Plans for electric transmission facility cause dispute

Region

October 30, 2010

Utility, co-op spar over substation

By Bill O'Brien bobrien@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sat Oct 30, 2010, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Light and Power is embroiled in a multi-million dollar dispute with a regional electric cooperative over plans for transmission facilities on the city's east side.

Wolverine Power Cooperative opposes the city utility's efforts to develop a $9 million electric substation and transmission facility at the city's Airport Industrial Park.

Wolverine contends an alternative plan on the city's west side — a substation on Gray Road would link by transmission line to Hall Street — would be a more cost-effective option at an estimated $1.6 million price tag.

"It's a matter of who's going to pay. We feel Light & Power has a low-cost solution," said Tony Anderson, general manager of Cherryland Electric Cooperative in Grawn, a member of Cadillac-based Wolverine. "That $9 million gets socialized, and Wolverine doesn't want that to happen."

The city and Light & Power aren't interested in reviving the west side debate, Mayor Chris Bzdok said. City officials already amended their capital improvement plan to delete the west side alternative.

"The west side project is not the least-cost solution if it's not feasible," Bzdok said.

Public opposition prompted city officials to drop the Gray Road-Hall Street project nearly two years ago. Wolverine strongly pushed that idea, which included plans for an upgraded transmission line down M-72 to Bay Street parallel to Grandview Parkway, beginning at Wolverine's substation at M-72 and Bugai Road in Elmwood Township.

Neighborhood residents on the city's west side staunchly opposed the plan, as did the Traverse City-Garfield Township Joint Recreation Authority because of the project's potential impact on the Hickory Meadows public park.

But Wolverine officials said the city shifted gears because of a "small but vocal group of local residents" and the city's new plans are "unduly costly and wasteful," according to an Oct. 11 letter to Midwest Independent System Operator Inc., a nonprofit corporation that manages power transmission in 13 Midwest states.

"Wolverine is not aware of any applicable (government) requirement that has, or could, prevent TCL&P from upgrading or rebuilding its existing Hall Street line on its existing right-of-way," wrote Brian Valice, a Wolverine attorney. "In other words, TCL&P's rejection of the Hall Street rebuild is self-imposed and not attributable to any governmental or regulatory requirements."

MISO's review is key. If the city's east side project is added to the agency's 2010 Michigan Transmission Expansion Plan, the cost is spread across other Michigan utilities, including Wolverine and Consumers Power Co., as an upgrade to the regional power grid.

A decision from MISO is expected in early December.

"Everybody shouldn't be forced to pay for it, because everybody doesn't need it," Cherryland's Anderson said. "In the big picture, do you spend $2 million or do you spend $9 million?"

Light & Power director Ed Rice said the east side upgrade is a "much more reliable" alternative because it will create two transmission outlets to a new substation planned in the Airport Industrial Park.

That will create a more stable power source for critical east side facilities, including Cherry Capital Airport and several manufacturing companies in the industrial park.

"Even though it's more costly, it's technically a better solution for us," Rice said.

City officials also are upset at the timing of Wolverine's objections. Rice and Bzdok said they kept Wolverine officials abreast of the city's plans and were surprised by Wolverine's 11th-hour opposition.

"It's a little late in the game to show up at MISO," Bzdok said. "If they had a problem with it, I'm surprised they waited until now."