TCLP buys Into downstate solar project

Bill O'Brien, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read

Mar. 14—TRAVERSE CITY — Energy from a planned solar power facility in southeast Michigan will help Traverse City Light and Power meet its renewable energy goals by next year.

The Light & Power board this week approved a 20-year contract totaling some $14.3 million through the Michigan Public Power Agency to purchase electricity from the White Tail Solar Project, a 140-megawatt solar farm planned for Augusta and York townships in Washtenaw County south of Ann Arbor. The project is being developed by Ranger Power LLC, a renewable energy company based in Chicago.

"The board was happy with the opportunity and is excited about the project," Light & Power Executive Director Brandie Ekren said.

The facility is owned by DE Shaw Renewable Investments, headquartered in New York and one of the country's leading renewable energy developers, and is scheduled to go online around June 1, 2025. Construction on the solar farm is slated to begin this spring. The facility will provide enough electricity to power around 70,000 homes.

According to data presented to the utility board, the White Tail project will generate 140 megawatts of electricity, with 25 megawatts allocated to the MPPA. Light & Power will purchase 6.6 MW of that total, or just over 26 percent of the MPPA's share of the project. It will provide about 2 percent of the utility's total power allocation, and boost the utility's renewable energy portfolio percentage to just over 40 percent in 2025 and more than 46 percent in 2026.

Light & Power's goal is to have at least 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources by next year.

"It's a little bit more than we were originally planning," Ekren said. "It's marginally ahead of (the goal)."

Ekren said Light & Power already purchases some of its renewable energy from a Ranger Power facility located in Shiawassee County in mid-Michigan, the largest solar array east of the Mississippi River. The cost of the contract is competitive or better with other renewable energy sources currently available, she said.

"We have experience with this developer, and their performance has been excellent," she said. "This (project) is really far along in the (development) process, so we're excited and confident about it."

According to White Tail's website, the total output of the solar farm will help reduce CO2 emissions by 218,675 tons. Light & Power estimates its share of the project will replace more than 5.6 million pounds of coal annually for power generation.

Light & Power is among 22 public utilities in Michigan that are members of the MPPA, although Ekren said not all the MPPA members will be partners in the White Tail project.