“I am shocked that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) has decided to close the White Pine Electric Power Plant, thereby putting Western U.P. families at risk for power outages. The White Pine plant currently provides reliable service, especially in situations when power can be interrupted due to ice storms and other natural disasters, and serves as a backup when other plants are down for planned maintenance. To take this plant off line now puts thousands of customers at risk until two new 170-megawatt generators are built and come on line in 2020. Four years of uncertainty and unreliable electrical power is unconscionable. U.P. customers need affordable energy and MISO claims that this has to do with utility rates. But we shouldn’t be addressing rates by eliminating power, especially when the plant has provided more than 17,000 kilowatt-hours of energy since 2014. Western U.P. customers deserve better than having to wonder if the lights will come on when they flip the switch.”
