ESCANABA – The Escanaba power plant is closing up shop today, like many other coal-fueled facilities across the country have been forced to do because of rising costs and decreasing efficiency.

“A lot of coal plants have shut down due to the economy of scale and efficiency,” commented Escanaba’s Electric Superintendent Mike Furmanski, who has worked with the city for 15 years.

Customers in Escanaba will see no difference in their electric service because of the plant shutting down today, said Furmanski, noting the plant has not operated since the explosion at its substation on Feb. 2..

Three years before the explosion, which caused city-wide outages, the Escanaba Generating Station was operating only about 10 percent of the time, he added.

Escanaba has been buying power from NextEra for more than three years and has contracts with the energy supplier until mid-2020 because it is costs less to buy energy rather than produce it from coal.

Another reason the plant is being shut down is the regional power grid no longer depends on the local facility’s power, explained Furmanski.

“MISO has determined our plant is no longer needed for regional power and it’s less costly for us to buy power,” added Furmanski.

MISO – the Mid-continent Independent System Operator – is a regional interconnection agency which regulates power sales.

Furmanski added the city’s distribution system is in good shape with the newly-constructed substation and the recent upgrades completed on the city’s west-side substation.

Assistant Plant Superintendent Charles Detiege said the process to shut down the plant has been going smoothly and things will be “wrapping up” today.

Crews have drained water from the boilers, lines and tanks. Ash and coal have been removed from the building. Office supplies and paperwork have been packed up and brought to the electric department.