It’s no accident that Michigan will be sporting an additional 3,500 MW of generating capacity by the time summer peaks roll around, according to a Michigan regulator, who said his state is generator friendly and should be able to handle whatever demand challenges are ahead.

David Svanda, a commissioner with the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC), offered his thoughts on Michigan’s power supply outlook in an exclusive interview with NGI last Thursday following an appearance before the Energy Bar Association’s (EBA) 56th annual meeting in Washington, DC.

“We have taken the approach with generation that it is an economic development tool and have embraced new merchant plants as well as upgrades to other facilities,” the Michigan regulator said. “We have provided tax incentives, we have created tax-free zones, we’ve given the same emphasis and sense of urgency to constructing new merchant power plants as we’ve given to other economic development initiatives in the state,” Svanda noted.

In light of the recent “market meltdown,” Michigan regulators have met with a number of merchant plant developers “and most of those that were serious are going forward,” Svanda said. “We’ve had a number of them tell us that as they evaluate plant A in Michigan and plant B in some other part of the country, they’re sticking with…Michigan and they will use their limited resources to make sure that their Michigan facilities are moving forward.”

The largest electric utilities serving the state recently assured the PSC that they can meet electricity demands through the summer months of this year. The commission had ordered Consumers Energy Co., Detroit Edison and Indiana Michigan Power Co. to file assessments of their abilities to meet customers’ expected electric requirements.

NGI asked Svanda to comment on whether he’s satisfied that the state will have enough generating capacity with summer looming on the horizon. “I really am, I’m very optimistic,” Svanda responded.

He noted that the state has asked for the state’s power companies to provide these electric reliability assessments for the past several years “and the generating capacity of the state today is much better than it was when we started doing it, the transmission capacity is much better.”

Svanda disclosed that he met earlier this week with electric utility executives “and they had set some April records for demand at that point and were doing just fine, even though they hadn’t really anticipated the kind of demand that was out there for mid-April.” According to the Michigan regulator, by the time the expected summer peaks hit this year, the state will probably have an additional 3,500 MW of generating capacity “and considerably more import capabilities.”

An overview of merchant power plant projects either underway or completed can be found at the PSC’s web site by going to the following web link: https://cis.state.mi.us/mpsc/electric/restruct/merchantplants.htm.

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