The Need
In response to tightening EPA emissions regulations, Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest utility provider, began the process of retiring several coal-fired generation units at three locations in the state. GLS was hired to assist this effort by providing a Site Competitiveness Study for the plants at Muskegon and Luna Pier.
The Solution
After kicking off the project with the Consumers Energy team, GLS issued community questionnaires to both the communities surrounding both sites to gather necessary benchmarking information. GLS consultants went on to conduct geographic competitiveness analysis at the city, state, and regional levels, site specific risk analysis, SWOT analysis, and site conditional analysis.
Operating under the assumption that both plants would be closed, demolished, and remediated for future use, GLS evaluated the sites potential competitiveness based on four industry profiles: capital-intensive manufacturing, labor-intensive manufacturing, food processing, and a logistics center, and made recommendations as to which profiles were the most attractive options for reuse.