Rick Snyder says one of his long-term ambitions is to improve Michigan’s access to electricity by extending the power grid to connect the upper and lower peninsulas.
We have more from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta.
The Upper Peninsula has just one major power plant, which is operating under a special deal struck with the state. The rest of the UP’s electricity has to come through Wisconsin.
Governor Snyder says that isolation poses a risk.
“One of the things that we’re proud of that we’d never ever want to change in the world is we love our Great Lakes, but the other flip side of having these wonderful Great Lakes is we’re two peninsulas,” he says.
Snyder says that leaves both peninsulas more vulnerable to disruptions in the power chain. But he says laying heavy-duty power lines beneath the Great Lakes would be complex and very expensive.