LANSING, MI-- Segments of Upper Peninsula Power Company’s Integrated Resource Plan have been accepted by the Michigan Public Service Commission.
The MPSC also recommended changes to UPPCO’s long-range strategy for meeting utility needs.
On Friday the MPSC accepted a 125-megawatt solar power contract the utility presented as the lowest-cost energy supply option; an increase in UPPCO’s energy waste reduction goals to 1.65 percent of total electricity sales in 2020 and 1.75 percent in 2021; and UPPCO’s proposal to allow its Hoist and McClure hydroelectric generating facilities to operate directly in the wholesale power market. That will increase the reported capacity of the two units by a combined 7.6 megawatts.
The commission recommends removal of UPPCO’s proposal to build a natural gas power plant in its eastern service territory to replace its Portage combustion turbine unit after the unit’s catastrophic failure in November 2018.
