As I wrote several months ago, Michigan is facing an energy shortfall. Back then, I informed everyone that the regional grid operator had warned of an increased risk of rolling blackouts. As you know (since your lights haven’t gone out), we haven’t had to resort to rolling blackouts. However, the recent Winter Storm Elliott highlighted just how precarious the situation is. The storm brought blizzard conditions and brutally cold temperatures, and highlighted the vulnerability of the region’s energy supply.
The storm was a nightmare for millions, causing delayed flights and widespread power outages. Behind the scenes, the energy industry faced an even bigger issue that threatened to bring down the power grid: a lack of energy supply. People were using more energy than was available at the time, putting a huge strain on the system.
Tennessee Valley Authority and Duke Energy were forced to implement rolling blackouts to reduce the demand for electricity and prevent a complete blackout. The NFL even had to delay the start of a game in Nashville as the blackouts rolled through the Tennessee Valley. New energy demands were set across the continent, and multiple energy emergencies were declared.
At Cherryland, the regional grid operator was one step away from requiring us to ask all our members to reduce their energy consumption through measures such as turning down the heat, turning off unnecessary lights, and taking other conservation measures to prevent rolling blackouts. Fortunately, we were able to avoid this scenario. While all our members enjoyed “business as usual,” we were uncomfortably close to needing to take this step.
The reality is that while our power supplier, Wolverine, has sufficient generation to meet the needs of our members, we are connected to a larger grid that is currently operating close to capacity in terms of meeting the demand for electricity. That’s why we continue to advocate for time, transmission, and technology to ensure reliability through the clean energy transition.
If we do have to ask you to conserve electricity in a tight supply situation in the future, I hope this will provide some context and help you understand why it is important. We will always continue to work towards a sustainable and reliable energy future for all our members.
I don’t share this information to cause panic or alarm. I want to share this information so that you can understand the current state of the grid and the challenges it is facing. The bullet with our name on it was Elliott. We dodged the bullet…this time.
To learn more, click here to listen an episode of Co-op Energy Talk about the impact of Winter Storm Elliott.
But but but but… What if I have to charge my “non-polluting” electric vehicle to get somewhere, anywhere important!….. What then? It’s not fair! Save me Uncle Joe! Make it fair! Make it equal! Thanks Obama
To be fair, we have been shutting down early and/or retiring fossil fuel plants for a decade or more now, regardless of who is in the White House or in control of Congress. As a country, we are simply not building new generation (of any kind) as fast as we are taking it off line. Nuclear energy, in particular, hasn’t received any support for decades. This problem has been creeping up on our country for a very long while.
Well written Mr Hoogland.
That warn soapstone stove in the living room is looking, and feeling, better & better.
Well Tony,
Someone made the call to retire those plants before ththe system was ready to change over to whatever Greta Thunberg and AOC think we should be using to power our lives in the future… and I’ll bet whoever it was , and their friends, are getting even richer based on their decisions.
Tony,
Thank you for sharing this important information in your article.
Other than Wolverine, what sources does Cherryland rely on for out electricity?
Connie – Cherryland buys 100% of its power supply from Wolverine. The Wolverine portfolio is currently 62% carbon free. They own coal baseload plants and natural gas peaking plants. They have contracts for wind, solar and nuclear energy. Wolverine is in the process of building and owning a large solar facility near Gaylord. So, they are actively working on our needs. The problem lies in the fact that we are connected to a bigger grid and unable to separate from this 15 state regional grid. Therefore, we can build and procure all our needs and still be short when other entities in the 15 state area don’t keep up.
So when Cherry Land implements all wind and solar power how does the company plan on increasing the wind and/or making the sun hotter during peak demand?
Cherryland has no plans to be 100% solar or wind and we have never made such a statement. As long as there is wind and solar, there will be natural gas to back it up. Someday, there may be batteries but we are not close to making them affordable today. As I have written over and over the past 20 years, the solution to power supply is diversity, “not all our eggs in one basket” and “no silver bullets”. Future solutions involve “all of the above” portfolios of power supply. We will need to sequester carbon from coal and natural gas. We will need to build small scale nuclear. We will need solar and wind too. Anybody who talks about 100% solar and wind is not being realistic or is likely not telling you about the generation that they will own and operate when the wind doesn’t blow and sun doesn’t shine.
IDK but I don’t think its a bad Idea for all Americans to just stop consuming EVERYTHING like we do. ALL of us just about are guilty of this and need to be more conscious of it. There is no one person idea or political party to blame for the situations we are in here with energy among other things. People need to care wake up everyday and do the right things for them self and others and not just throw blame, complain or demand change with No action I see it all the time and it’s mind blowing. I truly hope as people we can get it together and realize we’re all connected every person plant animal and element on earth. And our actions and thoughts big or small good or bad make a difference. We choose 💜
Batteries, my friend. Fascinating concept, look it up.
Affordability my friend – a concept that is core to the mission of every electric cooperative. One day batteries will get there but it is a long way off in my opinion.
Thank you, Tony
I’ve noticed several commercial and medical buildings have continued to leave every light on when closed for the night and on weekends. There’s no reason to be wasting that energy!
Thank you for the update, I always appreciate hearing about the co-ops plans for resilience as the weather grows more sporadic. In particular, I appreciate your long-term planning and willingness to invest in future tech. It’s exactly this kind of thinking that keeps service going, and it’s your hard work and planning (not coincidence) that keeps our service stable. Keep up the good work!
This is a problem that was seen by many people long ago. We have let a minority of people trying to solve a problem they don’t understand very well. Therefore, we are going to experience a future of unnecessary energy problems.
Look at California and learn.
Did we not learn anything from Germany and Europe through the war in Ukraine?
Apparently not.
Countries are going back to coal and other carbon energy sources to alleviate their energy problems.
They were extremely fortunate that it was an easy winter or it would have been incredibly threatening to life and their economies. Europe dodged a serious threat. I guess “better lucky than good” would apply here.
Commitment and willpower is not enough to overcome poor planning and a stubborn attitude towards reality vs how you want it to be.
We are not prepared as a nation for the transition that is being forced upon us by our present leadership. We need an all in energy policy with updated transmission capabilities nationwide and make this energy transition as we are able to prove that technologies can deliver as promised.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yeah, well said…..no arguments from me.
Terry- I agree 100%. I wish more people would consider Reality vs Idealistic Dreams.
Cherryland needs to build their own generation plant using coal. The biggest mistake traverse city made was shutting down the power plant on West bay. I’ve said it all along. Maybe Cherryland should look at buying power from the coal plant in Manistee. This whole idea of green energy is a utopian pipe dream. Cherryland needs to get some common sense. Green new deal is a joke
We have plenty of common sense at Cherryland. We have never supported the green new deal. We have a very diverse power supply portfolio at affordable prices. We have coal, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear in our portfolio. This will continue far into the future.
Agreed….and yeah the green new deal IS a joke. Doesn’t have as much to do with energy as it does government control
Tony- Appreciate your insights and thoughtful responses. Are there any viable options other than Wolverine?
First, we don’t want to leave Wolverine. Wolverine is a cooperative like Cherryland. Cherryland is one of 5 distribution cooperatives that own Wolverine. We have a 50 year contract with Wolverine. We also have board members on the Wolverine board that give us a voice in power supply decisions. I get to sit at the Wolverine table and have a voice as well. They have served us well in the past and will continue to do so in the future. That all said, even if we could switch or wanted to, there are no viable options at a better price or portfolio than we have. There are no other electric cooperatives in the region with a carbon free portfolio the size of ours WHILE keeping rate increases to a minimum.
Thanks for the information, Tony.
Is there any local benefit to expanding incentives for residential grid-tied solar installations or does this energy just filter through the Wolverine coop with little direct (undiluted) benefit to Cherryland? If that energy stays local, how can those arrays be encouraged?
Great question. I think the time may be approaching. This bears some discussion with Wolverine. In theory, local generation does stay local but it then reduces our need for generation from outside the area. So, it is a win. When it comes to solar, it will depend on the time of year obviously. Still, we do have peak problems in July and August when the wind doesn’t blow. We have more wind available in the winter when the solar is covered. So, renewables are complimentary to each other and certainly can help. They still are not ready to replace gas peaking plants however. It will always be an “all of the above” strategy. Again, your question is a good one and deserves further study.
Renewable energy must be a greater part of our energy sources if human life is to endure on Earth.
Conserving energy is good practice, not something to avoid. Each of us needs to do our part as
we diversify energy sources. Turning off lights not in use should be standard practice, not just
during storms. We need to be patient and supportive of necessary changes in energy supply and use.
Renewabilty is just as important as Reliability and Affordabilty of our energy supply. I got an electric tea
kettle so I don’t have to heat water with gas. Still, my gas fireplace is a guilty pleasure. Saving
for an electric vehicle. Let’s deal with this together in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration-
lika a coop!
different subject matter I winter south and use smart hub to check energy use to check if my place is still using elecric to heat seems to work well .
Tony, I commend you for your honesty and patience with us as customers while trying to help us understand the issue better. You are totally correct that this has been spoken about for a number of years, but it seems that government leadership refuses to acknowledge the scope of the problem. The worst part is that we gave away all this time while we should have been preparing for the certainty of rolling blackouts. Physics does not care if we are ready or not and I fear we are about to pay the price for lack of good leadership.
Thank you for your dedication and communication skills during your tenure and I wish you the best upon your retirement.
There are three entities in particular – the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator – each has a responsibility for grid operations and oversight. Regrettably, there isn’t one that will step forward and claim responsibility for reliability. THIS is at the core of today’s problem. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association of which Cherryland is a member has called them out on this and is pressing the issue on responsibility to anyone who will listen in DC. I will be chair of this national board for two years in retirement. I call it my “soft landing” but there is a lot of work to be done. The cooperative world is on it but we seem to be alone. We represent 42 million Americans. We need some help for all the utilities that represent the remaining 300 million plus Americans. We will see. While gone from Cherryland, please know that I will be working hard on this issue in the years ahead.
Tony — As a Cherryland customer, I greatly appreciate your honest and thoughtful answers here. To me, it sounds like we members need to ramp up the pressure on our elected officials to prioritize this energy gap issue…and fast. Have you considered launching a call-in campaign by co-op members?
We have considered this. We actually did such a campaign with the Michigan Public Service Commission prior to them granting the approval to shut down Consumers Energy’s Campbell 3 coal plant. We generated over 5,000 emails to the MPSC and over 40,000 when you count what the Governor and other elected officials received at the same time. We were not successful in stopping the closure of this plant. The response from members was certainly a success and we will try this again in the future. Google Voices for Cooperative Power and sign up. You will be ready for whenever the next request comes. We certainly do need to keep the pressure on at every opportunity.
Tony – nothing but congratulations on an excellent management career, and for issuing numerous clarion calls for action by members to attempt to staunch the energy gap. Cherryland has been nothing but upfront on warning of the paucity of reliable generating capacity on our large central grid.
I must admit it is particularly maddening to read responses of some members who equate consuming energy, especially reliable and relatively cheap carbon based energy as a sin or a “guilty pleasure”. Carbon based power is reliable and cheap…. 3.5 to 4 times as cheap as “renewable” sources. Carbon based (and nuclear) generation is reliable as a base load fuel to a factor of 98% as compared to intermittent and unreliable “renewable” sources of base load with solar generation reliable on an average about 6 hours per day and wind generation reliable on an average about 9 hours per day. Social “feel good” crusaders who have swallowed the poisonous bait of green energy snake oil salesmen need to wake up and smell the coffee. Those snake oil salesmen are from the historical “party of slavery” and are looking to enslave you to government regulated, government controlled (read “rationed”), and cripplingly expensive non reliable energy to CONTROL you. Exhibit A is Western Europe who have attempted to go all-in with unreliable renewable energy, and are now groveling to get any kind of reliable energy from Mr. Putin, except his pipeline was “mysteriously” blown up by someone looking to keep Europe enslaved. Hmmmmm…….wonder who could muster the resources to perform such a dastardly deed? Enough ranting. Just let me plead ……Time to wake up and yearn to breath free!
What a better way for the government to control us than to take away our electricity!
Then we can shiver in the cold with our Covid masks on.