The Michigan Public Service Commission has approved a new billion-dollar natural gas power plant in St. Clair County.
The 1,100 megawatt (MW) facility will be built on 40 acres next to DTE Energy's Belle River Power Plant in East China Township, between Courtright and Sombra on the Canadian side of the St. Clair River.
Construction is expected to start in the spring of 2019 with the plant becoming operational in the spring of 2022.
DTE says it will partially replace 2,100 MW of generation that'll be lost when eight coal-fired units are retired between 2020 and 2023.
The company estimates the project will create 520 full-time construction jobs and 35 full-time operating positions.
It will be DTE's first major power plant to be built since the Fermi nuclear plant went into service in 1988.
