I spent last weekend in Leelanau County and saw firsthand the devastation caused by last month’s August 2nd storm. That day dawned with a typical Michigan forecast — warm, with a chance of thunderstorms. Within a few hours, the “chance” had turned to certainty, and a freakish storm slammed into the Traverse City area. The [...]
In my last blog I introduced the Merchant Operations Center (MOC) and the job it does managing electric load and generation in two different regional markets: MISO and PJM. I discussed their mission of ensuring affordability, but I didn’t go into much detail. The actual tools, rules, and strategies the MOC uses to accomplish its [...]
Wolverine’s mission as a Generation and Transmission (G&T) cooperative is simple— produce power and transmit it to our members’ rural substations. This mission is straightforward, and to support it, Wolverine operates two separate 7x24 centers to manage the functions of transmission and generation. The Energy Control Center (ECC) monitors transmission, and I will speak about [...]
Wolverine and its member-cooperative employees feel satisfaction from providing essential electric service in rural areas. Our linemen especially feel this when they restore service after nasty Michigan storms occasionally wreak havoc for days on end. Imagine though, if you found a remote village that survived with no electricity for years, and you could light up [...]
Danny Janway retires this week after 16 years with Wolverine. Danny, like many at Wolverine, spent his entire career in the electric industry. Yet Danny’s career also spans his lifetime. He grew up watching his father in the business, and he has spent most of his life working on electric utility projects, including many facets [...]
My father-in-law, Jack Donahue, was a great athlete. The classic Irishman, he loved competition, people, music and gatherings. He was the master of sailing, golf, and downhill skiing. Imagine the spectacle of a 5’-5” Irishman on 7’ skis bombing the hills of Aspen and northern Michigan in the 1950’s! His later years saw him lose [...]
“Let’s ride our bicycles to the cottage!” Nearly 40 years ago, this was Dad’s big idea. The cottage was in Harrison about 50 miles away, we had heavy steel bikes, and I was only nine years old. Looking back I realize this was the start of two consistent themes – embrace challenge and trust that [...]
I keep thinking that the perfect audio backdrop to this post would be the iconic Pink Floyd song, with its cash register “kachinging” in the background. This week, Wolverine’s finance team completed a significant transaction to raise about $100 million for Wolverine’s construction needs for the next few years. Chad Geiger led the effort this [...]
I sit onboard United Airlines, returning from Portland, Oregon, and if I’m lucky, I will get home by 2:00 am. I spoke this morning to the Board of Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC), a Generation & Transmission (G&T) cooperative similar to Wolverine, which serves members in seven northwest states. John Prescott, PNGC’s general manager, asked [...]
Shocking news… Michigan has two peninsulas! Michigan residents take pride in our unique geography and the hokey way we point on our right hand to our hometown’s location. We take pride in our Mackinac Bridge and the beauty in its architecture and function over that five mile deep blue Straits. Have you ever thought about [...]