DETROIT - More coal-fired power plants are closing, as DTE Energy announced June 8 that it will retire eight such energy generating units at three sites in Michigan within the next seven years. The closures represent even more lost work opportunities for the building trades workers who have worked in those plants over the decades.

Slated for retirement, between 2020 and 2023, are DTE plants in River Rouge, Trenton and East China Twp. (the St. Clair facility). Combined, these three plants generated about 25 percent of the electricity produced by DTE in 2015 -- enough to power 900,000 homes. DTE has an 11,000 megawatt system capacity.

The utility said the plant retirements "are part of an overarching fundamental transformation in the way DTE will produce energy for Michigan." Earlier this year, DTE retired three coal generating units due to age and projected future costs. With this announcement, the company will retire 11 of its 17 coal-fired units by 2023.

The announcement comes nearly two months after the state's other large baseload utility, Consumers Energy, shuttered seven of its oldest coal-burning units after serving Michigan for more than 60 years. Those plants were capable of generating nearly 1,000 megawatts of electricity. The shutdowns leave Consumers Energy with five coal-fired plants in the state.

“The way DTE generates electricity will change as much in the next 10 years as any other period in our history. We will replace 11 aging coal-fired generating units at three facilities built in the 1950s and 1960s with a mix of newer, more modern and cleaner sources of energy generation such as wind, natural gas and solar,” said DTE Energy Chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson. “DTE Energy will work with the state of Michigan on a plan that ensures electric reliability for our 2.2 million customers, places a premium on affordability, and is seamless for our employees and the communities that are home to these plants.”

Over the past five years, DTE has built significant renewable energy production which now accounts for 10 percent of the company’s total sales. In recent months it broke ground in Lapeer on one of the largest solar arrays east of the Mississippi River and announced plans to develop a solar array on vacant land in Detroit. DTE’s investments in renewable energy in Michigan provide enough clean energy to power more than 400,000 homes.

According to the Michigan Public Service Commission, windmills now generate more than 1,500 megawatts of power in Michigan, which amounts to about 70 percent of the total renewable energy created in the state.

While the building trades are enjoying the enhanced work opportunities in the solar and windmill installation sectors, the loss of the coal-burners - and the employment brought by their modifications, maintenance and upgrades - is significant. "Consumers Energy spends $1 billion to $2 billion every year on plant modifications, installation, repair and maintenance," said Rich Kasper, director of construction for Consumers Energy. "Almost all that money goes to union labor."