All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S08E06.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
On "Tomorrow's World Today,"
we explore the cutting-edge

advances that are shaping four
different worlds.

The world of inspiration,
where the wonders of

the natural world amaze
and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life from

traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions

move us all forward.

The world of production,
where innovations

are mass-produced to
improve our lives.

From Inventionland World
Headquarters, here's your host,

George Davison.

Electricity as we know it began
with a bold experiment

involving a kite, a key,
and a storm.

When Ben Franklin first
captured energy from

lightning, he revolutionized
our understanding of power.

This experiment ultimately led
to the invention of

the lightning rod,
protecting homes and barns.

It also sparked the world's
first ideas about harnessing

energy to improve life.
So let's fast-forward to today.

Electricity powers nearly
everything that we do.

The light bulb, electric cars,
and even our smartphones all

trace their origins back to
that spark of discovery.

Now over time,
we created entire industries

dedicated to generating
and then delivering power.

Our world relies on electricity
more than ever, and it's driving

continuous innovation to meet
increasing demand.

Yet progress also brings
new challenges.

So how do we produce enough
electricity to sustain

our growing population?

And how do we innovate to
make it reliable,

renewable, and affordable
for everyone?

These are big questions that
shape the future of energy

and the direction
of our technology.

So I'm gonna send Greg to
the world of innovation in

Grand Rapids, Michigan,
to explore how leaders in this

field are pioneering new
approaches to energy.

[Greg] Whether powering
homes, businesses,

or entire communities,
energy companies are taking

a forward-thinking approach
to innovation.

I'm in Grand Rapids,
Michigan at Consumers Energy to

meet with Lauren Snyder,
Vice President of

Customer Experience, to discuss
their cutting-edge projects

and their vision for energy in
tomorrow's world.

-Hey, Greg.
-Hi, Lauren.

-Welcome to Consumers Energy.
-Thank you very much.

I'm excited to be here
and excited to learn more about

what it is that you do.

-Yeah.
Tell me a little bit about
your mission.

OK, so I have to start with
explaining where we are.

So us Michiganders, we like to
use the hand as our map.

And we at Consumers Energy get
the privilege to serve

6.8 million customers with
electricity and natural gas.

[Greg] Now, as we look
towards the future

and the electrification
of things,

a lot of folks are worried
about the grid,

and some of the problems that
we've seen that have
occurred with that.

What are you doing towards that
end to make sure that all of

this energy remains reliable?

So we are deeply committed to
providing reliable energy

that's affordable
and it's clean.

And myself and my 8,000
coworkers at Consumers Energy,

we all live and work
in Michigan.

We're deeply committed to this
state and the success of
this state.

And the work that we do at
Consumers Energy is to make

sure that we are leaving this
state better than we found it.

We have a big ambition to be
net-zero by 2040.

That's excellent.

I would love to learn more
about that.

All right, let's go.

So Lauren, as we talk about
a net-zero future,

none of this is anything new
for Consumers Energy.
-No.

You've actually been involved
in alternate sources of

generating energy
since the '70s.

-Yeah.
-But now there's a real
shift happening.

Tell me more about that.

So innovation is
a key part of our plan

as well as reliability.

And so the way that we are
gonna deliver a reliable energy

to our Michiganders,
our customers, is through what

we call our clean energy plan.

And this is a plan that is
comprised of a diverse mix of

generation supply.
We start with our gas plants.

As we start to make this
transition, they are

the base load.

You layer on renewables like
solar and wind,

and then you compliment those
renewables with

battery storage.

The other aspect of our plan is
an opportunity for us to engage

with our Michiganders in ways
that we haven't before.

We are working with them to use
less energy and to shift usage.

You know, we have the greatest
demand on our electric system

during the summer when
our customers crank up

their air conditioning units.

And so having them shift
their usage is

also a key
aspect of this plan.

-OK, well, that's asking
Michiganders to engage...
-Yeah.

...in a new way.

-Yes.
-So now they've got to
buy into this as well.

What's really in it for them
in the end?

Well, to start with, this is
a more affordable plan.

So between now and 2040,
we will reduce operational

costs by $600 million.

The second is a more reliable
energy mix.

And the third is
a cleaner environment.

I think about cleaner air.

I think about the state of
Michigan and the beautiful

natural resources that we have
with our Great Lakes.

We are going to leave Michigan
better than we found it.

Well, I would really like to
learn more about

the Net-Zero 2040 plan.
-Great, follow me.

Becoming net zero by 2040 is
a huge undertaking.

What would drive a decision
like that?

It's a huge undertaking.

You know, at Consumers Energy,
we make decisions through

the lens of
what's best for people,

for our planet, and prosperity,

particularly for
the state of Michigan.

And so as we watch
the economics of renewables get

better, we knew that that would
translate into more affordable

bills for our customers.
So that's a win.

We know, too, that more
renewable resources equates to

cleaner air.
That's a win for us.

And then when we think about
prosperity, a lot of companies

have made sustainability goals.

And in the spirit of retaining
businesses and attracting

new businesses,
we wanna be able to deliver

renewable solutions
for them.

OK, well, the economics of
this are important.

So as you look at completing
your transition out of coal in

2025, you look at those areas
that -- where a coal plant was

probably a really big part of
their local economy.

What are you doing to make sure
that you don't leave

those communities behind?

Well, we aren't leaving
them behind.

We are just changing the way
that we show up in

those communities.

Again, these are our neighbors,
these are our families,

these are our friends.

And so we have made a concerted
effort to partner with those

communities to find out what
would benefit them.

What do they want to see here
as we decommission

these coal plants?

You know, one great example is
we are revitalizing one of

our plants, the land on that
property, we're turning that

into a solar array.

So that's just one example of
how we are partnering to make

sure that we are leaving those
communities most impacted

better than we found them.
-Well, that sounds great.

And I'm actually heading out to

visit one of your solar
gardens right now.

[Greg]
I'm at a Consumers Energy
solar garden in Grand Rapids,

Michigan, to discuss the future
of solar panels with

Jessica Woycehoski,
Executive Director of

Renewable Operations.

So Jessica, when people think
of Michigan, they might not be

thinking of like, big
sunshiny days.

Is solar energy still
really viable

in an environment
like this?

Absolutely, we're here in
Michigan on

an October blue-sky day.
It is powering up the panels.

You've seen the frost that has
melted up and it's getting

ready to provide power to
our friends and our neighbors.

[Greg] Excellent, now how many
of these arrays does

Consumers Energy have?

[Jessica] We have several arrays
across the state that

we have built,
and we continue to build more

as we work towards
our clean energy plan.

And we expect to have roughly
maybe 10 or 20 projects here

over the many, many years that
we've got.

OK, well, let's talk about
some of the new technology

that's going into those
new arrays.

Tell me about that.

What you see here is what's
called a monofilm.

They only capture the sun from
the very top of the panel.

But in the future, we're gonna
have bifacial modules.

And what that means is that
we will have the ability to

capture the sun from behind
the panel as well as from

the front of the panel.

So on the snowy winter days
that we have here in Michigan,

you're gonna have the sun
reflect off of that snow.

It's gonna hit that panel,
and that will provide much more

energy for our customers,
365 days a year.

That's excellent.

Anybody that's been out on
a really snow-covered day knows

just how bright that
reflection can be.

Now, these solar panels,
these are fixed, correct?

These are fixed panels,
and that's another improvement

in technology is we're gonna
have single-axis trackers,

and that is what it's gonna do.

It's gonna track with the sun
to give more and more power

throughout the day.

So I know that Consumers Energy
is also involved in a lot of

different alternate forms of
energy generation.

-Let's go talk about that.
-Absolutely.

Jessica, as we look at
alternate ways to generate

power and the energy mix
that'll provide us with

a greener future,

hydroelectric is
a big part of that.

Tell me what Consumers Energy
is doing in that field.

[Jessica]
Consumers Energy operates
Ludington Pump Storage

Facility, which acts like
a really large battery.

And we have operated it
for 50 years.

When built, it was the largest
one in the world.

And even 50 years later,
it is still one of the largest.

When you talk about it being
a battery, explain to me how

the whole system works.

It is a facility that sits on
Lake Michigan.

And when we have beautiful
sunny days where our solar

facilities are generating a lot
of power, a lot of extra power

than what people of Michigan
really need, we use that power

in order to turn on
reversible pumps.

Those reversible pumps pull up
water into

an 840-acre reservoir.

It sits about 363 feet high.

That water sits there until
people of Michigan

really need it.

And then we draw that down
by gravity.

It spins a turbine generator
and it creates power.

Wow, so it really is like
a different kind of a battery,

like not the way we would
typically think about it.

You use when demand is low,
you pull that power up to

the reservoir and then just let
gravity do the work.

[Jessica] Correct.

So, it sounds like it would be
pretty clean.

It's just water that's flowing
down by gravity to create power.

That's excellent.

Well, there's a new technology
that I've just been learning

about that I'm really
interested in finding out some

more about it,
a renewable natural gas.

-Can we talk about that?
-Yeah, absolutely, let's go.

Well, Jessica, we're all pretty
familiar with the way natural

gas has been provided for us
for a very long time, which is

you drill for it.
So how can that be renewable?

That process is definitely not
a renewable process.

What is renewable that we're
working on is that we utilize

cows and manure.

And so that manure generates
methane gas, which can be

collected and it'll provide
a low-cost, clean energy

alternative to the natural gas
we provide today.

Is it the same as
fossilized natural gas?

They're chemically
exactly the same.

The only difference is that
we are getting that from

a renewable resource,
which is cow manure.

Consumers Energy doesn't
operate its own dairy farm.

How are you making all
that happen?

We've got two industries that
are combining together.

You have an energy utility
and you have your local

community farm dairies.

So we're gonna come together
and we're going to be able to

create a low-cost alternative
to natural gas.

How have the dairy farmers been
reacting to all this?

[Jessica] They've been excited.

I think it's
a great opportunity.

And one story we have is that
we are building a 140-megawatt

solar facility called
Spring Creek.

And next to that is also
Spring Creek Dairy Farms.

And joining those two together,
it really sets up that

Spring Creek Dairy Farm to be
very prosperous

here at the state
of Michigan.

Thank you very much for
teaching me about a lot of

great new technologies that are
gonna be happening in

energy production.
-Yeah, you're welcome.

[Greg] I'm meeting with Neil
Dreisig, Executive Director of

Natural Gas Strategy
and Projects to discuss clean,

reliable, and affordable
energy sources.

-Hey, Neil.
-Hi, Greg.

-How are you?
-Doing great, thanks.

This facility is really
something else.

Tell me how this all works.

This is a compressor station,
and how this works is we take

gas from outside the state,
it comes in through

transmission lines into
this facility.

And what this facility does is
it takes it, pressurizes it

and pushes it underground.

Now the unique part about this
is Michigan is geographically

disadvantaged in that
it's a peninsula,

but it's geologically
advantaged in that we have

naturally occurring
underground formations.

These underground formations
are about as close as you can

get to an underground
storage tank.

Well, what would the advantage
for your customers be in

storing the gas this way?

We buy the majority of our gas
in the summertime

when prices are low.

We take the gas, we store it in
these formations.

When the colder months hit,
we take the gas out of

the formations and deliver it
to customers

when those prices
are higher.

But the best part is that
the customer is paying

the lower summer rate.

Now, what are some of
the other strategies that

Consumers Energy has
to help people

reduce their energy costs.

One of our favorite things to
do is to partner with customers

by going into their homes
and helping them understand how

energy efficiency works,

strategies on how to use
less energy.

Well, that seems a little
backward that an energy

provider would want
their customers to use less of

the product, but I guess that's
one of the ways that you're

taking care of Michiganders.

That's one way they can count
on us, Greg.

[Greg] Next, I met with Kelsea
Salgado, who has had various

roles at Consumers Energy.

Kelsea, we've been talking
a lot today about

the transition away from coal
and fossil fuels to renewable

energies, and you've kind of

followed the company through
that transition.

Tell me a little bit about
your story.

I started with Consumers Energy
in the call center,

and then I went from
the call center to

an auxiliary operator with
the coal plant.

Once it was announced what
the future was for the coal

plant, I then transitioned to
the underground light

department, and that's where
I've been ever since.

[Greg] OK, well tell me about
that transition.

Did Consumers make that easy
for you?

Yeah, they made it
extremely easy.

There's a multi-level process
as you work your way up in that

particular department.

But we have, it's a combination
of in-class training,

in-the-field training,
and then the apprenticeship

that happens after that.
-Excellent.

Well, let's talk about
the underground power lines

because we're here on the west
side of Grand Rapids.
-Yes.

And as I look up, there are not
a lot of power lines.

So tell me about that process.

[Kelsea]
So we go ahead and take
the above-ground lines

and we install them underground.

[Greg] How do you get
the power lines underground

without digging up
the whole town?

[Kelsea] The boring machine,
when you set it up, you'll set

it up and back it up into
an area in the direction that

you want the rods to go.

Once the rods are in
the ground, you're actually

going underneath the driveways.

You're going
underneath the sidewalks.

Oftentimes you're going
underneath trees.

And then you place the wire on
the opposite end of

wherever you're going.

And then you pull the wire
actually through the ground.

Sometimes you use water,
sometimes you don't.

That just has to do with
the boring machine itself.

So once you get the wire
through, that's when you start

putting the transformers
and other mechanisms on top of

it, or running them up
the poles, if there is still

that connection to overhead.

And that's when we work jointly
with the above ground linemen.

Clearly, it's aesthetically
pleasing to not have

power lines everywhere.

But does it have other
impacts as well?

Before being
an auxiliary operator,

I was working at
the call center.

And the call center gave me
a front-row seat to hearing all

the calls from customers,
whether it was down power

lines, it was tree on wire,
the arcing and sparking that

will happen anytime you have
a wire across the road.

There's a lot of dangers that
are affiliated with that,

whether it's an ice storm,
there's rain, whatever kind of

inclement weather that
you have, putting them

underground will eliminate
or at least manage that risk to

a much more maintainable level,
making it much more reliable

for our neighborhoods.
-Kelsea, thank you very much.

I wish you nothing but luck
with your new role with

Consumers Energy.
Let's get on out of here.

Wonderful, thank you.

[Greg] I'm heading back to Grand
Rapids to talk to Lauren Snyder

about their energy
efficiency programs.

-Hey, Lauren.
-Hey Greg, how'd it go
out there?

It was great.

I got to see and learn so
much today.

I am so glad to hear that.

OK, so before we leave,
I have one more story to share

with you that is really near
and dear to my heart.

So the city of Flint,
we identified an opportunity to

help some residents there
really benefit from our energy

efficiency programs.

And to benefit, you have to
have good roofing, you have to

have proper insulation,
upgraded windows,

things like that.

And at no cost to them,
we did those things so that

when we came in
with our programs,

they could actually see savings
that were sustainable.

The next thing that we're doing
in Flint is around

workforce development.

We see an opportunity to go
beyond just energy to help

support our communities.

It's an opportunity for
residents in Flint to learn

a new skill, and it benefits us
because we're developing

a pipeline of new workers
into our programs.

So it really demonstrates how
together, our communities can

count on us to help deliver
a more sustainable future.

Wow.

That really is a next level
community engagement.

-Yes.
-[Greg] Excellent.

Well, I know you're heading off
to Inventionland to meet up

with George, and I've got to
get back to Pittsburgh.

-OK!
-Let's go.

Hey, Lauren.
Welcome to Inventionland.

-Thanks for having me.
-Oh, you bet.

Well, I got a great picture,
and it's your grandfather,

so you must be a third-gen.
-I am.

I'm a third-generation
employee of Consumers Energy,

and that's Russ Youngdahl Sr.,
my grandfather.

Oh my goodness.

And I hear he's
quite an innovator.

He was involved with this
massive hydroelectric plant

back in the day,
wasn't he?
-He was.

You're looking at it.

That's what it was back in
the early '70s,

and that's what it is today.

So this powers 1800 megawatts
of electricity, which equates

to 1.4 million homes.
-Oh my goodness.

And you're tied to that.
Way to go.

Well, you know what else?

I got this picture from
your team.

-You have a great team.
-Yeah.

And I was thinking, that looks
like a robotic dog.

And you know, at my house,
we have dogs,

and we love our dogs.

And they, while we're sleeping,
they keep up security

and they monitor.
-Oh yeah, exactly right.

So this is our robotic
dog, Spot.

And his role is to patrol
our substations and use

infrared technology to identify
if there's any issues.

And if he comes across
an issue, it will alert

our crews to come out
and fix the issue before

a power outage occurs.
-That makes a lot of sense.

Does Spot have his own
like, doghouse?

Actually, he does.
Yes, he does.

That's where he goes
to recharge.

And then your team sent me this
unique device.

-What is this?
-Yeah, yeah.

So, you know, we've talked
a lot about how we generate

power and we also distribute
that power to our customers

over power lines.

And we have enough power lines
to circle the globe nearly

four times.
-Wow.

It's a lot of power lines.

So this is called
a line sensor.

And this line sensor hooks onto
the power line.

And it allows us to identify
the source of the outage so

that our crews know where to go
and they're faster at

restoring power.
-Oh, I like this device.

Well, everybody,
thanks for tuning in for

"Tomorrow's World Today."
We'll see you next time.

[George] And remember,
tomorrow's world is where

inspiration and creation drive
innovation in production.