County continues to support Wolverine?s plans

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

An updated resolution of support for the proposed Wolverine Power plant was unanimously approved by members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners at their December 27 meeting. The county board joins Rogers Township and the City of Rogers City in their support as both governing boards passed similar resolutions December 17 and 18. The vote came after a lengthy presentation by Ken Bradstreet, Wolverine?s Director of Community and Government Affairs, and months, if not weeks, before public hearings begin as Wolverine attempts to obtain an air quality permit from the Department of Environmental Quality.

?Public hearings are going to happen with our air quality permit as early as January,? said Bradstreet. ?We don?t think it is going to happen that quickly.? He said the time frame will be up to the DEQ, but it could happen quite soon. ?This is the most significant permit that is needed to build a power plant,? said Bradstreet. The application was submitted in September.

?RESOLUTIONS OF support from local governments are a very significant indicator of support,? said Bradstreet. ?Resolutions send a strong message to the permitting agency. It also will send a strong message to the state legislature. When I was in the legislature and a community would approach me about an issue, I would ask ?what does your local government think of that issue?? If you had a resolution of support, I could be a lot more supportive.? The county board first passed a resolution of support last summer.

District 5 commissioner Stephen Lang, who represents residents from the Presque Isle area, said the air quality permit ?draws the most concern from the people in my area.? The Wolverine Clean Energy Venture, as the project is called, is Wolverine Power Cooperative?s development of new electric generation at sites near Rogers City. If the Wolverine board of directors moves forward with the project, it could bring a thousand temporary construction jobs and about 100 full-time jobs ranging in income from $40,000 to $100,000, which would mean a payroll of about $6 million annually.

PRIOR TO approval of the resolution, Bradstreet took the county board through a PowerPoint presentation — updating them on what spurred the project, giving them details about what the plant would be like and what it would burn. According to energy experts on staff at the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), said Bradstreet, new long-term power supply resources are needed to meet increasing demand for electricity in our state. MPSC energy staffers believe Michigan needs a new, sizeable power plant up and running by 2012 or soon after. ?Michigan is going to need some baseload power plants, and by baseload power plants, I mean the type of plant that runs around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,? said Bradstreet. ?That is your most efficient, cost effective power. That?s what makes up most of the power on our grid.?

?There are other types of power generation like wind, solar, and other renewable alternative energy programs. Typically, those are either higher costs or are less reliable.? The wind farm in the Thumb would power a city the size of Traverse City, or about 50 megawatts, when the wind is good, but when the wind is not blowing, it ?won?t power the lights in this room,? said Bradstreet in the commissioners? meeting room.

THERE HAVE been no new baseload power plants built since 1980, and Michigan?s plants have an average age of 49 years. ?(The MPSC) is trying to anticipate ahead of time the state?s needs, for at least one or two plants right away. We have our own particular needs. Our rate of growth is about two-and-a-half times the state average.? Wolverine has gone through the preliminary phase of announcing their intentions, opening a local office, establishing a Citizens? Advisory Group, and acquiring zoning approval. Last November, the Wolverine board decided to move forward with the development phase, said Bradstreet. After the development stage, known costs, financing and the impact to member?s rates will be known. The plant will burn coal predominantly, but also a number of other fuels ?so it has a flexibility that traditional older technology power plants do not have.?

COMPANY OFFICIALS believe the plant will release fewer emissions in the air than traditional, older plants. ?This is one of two technologies that are classified by the Department of Energy as clean coal technology. It is a very clean plant compared to

what is currently out there.? Bradstreet also told the county board Wolverine is serious about the wind turbine units at Adams Point and it isn?t just ?window dressing? as has been suggested among some local residents. In supporting the proposal, Lang said, ?It seems to make sense to get rid of a couple of belchers. Eventually it?s going to become nuclear anyway, somewhere down the road. We?ve got to get to that point and we might as well start making it cleaner right now.? County chairman Allan Bruder, who serves on the Wolverine board, added, ?Nobody is going to shut down the old plants until new ones are built.?

?Those that oppose projects like this across the country aren?t really helping the environment,? said Bradstreet, ?because they are forcing us to continue using plants that should be retired.?

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