CONSUMERS ENERGY CO

Certain terms used in the text and financial statements are defined below.

2023 Form 10‑K

2023 Energy Law

Michigan’s Public Acts 229, 230, 231, 233, 234, and 235 of 2023

3G

Third generation technology

4G

Fourth generation technology

ABATE

Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity

ASP

Appliance Service Plan

Aviator Wind

Aviator Wind Holdings, LLC, a VIE in which Aviator Wind Equity Holdings holds a Class B membership interest

Aviator Wind Equity Holdings

Aviator Wind Equity Holdings, LLC, a VIE in which Grand River Wind, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, has a 51‑percent interest

Bay Harbor

A residential/commercial real estate area located near Petoskey, Michigan, in which CMS Energy sold its interest in 2002

Bcf

Billion cubic feet

CCR

Coal combustion residual

CEO

Chief Executive Officer

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended

CFO

Chief Financial Officer

Clean Air Act

Federal Clean Air Act of 1963, as amended

Clean Energy Plan

Consumers’ long-term strategy for delivering clean, reliable, resilient, and affordable energy to its customers; this plan was originally outlined and approved in Consumers’ 2018 integrated resource plan and subsequently updated and approved through its 2021 integrated resource plan

Clean Water Act

Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, as amended

CMS Energy

CMS Energy Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise noted; the parent of Consumers and NorthStar Clean Energy

CMS Land

CMS Land Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS Capital, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS Energy

Consumers

Consumers Energy Company and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise noted; a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS Energy

Consumers 2014 Securitization Funding

Consumers 2014 Securitization Funding LLC, a wholly owned consolidated bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of Consumers and special-purpose entity organized for the sole purpose of purchasing and owning securitization property, issuing securitization bonds, and pledging its interest in securitization property to a trustee to collateralize the securitization bonds

Consumers 2023 Securitization Funding

Consumers 2023 Securitization Funding LLC, a wholly owned consolidated bankruptcy-remote subsidiary of Consumers and special-purpose entity organized for the sole purpose of purchasing and owning securitization property, issuing securitization bonds, and pledging its interest in securitization property to a trustee to collateralize the securitization bonds

Covert Generating Station

A 1,200-MW natural gas-fueled generation station that was acquired by Consumers in May 2023 from New Covert Generating Company, LLC, a non-affiliated company

Craven

Craven County Wood Energy Limited Partnership, a VIE in which HYDRA‑CO Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, has a 50‑percent interest

CSAPR

Cross-State Air Pollution Rule of 2011, as amended

DB Pension Plans

Defined benefit pension plans of CMS Energy and Consumers, including certain present and former affiliates and subsidiaries

DB SERP

Defined Benefit Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan

DIG

Dearborn Industrial Generation, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dearborn Industrial Energy, L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy

Dodd-Frank Act

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010

DTE Electric

DTE Electric Company, a non‑affiliated company

EGLE

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

Endangered Species Act

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended

energy waste reduction

The reduction of energy consumption through energy efficiency and demand-side energy conservation, as established under Michigan law

EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPS

Earnings per share

Exchange Act

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Federal Power Act

Federal Power Act of 1920

FERC

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

FTR

Financial transmission right

GAAP

U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

Genesee

Genesee Power Station Limited Partnership, a VIE in which HYDRA‑CO Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, has a 50‑percent interest

Good Neighbor Plan

A plan issued by the EPA which secures significant reductions in ozone-forming emissions of NOx from power plants and industrial facilities

Grayling

Grayling Generating Station Limited Partnership, a VIE in which HYDRA‑CO Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, has a 50‑percent interest

IRS

Internal Revenue Service

kWh

Kilowatt-hour, a unit of energy equal to one thousand watt-hours

Ludington

Ludington pumped-storage plant, jointly owned by Consumers and DTE Electric

MATS

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which limit mercury, acid gases, and other toxic pollution from coal‑fueled and oil‑fueled power plants

MD&A

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

MGP

Manufactured gas plant

Migratory Bird Treaty Act

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended

MISO

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.

mothball

To place a generating unit into a state of extended reserve shutdown in which the unit is inactive and unavailable for service for a specified period, during which the unit can be brought back into service after receiving appropriate notification and completing any necessary maintenance or other work; generation owners in MISO must request approval to mothball a unit, and MISO then evaluates the request for reliability impacts

MPSC

Michigan Public Service Commission

MW

Megawatt, a unit of power equal to one million watts

NAAQS

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

Natural Gas Act

Natural Gas Act of 1938

Newport Solar Holdings

Newport Solar Holdings III, LLC, a VIE in which Newport Solar Equity Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand River Solar, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, holds a Class B membership interest

NorthStar Clean Energy

NorthStar Clean Energy Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of CMS Energy, formerly known as CMS Enterprises Company

NOx

Nitrogen oxides

NPDES

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, a permit system for regulating point sources of pollution under the Clean Water Act

NREPA

Part 201 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act of 1994, as amended

NWO Holdco

NWO Holdco, L.L.C., a VIE in which NWO Holdco I, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Grand River Wind, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, holds a Class B membership interest

OPEB

Other post-employment benefits

OPEB Plan

Postretirement health care and life insurance plans of CMS Energy and Consumers, including certain present and former affiliates and subsidiaries

PCB

Polychlorinated biphenyl

PPA

Power purchase agreement

RCRA

Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976

REC

Renewable energy credit

ROA

Retail Open Access, which allows electric generation customers to choose alternative electric suppliers pursuant to Michigan’s Public Acts 141 and 142 of 2000, as amended

SEC

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

securitization

A financing method authorized by statute and approved by the MPSC which allows a utility to sell its right to receive a portion of the rate payments received from its customers for the repayment of securitization bonds issued by a special-purpose entity affiliated with such utility

SOFR

Secured overnight financing rate calculated and published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and selected as the recommended alternative to replace the London Interbank Offered Rate for dollar-denominated financial contracts by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee

TAES

Toshiba America Energy Systems Corporation, a non-affiliated company

TBJH

TBJH Inc., a non-affiliated company

TCJA

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

Term SOFR

The rate per annum that is a forward-looking term rate based on SOFR

T.E.S. Filer City

T.E.S. Filer City Station Limited Partnership, a VIE in which HYDRA‑CO Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthStar Clean Energy, has a 50‑percent interest

Toshiba

Toshiba Corporation, a non-affiliated company

VIE

Variable interest entity

Wolverine Power

Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Inc., a non-affiliated company