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The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has accepted portions of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) submitted earlier this year by Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO).
The IRP outlines the utility’s plans for power production, energy sources, waste reduction, and protection for customers from risks in production and transmission of electricity.
In the plan, UPPCO committed to producing 56 per cent of it energy using solar and hydroelectric sources by 2022. The PSC endorsed the company’s proposal to contract for 125 megawatts of solar energy as a means toward that goal. UPPCO already produces a little more than 20 percent of its power from hydroelectric generation.
The PSC also approved the company’s energy waste reduction goals, a plan to allow the Hoist and McClure hydroelectric stations to operate directly in the wholesale market, and new avoided cost pricing for small, independent power producers from which UPPCO purchases power.
The Commission rejected UPPCO’s plan to build a new, 20-megawatt natural gas-fired power station in the eastern portion of its service area. Instead, it encouraged the company to search for alternatives, such as partnering with another utility to build a generating plant, so that the entire cost would not be borne exclusively by UPPCO customers.
UPPCO Vice President of Business Development and Communications Brett French called the decision a major milestone in the process, and said the company looks forward to reviewing the details of the interim order. See their press release here.
UPPCO has until January 6, 2020, to revise and resubmit its IRP. The final decision on the document by the PSC is due by February 7, 2020. See the PSC’s release here.
