Utilities' report warns of energy shortage: Consumers, DTE urge building new power plants

Utilities' report warns of energy shortage: Consumers, DTE urge building new power plants | Crain's Detroit Business:
Michigan's two largest utilities -- Consumers Energy and DTE Energy Co. -- are mounting a major public relations effort to make legislators and electric customers aware that a shortage of power generation reserve could occur in Michigan and the Midwest starting in 2016.
The public education campaign began last month with the release of a utility-commissioned report by Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants Inc. called Electric Reliability in Michigan: The Challenge Ahead.
The use of the word "reliability" in the report surprised some experts because that word generally is used by state regulators -- and even DTE and Consumers themselves -- to describe the frequency and duration of power failures caused by storms. 
But utility representatives said that because of the planned retirement of nine coal-fired power plants in Michigan over the next two years, reliability now also means the ability of power companies to provide adequate electricity to customers at peak demand.