The Marquette Board of Light and Power’s coal-fired Shiras Steam Plant is shown along South Lake Street in Marquette. The BLP took the coal-fired plant offline early Friday. Officials say the move will save the BLP money, with the utility relying more heavily on the newer natural gas-fueled Marquette Energy Center and purchasing power from the grid to supply its customers with electricity. (Journal file photo by Rachel Oakley)

MARQUETTE — The Shiras Steam Plant, a coal-fired power electric generating station owned and operated by the Marquette Board of Light and Power, was taken offline early Friday and placed in a layup status after the last bits of coal were burned at the South Lake Street facility in Marquette.

BLP officials say the goal is to rely more heavily on the newer natural gas-fueled Marquette Energy Center and purchase power from the grid to replace Shiras as the primary supply of energy, with every effort to preserve the coal-fired plant in a way that the integrity of the facility is maintained.

In August, consulting firm Burns and McDonnell conducted a power supply planning analysis study for BLP operations. The study revealed, based on current projections, that the BLP could potentially reduce power supply costs by more than $100 million over the next 20 years by taking advantage of the operational flexibility of the new MEC and using the electric grid markets, overseen by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

BLP board members unanimously voted to follow the strategy going forward at a March meeting, with Jerry Irby making the motion and Robert Niemi supporting.

Tom Carpenter, executive director of the BLP, said no Shiras employees will lose their jobs but will instead be placed at other BLP-operated sites.

Carpenter said the next steps will be to transition resources to the MEC and start running it Monday on a regular basis.

“Then we’ll move forward with that,” he said, adding that the BLP has more than enough generating capacity to sustain its almost 17,000 customers.

The MEC consists of three 18-megawatt Wartsila reciprocating internal combustion engines, which are fueled primarily by natural gas with the ability to also use fuel oil. The BLP also operates two hydro facilities with lower generating capabilities.

Shiras generated 44 megawatts and is ranked as one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the country based on sulfur dioxide emission rates, according to the BLP website.

BLP board Chairman Tom Tourville said the ramping down of the Shiras plant isn’t a new concept.

“We’ve have been talking for a few months about, once the coal was used up, Shiras would be parked for the meantime, once the last amount of coal was used up,” Tourville said. “It’s just much more feasible to use the MEC and the grid … Shiras is parked and we don’t anticipate using it going forward.”

The BLP has a regular meeting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the board room of the BLP’s main office at 2200 Wright St., Marquette. The Shiras Steam Plant will be on the board’s agenda of items to discuss.

Tourville said the board will not be voting on anything, but they plan to talk about future possibilities of Shiras and what the next steps could entail. Along the way, Tourville said the BLP will seek public input while working with city officials. He said within the next couple of months, the board might send out a request for proposals from consultants to help determine the future of Shiras.

“This is a slow and gradual process of phasing out of coal,” Tourville said. “It’s the beginning of the end, for sure, for Shiras.”

The BLP was founded in 1889 and maintains approximately 350 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines over a service territory of 250 square miles, and serves about 16,500 customers in the city of Marquette and surrounding townships.

Jaymie Depew can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is jdepew@miningjournal.net.