Brett French, UPPCO vice president of Business Development and Communications

MARQUETTE — The Michigan Public Service Commission supports a proposed 125-megawatt solar generation array from Upper Peninsula Power Co., but is recommending against a plan to build a 20-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant in Schoolcraft County.

The recommendations came as part of a preliminary MPSC order issued Friday on UPPCO’s proposed Integrated Resource Plan, which is required under state energy legislation enacted in 2016. The IRP outlines an electric utility’s “long range plans for meeting customer needs for the next (five), 10 and 15 years to ensure a transparent and holistic view of electricity options that consider supply diversity, reliability, costs and environment and other factors,” the MPSC order states.

The order recommends removal of proposed reciprocating internal combustion engine unit, or RICE unit, to replace UPPCO’s 45-year-old fuel-oil-fired Portage Station, which suffered a “catastrophic failure” and became inoperable, according to a November 2018 inspection report from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

A more “robust discussion of alternatives” is expected by the MPSC, the commission’s press release states.

“The commission said that, given relatively high rates in UPPCO’s service territory and costs that would be paid solely by UPPCO’s ratepayers, it was not persuaded that the RICE unit is warranted at this time,” the release states.

According to the finalized order released by the MPSC, Citizens Against Rate Excess and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who were interveners in the case, opposed the proposed natural gas facility “citing sufficient resource adequacy without the RICE unit, cost concerns and transmission issues needing to be further analyzed.”

“Constructing the RICE plant to avoid the wholesale and spot markets would only be justifiable if it reduced costs or mitigated costs (sic) risks, neither of which the modeling demonstrated would occur,” CARE argued. “The potential voltage support that the RICE unit would provide is also insufficient to support its construction, particularly when a more reasonable and cost-effective alternative such as distributed solar plus storage may exist.

The commission accepted the solar power contract presented by UPPCO as the ‘lowest cost energy supply option.'”

The IRP was initially filed in February by UPPCO, which provides electricity to about 52,000 customers in mostly rural areas of the Upper Peninsula.

In the press release, UPPCO Vice President of Business Development and Communication Brett French called the MPSC order a “major milestone” in the case.

He said the IRP “reflects the feedback and input we received from our customers during the 18 months of intensive engineering study and economic evaluation.”

“Our plan calls for a significant increase in clean, renewable solar energy, expansion of our Energy Waste Reduction program, new natural gas-fired reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE) generation and continued reliance on the company’s existing hydrogeneration asset,” French said. “The interim order contains a number of details and recommendations. We look forward to reviewing the details of the MPSC’s interim order as we continue our efforts to adopt an IRP that delivers considerable benefits to the customers we serve for years to come.”

The MPSC’s press release states that parties may file comments in response to the commission’s recommendations in the case by Dec. 23. UPPCO has until Jan. 6 to consider the recommended changes and submit a revised IRP.

Under statute, a final decision on an IRP is due within 360 days of its initial filing; that deadline is Feb. 7 for UPPCO’s IRP.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.