MARQUETTE, MI-- The Marquette Board of Light and Power wants to build a new energy center to make power availability more reliable in the area.
BLP Executive Director Paul Kitti says the Presque Isle Power Plant is closing in 2020; limitations in electric transmission have been identified; and the BLP generators average 38 years old.
Kitti says the Marquette Energy Center would add three large reciprocating internal combustion engines that will run primarily on natural gas. If needed, light or heavy fuel oils could be used as a backup.
“They’ll provide 25,000 horsepower and approximately 17 megawatts apiece of quick-start, black-start generation,” he says. “These engines can put megawatts out to our system and our grid within one minute and they can achieve full load in five minutes.”
Kitti says paying for the $65 million project would mean a 30-percent rate increase next year. For the typical resident using 500 kilowatt hours that’s about $18 additional dollars a month.
The BLP is holding a community forum to talk about the Marquette Energy Center Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Marquette City Hall.
