Wolverine: ‘MPSC Staff Report Misses the Mark’
Wolverine Power Cooperative said the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) staff report on the cooperative?s Electric Generation Alternatives Analysis (EGAA) ignores the facts of Wolverine?s power supply situation and the realities of today?s wholesale electric marketplace and is potentially devastating for northeastern Michigan?s economy. In its report, MPSC staff stated that Wolverine ?failed to demonstrate the need? for its Wolverine Clean Energy Venture (WCEV) power plant project. However, the MPSC report did not identify a lower cost alternative to the WCEV plant for generating power. Wolverine is developing the $1 billion-plus, 600-megawatt (MW) solid fuel plant south of Rogers City.
?Wolverine disagrees with the MPSC staff?s assessment of our electric generation alternatives document,? said Eric D. Baker, Wolverine president and CEO. ?While we agree that energy efficiency and renewable energy are important components of Wolverine?s future power supply portfolio, Michigan must build new base load generation to replace its aging power plants, which are among the oldest in the country.?
Wolverine voluntarily submitted its 500-plus page EGAA to the MPSC earlier this summer documenting its need for 500 MW of new capacity in 2012, with that need growing in the future, despite a determination by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox that the process had no legal basis and violated the state constitution. While Wolverine respects the position of MPSC staff, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), not the MPSC, has the authority to issue the pending air quality permit. TWO NORTHERN Michigan lawmakers agreed that the Wolverine plant is needed. State Representative Andy Neumann (D-Alpena) joined Wolverine in blasting the MPSC report. ?Our hard-working men and women deserve the good-paying jobs that a new power plant would bring to our state,? Neumann said. ?Michigan already has many power plants that aren?t nearly as clean or efficient as the facility Wolverine Power is proposing. MPSC’s report is completely counterproductive to what we need to do to begin turning our economy around.?
Neumann said denying a major job provider like Wolverine will hurt local residents and Michigan. ?Our workers are the best of the best, and any company would be lucky to do business in Northern Michigan. When we have opportunities like this in Michigan, we have to grab them before we lose these jobs to workers in other states and even other countries,? he said.
?I am deeply troubled that the Granholm Administration has come out against the development and operation of the Wolverine Electric Co-operative plant planned for Rogers City. This project would provided the area with needed construction jobs and permanent employment, as well as being a technologically advanced source of electric power.?
?THE MDEQ initially determined that our project met all applicable legal requirements when it issued our draft air quality permit in September 2008,? Baker said. Baker indicated that Wolverine would continue to work constructively with officials from the MDEQ on the pending permit. The MDEQ is expected to issue a decision on the permit later this year.