Joint Venture at Presque Isle Power Plant to be Studied

MARQUETTE, Mich., Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- We Energies and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced today they have signed a letter of intent to evaluate the formation of a joint venture to invest in environmental improvements at We Energies' Presque Isle Power Plant in Marquette, Mich.  This study could lead to joint ownership by the two companies of the Presque Isle facility and the addition of state-of-the art emission controls.  Over the next several months, the two companies will work to determine the practicality of retrofitting the facility's units to meet expected environmental regulations.

"Wolverine continues to seek cost-effective base load power supply to serve our member-cooperatives," said Eric D. Baker, president and CEO of Wolverine.  "The prospect of investing in Michigan to upgrade the Presque Isle units appeals to us."

"We are pleased to announce this undertaking with Wolverine," said Allen L. Leverett, executive vice president of We Energies.  "Presque Isle is important to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and we want to develop a life extension option that is economically beneficial for customers.  We look forward to working with Wolverine, and ultimately bringing forward a solution for regulatory approval."  

The Presque Isle plant consists of five units, each capable of generating approximately 85 megawatts of electricity.  Proposed federal environmental regulations create uncertainty for the future of the plant, with the potential for retirement in 2017.

Independent of this potential joint venture, We Energies and Wolverine understand the need to identify transmission solutions for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to ensure electric reliability and support future economic growth.

Wolverine is a generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Cadillac, Michigan.  It supplies power to five distribution electric cooperatives and two Alternative Electric Suppliers in the Lower Peninsula.

We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and more than 1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. We Energies is the trade name of Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas LLC, the principal utility subsidiaries of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC). Visit the We Energies website at we-energies.com. Learn more about Wisconsin Energy Corporation by visiting wisconsinenergy.com.

SOURCE We Energies