Greater Lansing's Energy Future

 

Dear customers:

In May, the Lansing Board of Water & Light unveiled a comprehensive energy plan to serve as a road map to Greater Lansing’s energy future.

The BWL has an aging power plant that is increasingly costly to operate and which faces mounting environmental challenges. Something must be done.

There are three main parts to our energy plan.

First, we will soon introduce a significant energy conservation program to help all of you save money on your electricity bills.

Second, we will continue our quest for more renewable energy sources to generate electricity, such as landfill gas, solar, hydro and wind. With conservation and renewable energy, our goal is to meet the growth in Greater Lansing’s energy needs.

The third component of our comprehensive energy plan is to build a new, cleaner, more efficient power plant. After exhaustive analysis by outside consultants and BWL staff members, the staff concluded that a hybrid biomass generating plant is the best way to protect, and invest in, this community’s energy future.

While many factors led us to this plan, the conclusion is quite simple: Our Eckert Power Plant is a half-century old and will eventually have to close. Our choice is to either build a more efficient, greener power plant, or buy electricity on the volatile open market. Our consultants determined that buying electricity will mean up to a 55 percent jump in your rates. My own view, after studying market pricing very carefully, is that rates would climb far higher than 55 percent.

For someone with a $60 monthly electric bill, that would translate into a $93 monthly bill. By contrast, that same $60 bill would go up an estimated $12.60 over several years if the BWL builds a new plant.

For the benefit of our customers, and as a plus to the environment, the conclusion is that a biomass power plant is the best option available.

Incidentally, this would be Michigan’s largest biomass plant, which will burn 70 percent coal and 30 percent biomass such as crop residue and wood waste. Biomass is a renewable energy source.

Please note: No decision on our comprehensive energy plan has been made. We have asked a distinguished group of people to review the plan and make recommendations. The Citizens Advisory Panel on New Generation will conduct their review, in public settings, over the next couple of months.

We welcome public input as this process moves forward. If you would like to know more about our comprehensive energy plan, please visit our Web site, www.lbwl.com. There, you will find a good deal of information, including Frequently Asked Questions about the proposed biomass generation plant.

 

Thank you.

J. Peter Lark

General Manager