DTE Energy
Belle River Power Plant
China Township, Michigan, United States
Certified Silver through 2025
Project Name
Project Type
Brown Bat Boxes
Bats
About the Program
The DTE Energy subsidiary, Detroit Edison, originally began operating the Belle River Power Plant in 1981. Today, the power plant is fired by coal and natural gas and is located in St. Clair County, Michigan, on a peninsula along the St. Clair and Belle rivers. With approximately 40 acres of forest and grassland area on-site, DTE Energy employees work to maintain and monitor a natural habitat. The habitat provides lifecycle needs for several groups of species such as bats, birds of prey, pollinators and bluebirds. The forested and grassland areas on-site provide crucial habitat for these species.
Practices and Impacts
The DTE Energy subsidiary, Detroit Edison, originally began operating the Belle River Power Plant in 1981. Today, the power plant is fired by coal and natural gas and is located in St. Clair County, Michigan, on a peninsula along the St. Clair and Belle rivers. With approximately 40 acres of forest and grassland area on-site, DTE Energy employees work to maintain and monitor a natural habitat. The habitat provides lifecycle needs for several groups of species such as bats, birds of prey, pollinators and bluebirds. The forested and grassland areas on-site provide crucial habitat for these species.
Practices and Impacts
- In 2019, the team installed three bat nesting boxes in order to create habitat on-site for native bats. No bats have been seen using these boxes yet, but the team continues to maintain and monitor them while considering other options to help support the bat population.
