MPSC authorizes Consumer Energy Co. contract for Washtenaw County battery electric storage plant

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The Michigan Public Service Commission today approved an application by Consumers Energy Co. for a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Voyager Energy Storage LLC for a 100-megawatt battery energy storage facility in Washtenaw County's Saline Township (Case No. U-21090).

The total 20-year lifetime cost of the PPA is about $404 million with a fixed energy payment of $14.54 per megawatt hour, for the plant's capacity, energy, renewable energy credits, and environmental attributes.

Consumers Energy, as part of a 2022 settlement agreement on its integrated resource plan (IRP), agreed to speed up deployment of energy storage resources to shore up reserves of Michigan's energy supplies. Energy storage is a critical part of the clean energy transition, allowing electricity from renewable energy sources to be stored for use during times of higher demand, helping keep costs down when electricity is most expensive to produce.

The company issued requests for proposals for capacity of up to 700 zonal resource credits, or ZRCs. ZRCs are units of electricity capacity used by members of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which operates the transmission grid in Michigan, 14 other states and Canada's province of Manitoba, to demonstrate resource adequacy to meet electricity demand. One MISO ZRC represents 1 megawatt of seasonal accredited capacity.

The Commission noted that today's order does not grant approval or pre-approval to increase customer rates or charges or for cost recovery of the PPA; nor does the order determine reasonableness or prudence of the PPA's costs beyond its consistency with Consumers' approved IRP, its long-range plan for providing electricity to customers.

MPSC APPROVES THUMB ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE'S APPLICATION TO EXPAND ITS ELIGIBLE TELECOMMUNICATION CARRIER DESIGNATION

The MPSC approved an application by Thumb Electric Cooperative of Michigan, doing business as Tec Fiber, for an expanded designation as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) (Case No. U-20962). The co-op was first granted ETC designation in 2021, allowing it to access federal funds to build broadband infrastructure to areas lacking access to high-speed internet. Today's order expands Tec Fiber's service area.

MPSC EXTENDS DEADLINE ON BENEFIT COST ANALYSIS TOOL FOR INNOVATIVE PILOT PROJECTS

The MPSC today extended the deadline for its ongoing collaborative that's working to develop a spreadsheet-based or similar open-source tool to create a new platform as a model for the benefit cost analysis (BCA) that utilities would use in support of scaling innovative pilot programs (Case No. U-20898). The Commission in October 2023 directed MPSC Staff, as part of the MI Power Grid New Technologies and Business Models workgroup, to launch the collaborative to develop the new tool to assist in providing transparency of BCA inputs, outputs, and calculation methodology, including incorporating equity-based and environmental considerations and impacts. The project to develop the BCA tool has received funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy and E4theFuture, with ICF, Recurve, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory serving as project partners. Aiming to align their efforts with national standards under development, the Commission directed Staff to continue its work with the goal of having the tool ready for use in 2026.

MPSC APPROVES UPDATED INTERCONNECTION PROCEDURES FOR UPPER MICHIGAN ENERGY RESOURCES CORP.

The MPSC approved Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.'s (UMERC) application for approval of the utility's proposed interconnection and distributed generation procedures, forms and agreements (Case No. U-21479). The Commission directed UMERC to use the statewide Standard Level 1, 2 and 3 Interconnection Agreement for certified projects and file, within 30 days, a Level 4 and 5 Interconnection Agreement. Michigan's Interconnection and Distributed Generation Standards govern how distributed generation facilities ranging from larger wind and solar projects to individual customer rooftop solar projects connect to the power grids owned by local utilities.

COMMISSION OKS CONSUMERS ENERGY CO. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH MIDLAND COGENERATION VENTURE LP

The MPSC approved a settlement agreement between Consumers Energy Co. and Midland Cogeneration Venture, a natural gas-powered electric and steam energy plant, for the purchase of zonal resource credits (ZRCs) in the 2025-2027 planning years (Case No. U-21666). The agreement provides a cost-effective means of meeting the utility's reliability requirements based on its existing relationship with the Midland Cogeneration Venture plant. Today's order also permits Consumers to recover costs in the agreement from ratepayers.

For information about the MPSC, visit www.michigan.gov/mpsc, sign up for its monthly newsletter or other listservs. Follow the MPSC on Facebook, X/Twitter or LinkedIn.

To look up cases from today's meeting, access the MPSC's E-Dockets filing system.

Watch recordings of the MPSC's meetings on the MPSC's YouTube channel.

DISCLAIMER: This document was prepared to aid the public's understanding of certain matters before the Commission and is not intended to modify, supplement, or be a substitute for the Commission's orders. The Commission's orders are the official action of the Commission.

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