CMS Energy Corporation CMS

CMS Energy Corporation (CMS Energy), incorporated on February 26, 1987, is an energy company operating primarily in Michigan. The Company operates through three segments: electric utility, which consists of regulated activities associated with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Michigan; gas utility, which consists of regulated activities associated with the transportation, storage and distribution of natural gas in Michigan, and enterprises, which consists of various subsidiaries engaging primarily in domestic independent power production. The Company is the parent holding company of various subsidiaries, including Consumers Energy Company (Consumers), an electric and gas utility company, and CMS Enterprises Company (CMS Enterprises), a domestic independent power producer.

Consumers serves individuals and businesses operating in the alternative energy, automotive, chemical, metal, and food products industries, as well as a group of other industries. CMS Enterprises, through its subsidiaries and equity investments, is engaged primarily in independent power production and owns power generation facilities fueled by natural gas and renewable sources. Its other business includes EnerBank USA (EnerBank), which is an industrial bank that provides unsecured consumer installment loans for financing home improvements.

Consumers Electric Utility

The Company's electric utility operations include the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. Consumers' electric utility customer base consists of a mix of primarily residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, Consumers' electric deliveries were 38 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh), which included retail open access (ROA) deliveries of four billion kWh. As of December 31, 2016, its transmission and distribution systems consisted of 214 miles of transmission overhead lines operating at 138 kilovolts; 188 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines operating at 138 kilovolts; four miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines operating at 138 kilovolts, and 4,430 miles of high-voltage distribution overhead lines operating at 46 kilovolts and 69 kilovolts. As of December 31, 2016, its transmission and distribution systems also consisted of 19 miles of high-voltage distribution underground lines operating at 46 kilovolts; 56,067 miles of electric distribution overhead lines; 10,532 miles of underground distribution lines, and substations with an aggregate transformer capacity of 25 million kilo-volt-ampere (kVA).

Consumers Gas Utility

The Company's gas utility operations include the purchase, transmission, storage, distribution and sale of natural gas. Its gas utility customer base consists of a mix of primarily residential, commercial and industrial customers in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, deliveries of natural gas through Consumers' pipeline and distribution network, including off-system transportation deliveries, totaled 358 billion cubic feet (bcf), which included gas customer choice (GCC) deliveries of 46 bcf. As of December 31, 2016, its gas transmission, storage and distribution system consisted of 1,670 miles of transmission lines; 15 gas storage fields with a total storage capacity of 309 bcf and a working gas volume of 151 bcf; 27,920 miles of distribution mains, and eight compressor stations with a total of 166,474 installed and available horsepower.

Enterprises

The Company's enterprises segment, through various subsidiaries and certain equity investments, is engaged primarily in domestic independent power production, the marketing of independent power production, and the development of renewable generation. As of December 31, 2016, CMS Energy had ownership interests in independent power plants totaling 1,177 megawatts (MW) or 1,077 net MW. CMS Energy Resource Management Company (CMS ERM) purchases and sells energy commodities in support of CMS Energy's generating facilities with a focus on optimizing CMS Energy's independent power production portfolio. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, CMS ERM marketed seven bcf of natural gas and 5,906 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity.