Yoopers might have a different accent than us trolls who live under the bridge, but the difference in energy needs between the two peninsulas would be closer to reconciliation under bills preserving the Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engine (RICE) generators that passed the House Wednesday.
HB 4007 and HB 4283, which amend legislation just passed last term, passed Wednesday by 82-27 and 83-26, respectively.
The Upper Peninsula (UP) and Lower Peninsula are in two different regions of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO). The RICE generators being eliminated as a primary energy source under the new clean energy mandate would lead to the UP having to finance the generators through the end of their life cycle while also paying for the construction of a renewable energy source that fits the requirements.
What Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.) and Reps. Karl Bohnak (R-Negaunee), Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock) and Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) want their Lower Peninsula colleagues to realize is that their neck of the woods needs more time to transition to a new energy source, after the generators are no longer operable in 2050.
“We have a very small voice here. There’s four of us who live in the UP out of 148,” McBroom said in a press conference Wednesday. He also said that at the time of passage of the clean energy package last term, he offered his “yes” vote on other legislation he wouldn’t have supported otherwise if it meant the RICE generators would get a carveout.
Prestin said in his floor speech that these bills do not categorize the generators as clean energy, but they do create a “practical bridge to compliance” with energy standards passed last term.
“The one thing everybody needs to remember is, we were one of the first ones in Michigan to transition over, and we’re being penalized because of it,” Prestin said at the press conference.
Additionally, mines like the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mine that consume large quantities of energy produced by the RICE generators would be subject to heavy surcharges like an estimated $1 million per month starting in 2027.
Michael Grondz of United Steelworkers Local 4950 in the UP also spoke at the press conference. He said making the cost of powering the mines unsustainable will lead to Michigan manufacturers finding materials elsewhere and paying more. Meanwhile, the mining jobs go elsewhere.
Disaster Relief Funding for Northern Michigan
The House passed HB 4328 which allocates $100 million in emergency response funding as the region continues to recover from devastating ice storms.
The bill initially allocated $75 million for disaster relief, but in case additional funding is still needed, a substitute adopted to the bill would allow an additional $25 million to be allocated through a legislative transfer request.
In a floor speech, Rep. Parker Fairbairn (R-Harbor Springs) said today’s information and news cycles move so fast that new topics are always taking up the airwaves, but he said no one Up North has forgotten about the storms.
“The people of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula continue to ask the questions, ‘Will anybody help us? Does anybody have our backs in our time of great need?’ A vote in support of this plan tells the people of Northern Michigan, ‘Yes, we did hear you loud and clear, and we do have your backs,’” Fairbairn said.
The bill passed 107-1.
The House also passed HB 4072 by 108-0, which requires that patients of ophthalmology offices be offered leftover eye drops or ointment used during their visit or procedure for them to take home for further use.
And by 108-1, HB 4178, which creates an education credit carryover system for insurance providers, and HB 4071, which has to do with unfair trade practices in insurance, also passed.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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