, and I
get to I am fortunate enough to lead it, and
so put count on that team to deliver each day,
and that's what they do.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
When you drove up through northern Michigan from Jackson, did
you see still remnants of the storms and how are
things going?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's really dramatic up here, particularly northern Michigan. Certainly in
that ice storm, we had an up an inch and
a half of ice. And if you think about ice
and the damage that ice causes. If you think two
poles and there's a span of wire between those two poles,
a half an inch of ice is the equivalent of
a grand piano hanging on the lines. Think about a
grand piano hanging on our that's just half an inch.
We had an inch and a half. It's equivalent of
(03:19):
three grand pianos hanging on that line. Of course, there's
going to be some damage of cours. The's are going
to be some trees come down, and that's the worst
kind of storm, frankly, because it just kind of hangs there.
The ice doesn't melt right away, and so it's a
pretty treacherous storm. The team responded well, and there's a
number of utilities that serve northern Michigan and we went
out and helped some of them too once we were complete,
(03:40):
and so I'm just again proud of the team and
when they came together to deliver for our customers.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
That is a really interesting way to think about it.
You have to get your head around that a little bit,
but it's amazing. I'm reading this morning in the news.
It's just sort of random.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
The J. H.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Campbell plant in West Olive where we're heard on the radio.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Of course it's going to open for now.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Does that mean anything to you.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well, absolutely, you know that came out from the Department
of Energy on Friday, and so we're going to we're
planning to retire the plant actually this week and so
we're going to continue operation for another ninety days for
that across MISO, which myso is a mid continent independent
system operator. So think about it as fifteen states that
go from Wisconsin, Michigan even up as far as Manitoba
(04:27):
and Canada all the way down to Louisiana. So that's
kind of mid continent and they're responsible for reliability and
there's some needs across that greater region, not so much Michigan,
but across that greater region. And so we've been asked
by the Department of Energy to stay on for a
period of ninety days that over that window, and so
we'll do that.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
We'll continue to operate the plant.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
The biggest pieces of how do we ensure our customers
in Michigan, Our customers at Consumers Energy don't pay the
full cost of that, and so we're looking at a
sharing mechanism along with MISO and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That's one thing that I think is allowed and clear.
And the messaging we hear from consumers on this program
for years now is that you don't want us to
spend money. Well, I want your customers to have to
pay those bills. I mean you want low bills.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
We want to we want we want it to be
affordable for customers.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
We know it's a you know energy back to your
first questions about trust, right, it's about making sure that
people can afford their their energy bills. Or if you're
an industrial or commercial customer, we want you to be
able to grow in Michigan, and energy is important part
of that equation. We want to make sure that's affordable
for all customers. We want to make sure that's competitive
with other states, and so that's a piece of how
we you know, in this instance where we're going to
(05:37):
keep this plan operational, we want to make sure that
those costs are borne by by a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Because it's not just for Michigan.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It's for it's for the broader with the broader region,
broad Midwest region. So that's an important piece of thinking
about how do we keep bills affordable. The other pieces
we have great energy efficiency programs which you're really familiar with,
and that's the way people can save at their home
because it's always a you know, it's an equation of
what is the electric rate, but also how much do.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
You use of that rate?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
And if we can if we can reduce the amount
you use, that's better, that's better for our customers.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
And some of it, even though you're the CEO, so
you're way up at fifty thousand feet right on the ground,
it's what time of day you use energy, what time
of the week, as simple as that, Right, Maybe we
launder put the washer and dryer on and early in
the morning instead of the daytime, right, Things like that.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, what I don't I don't think people have a
good appreciation for is that energy costs when we appurchase
it from the market, when we generate it as a
different price at different times of the day. There's times
when there's peak times when a lot of people are
using it and it has a higher price, and so
what we try to do is kind of flatten that
curve or flatten that peak, and so looking at how
people use energy at different times and they can.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Get a better rate as a result of that.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And so we have on peak or off peak pricing
and we look to try to help shift how people
use energy.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
How about electric cars, are they having an impact people
with the chargers in the garage yet or anything?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
We still see growth, I mean ones up for electric vehicle.
Some people prefer a traditional vehicle. We still see a
lot of people that are making the choice run electric
vehicles and having the convenience of that.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
It's kind of like charging at home. It's kind of
like having the gas your gas pump right in your house.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
It's very so charging overnight is the least expensive.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Way to do it.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
It's charging overnight is the least expensive.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Roughly ninety five percent of our customers charge at night
and get a really good discount as a result.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Not a car insight here.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Electric Core Gas on mckinaw Island, Garrick Rochew, Consumers Energy CEO.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Thank you for being here. Yeah, thank you,
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