CMS ENERGY CORP

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

2023 Energy Law

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

ABATE

Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity

AFUDC

Allowance for borrowed and equity funds used during construction

ARO

Asset retirement obligation

ASP

Appliance Service Plan

ASU

Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Update

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

BG Solar Holdings

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

CCR

Coal combustion residual

CCRMU

Coal Combustion Residuals Management Unit

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 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

Covert Generating Station

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

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

Dodd-Frank Act

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

DOE

U.S. Department of Energy

DTE Electric

DTE Electric Company, a non‑affiliated company

EGLE

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

Electric Supply Plan

Consumers’ long-term strategy for delivering safe, reliable, affordable, clean, and equitable energy to its customers; this plan is outlined in Consumers’ IRP and incorporates the REP

Endangered Species Act

Federal 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

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning software

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

GCR

Gas cost recovery

GW

Gigawatt, a unit of energy equal to 1 billion watts

HL Solar Holdings

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

IRP

Integrated Resource Plan

IRS

Internal Revenue Service

IT

Information technology

J.H. Campbell

J.H. Campbell Generating Complex, a three-unit coal-fueled electric generating facility comprised of Units 1 and 2, which are wholly owned by Consumers, and Unit 3, which Consumers jointly owns with the Michigan Public Power Agency, holding a 4.80‑percent interest, and Wolverine Power, holding a 1.89‑percent interest, each a non-affiliated entity

kWh

Kilowatt-hour, a unit of energy equal to 1,000 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

MCV Facility

A 1,647-MW natural gas-fueled, combined-cycle cogeneration facility operated by the MCV Partnership

MCV Partnership

Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership, a non-affiliated company

METC

Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC, a non‑affiliated company

MGP

Manufactured gas plant

Migratory Bird Treaty Act

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended

MISO

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.

MISO Tariff

MISO Open Access Transmission, Energy, and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff

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 energy equal to 1 million watts

NAAQS

National Ambient Air Quality Standards

Natural Gas Act

Natural Gas Act of 1938

NorthStar Clean Energy

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

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

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

PSCR

Power supply cost recovery

RCRA

Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976

REP

Renewable Energy Plan

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

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

Toshiba

Toshiba Corporation, a non-affiliated company

Toshiba International

Toshiba International Corporation, a non-affiliated company

VIE

Variable interest entity