M Live | Sheri McWhirter December 25
LANSING, MI – State utility regulators signed off on a large, new solar farm in Indiana expected to help power six counties in southwest Michigan.
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on Dec. 21 approved a certificate of public necessity to Indiana Michigan Power Co. for a 245-megawatt solar energy array to be built in Blackford County, Indiana. The electricity generated at the facility is expected to power about 73,500 homes.
Regulators agreed the size and design of the $532 million solar farm is the most reasonable and prudent way to meet the power needs of the company’s customers. Estimated capital costs and financing will be recovered in a future electricity rate case.
Construction was scheduled to begin on the Lake Trout Solar Project this year and the facility should be generating renewable energy by spring 2026.
The Lake Trout site is the largest of four solar arrays that Indiana Michigan Power Co. intends to construct in coming years. When combined, the new generation from the four solar fields tally nearly 750 megawatts.
The MPSC earlier this year approved several of the company’s solar contracts as part of the utility’s first integrated resource plan in Michigan. The goal was to provide new carbon-free power and bridge a 750-megawatt gap in expected customer need.
Steve Baker, company president and top executive officer, said transitioning to cleaner energy and having a diverse power generation portfolio better serves customers and the environment.
“Importantly, they are also consistent with the energy policies of both states we serve,” Baker said in a released statement.
The utility provides electricity to more than 130,000 customers in six counties in southwest Michigan in addition to customers in Indiana.
Renewable energy is generated without releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which cause rising global temperatures and climate change.
The company also runs the Cook Nuclear Plant in Michigan’s Berrien County, another carbon-free energy source.
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