CMS Energy Eliminates More Than 72K Outages With Smart Technology

Group 1: Company Initiatives - CMS Energy's subsidiary, Consumers Energy, has successfully eliminated 72,000 outages in 2024 through significant investments in smart technology, particularly Automatic Transfer Reclosers (ATRs), saving over 350,000 hours of potential power loss for customers this year [1][2] - Consumers Energy's Reliability Roadmap aims to ensure fewer than 100,000 customers lose power during major storms and to restore power within 24 hours after outages [2] - The company is inspecting over 1,100 substations using infrared cameras, which saved customers nearly 20 million minutes of downtime last year [5] Group 2: Infrastructure Investment - CMS Energy plans to invest $13.6 billion over the next five years to maintain and upgrade gas infrastructure and electric distribution systems, improve customer satisfaction, and facilitate clean energy transformation [6] - The aging electrical grid requires ongoing investment to upgrade and replace outdated equipment, ensuring a consistent and reliable power supply [3] Group 3: Industry Trends - Leading utility companies globally intend to invest over $116 billion annually in clean power generation and power system grid infrastructure in the coming years [4] - Other electric utilities, such as DTE Energy, Consolidated Edison, and American Electric Power, are also making significant capital investments to strengthen their infrastructure [7] Group 4: Peer Investment Strategies - DTE Energy plans to invest $25 billion over the next five years, reflecting an 8.7% increase from its previous investment plan, with a projected 4.7% year-over-year growth in 2025 sales [8] - Consolidated Edison has a capital expenditure plan of $28.05 billion for 2024-2028, having spent $4.51 billion in 2023, with a projected 4.2% year-over-year growth in 2024 sales [9] - American Electric Power plans to invest $43 billion from 2024 to 2028, with $7.4 billion expected in 2024 [10] Group 5: Stock Performance - CMS shares have gained 21.8% year-to-date, slightly outperforming the industry's growth of 21.6% [12]