CBPU continues to add local generation
COLDWATER — Coldwater Board of Public Utilities Director Paul Jakubczak will recommend purchasing another 7.5 megawatts of local generation to meet state requirements for power capacity.
The two natural gas-fired units could be operational at the Michigan Avenue/State Street substation by next year.
The proposed State Street units will come from CAT. CBPU chose the location because a gas connection is near the substation.
The Michigan South Central Power Agency once ran diesel generators there until federal pollution control requirements made use impractical. MSCPA sold and removed the generators in 2011.
Coldwater already agreed to 7.5 MW of biodiesel-powered generators soon to start construction next to the old power plant on Hooker Street by the solar farm.
The power plant generation units from the North Carolina firm Power Secure use reciprocating internal combustion engines, termed RICE units. The Michigan Avenue/State Street unit is also RICE, not a gas turbine.
American Municipal Power will finance and build both new projects. CBPU will sign a power purchase agreement to buy the outputs rather than purchase the plants.
The city power system needs the power capacity to meet state requirements. The legislature passed a law in 2016 that requires all electric providers to demonstrate to the Michigan Public Service Commission that they have enough resources to serve the anticipated needs of their customers.
Jakubczak said, of the CAT units, “Because of the cost to run them, these will run more” than the Power Secure units and the other CBPU 14-megawatt plant next to the Mastronadri greenhouses.
“That means the revenue we’re going to get off of the power sales or the power production will offset some of that cost on that capacity.”
Jakubczak hopes to have a final proposal ready for the CBPU board on June 7 and the city council on June 12.
The CBPU project is part of a 20MW purchase. Marshall will install 10 megawatts at its power plant. The village of Clinton plans on adding 2.5 megawatts to its powerhouse.
Hillsdale will install two Power Secure 7.5 MW units in its service center and the city industrial park.
Prior Story Coldwater, Hillsdale move forward on local power generation
The local RICE generators from CAT and Power Secure will be built “behind the meter” on the municipal side of the grid, avoiding the cost of transmission upgrades.
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Grid operator Midcontinent Independent System Operator set the cost of transmission grid upgrades at around $1 million per 12.5 MW to connect new plants to the grid.
The local connection also avoids the long wait for MISO approval. MSCPA waited four years for a decision on the now abandoned 50MW gas generator planned for Newton and Fiske Roads.
Construction will start in October on all the units, with completion by June 2024.
Behind-the-meter 29MW of local generation would provide only essential services power if there is a grid blackout.
Prior story South Michigan energy agency says it won't have enough power capacity by 2025
Jakubczak said the “load” or use for Coldwater “is normally 50 to 60 megawatts. That’s what we’ll see on an even-keel day where some of the industrials (plants) are running.”
“We will see peaks at 70 to 80 megawatts during the summer, maybe a little bit more,” with air conditioning running.
Peak demand can reach nearly 100MW during January when the Mastronardi greenhouses use grow lights.
---Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: CBPU continues to add local generation
