CLICK BELOW TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR LIESEL CLARK (Scroll down for more interviews)
The U-P Energy Task Force wrapped up its meeting in Escanaba this afternoon, ending more than an hour earlier than planned.
But the 19-member panel did hear from several people who spoke about solar energy and the high cost of propane in the Upper Peninsula.
In fact, much of the discussion centered around propane, and how to maintain a steady supply in the region.
“The U.P. has had chronically-high electricity rates for a long time,” Task Force Chairman Liesl Clark told the radio Results Network. “When you talk energy in the Upper Peninsula, these are very educated and very interested citizens. And so they absolutely participate.”
Another of the task force members, Escanaba City Electric Superintendent Mike Furmanski, says it was important to hear people’s opinions on how to solve these problems.
“The first couple of meetings we had, we had little to no public comment, and now the last few, we’ve had a fair amount, which is good,” Furmanski told RRN News. “That’s why we move this meeting around, trying to get to as many communities as we can, so we get people from all corners of the U.P. a chance to express their opinion.”
Other public comment centered around the Line Five pipeline and a potential tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac to house it.
Randy Scott works as a consulting engineer for municipalities across the Upper Peninsula, including the City of St. Ignace. He spoke in favor of the tunnel.
“It was one of the best solutions I’ve seen come out of a group of people in a long, long time,” Scott told RRN News. “There’s a lot of cost to it, but the mere fact that somebody (Enbridge, Inc.) is willing to construct a tunnel between the two peninsulas, to me, is a really, really good solution, to this whole pipeline issue.”
Another speaker was Joe Kaplan, who invested in solar panels with the City of Escanaba. He urged the task force to raise the cap on “net metering” so that the Upper Peninsula Power Company, which has maxed out its 1-percent limit, could offer solar energy to more residents in the U.P.
“If you’re interested in tying into the grid, and using the grid as your energy bank of solar, you’re at a disadvantage if you’re an UPPCO customer,” Kaplan told RRN News. “UPPCO was the first state-regulated utility that capped out on net-metering customers. So obviously, people in the U.P. are interested in tapping into the sun.”
He added that he’s concerned about the impact large-scale solar farms with thousands panels will have on migratory birds.
Earlier in the day, several task force members toured the Rapid River propane facility along US-41.
CLICK BELOW TO HEAR INTERVIEW WITH RANDY SCOTT, U.P. ENERGY CONSULTANT
CLICK BELOW TO HEAR INTERVIEW WITH JOE KAPPLAN, ESCANABA, ON SOLAR ENERGY
CLICK BELOW TO HEAR INTERVIEW WITH TASK FORCE MEMBER MIKE FURMANSKI, ESCANABA
