The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) of Lansing, Mich., recently approved the staff's recommendations to improve electric interconnections between independent power producers and public utilities.
"By today's action, the MPSC is removing identified barriers to renewable energy electric generation in Michigan," says J. Peter Lark, MPSC's chairman. "As a result, my fellow commissioners and I are hopeful that Michigan's improved electric interconnection procedures will result in an easier process to follow and more renewable energy projects."
Among the recommendations the commission approved are the following: all regulated utilities will be required to file interconnection reports every six months; all regulated utilities are encouraged to educate the public about the interconnection process by speaking at conferences and workshops, and to maintain easy-to-understand Web site informational pages; and the MPSC's engineering section of the commission's operations and wholesale markets division shall convene a separate workgroup for interconnection projects of 30 kW or larger.
