General Motors (GM) has announced a significant step in its ongoing commitment to renewable energy through a new 15-year purchase agreement with NorthStar Clean Energy, a unit of CMS Energy. This deal is the largest power purchase agreement GM has entered into so far and is a crucial part of the company’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2040.
The agreement will see GM sourcing renewable energy from NorthStar’s Newport Solar project, located in Newport, Arkansas. The 180-megawatt facility will provide renewable energy to power GM’s Lansing Delta Township Assembly and Lansing Grand River Assembly plants in Michigan, as well as the Wentzville Assembly site in Missouri. The Newport project is capable of generating enough electricity to power 30,000 homes annually, adding renewable energy directly to the grid that GM sources from.
Rob Threlkeld, GM’s director of global energy strategy, highlighted the significance of this move: “By expanding our renewable electricity portfolio, we are taking a major step forward in reducing our carbon footprint and advancing our broader sustainability goals. This facility not only supports our renewable electricity strategy but also demonstrates our dedication to a sustainable future for all.”
This agreement marks an important milestone in GM’s journey toward sustainability. In 2022, the company announced that it had secured the necessary energy sourcing agreements to power all its U.S. sites with 100 percent renewable electricity by the end of 2025. With agreements now in place from 17 renewable energy plants across 11 states, GM has become the automotive industry’s largest buyer of renewable power by capacity.
General Motors is being recognized by the Department of Energy for an innovative project that reduced natural gas consumption at the company’s Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant by 30 percent, against a 2019 baseline.
At the plant, Maria Vargas, director of DOE’s Better Climate Challenge, highlighted GM’s leadership in energy efficiency and toured the facility, which repurposes waste heat from gas-powered generators to heat the plant and protect the emergency sprinkler systems from freezing in colder months. GM is working to deploy a similar heat recovery system at St. Catharine’s Propulsion Plant in Ontario, which is expected to be operational next year.
The project is part of GM’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations by 72 percent by 2035 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The assembly plant’s carbon reduction from the project is equivalent to the energy needed to heat 4,900 houses for one year, and the reduced use of natural gas and electricity saves GM $3.5 million annually.