DTE completes Ford-funded 100 MW Cold Creek solar park; Ford's Michigan target moves to 2027
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readDTE Energy has finished building the 100 MW Cold Creek Solar Park near Coldwater, Michigan, which will help supply Ford's factories in the state with renewable electricity, Electrek reported on 2 October from DTE's announcement.
How it is paid for. Ford is funding the $194 million project through its enrolment in DTE's voluntary renewable programme, CleanVision MIGreenPower, which lets households and businesses match their electricity use with renewable power generated in Michigan while helping to finance new wind and solar. Construction began in April 2025. Cold Creek generates the equivalent of the electricity used by about 23,000 to 25,000 Michigan households and is the first of several DTE projects being built for Ford.
The larger commitment. In 2022 Ford agreed to buy up to 650 MW of renewable energy through MIGreenPower. The goal, according to DTE's latest announcement, is for every vehicle Ford assembles in Michigan to be built with the equivalent of 100% carbon-free electricity by the end of 2027. When the agreement was first announced in August 2022 the target year was 2025; the new announcement does not explain the change.
Local effects. At the time of the 2022 agreement DTE estimated that building the solar arrays would create 250 temporary jobs and 10 permanent ones, and said host communities could use the extra tax revenue for roads, schools, libraries and first responders. Those figures covered the whole buildout rather than Cold Creek alone, and DTE has not given project-level numbers.
Ford's wider targets. The company aims to use 100% carbon-free electricity across its global manufacturing by 2035 and to reach carbon neutrality across vehicles, manufacturing and supply chain by 2050.
What it means
Utility green tariffs like MIGreenPower are how large manufacturers in regulated states buy new renewables without signing their own power purchase agreements: the utility builds and owns, the customer pays the premium. The quiet two-year slip in Ford's Michigan target is a reminder that these programmes depend on the utility's construction schedule, and that corporate deadlines move with it.