The Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) is an electrical power utility provider headquartered in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

, with service centers in Escanaba, Houghton, Iron River, Ishpeming, Munising and Ontonagon.

History

The Upper Peninsula Power Company was formed in 1947 as a result of the merging of three electric utility providers: the Houghton County Electric Light Company, the Copper District Power Company, and Iron Range Light and Power. UPPCO joined a coalition led by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) in 1961 to create a coordination of electrical service providers in Upper Michigan and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Through this agreement, the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan System (WUMS) was created with the ultimate goal of increasing the electrical grid resiliency by coordinating operational tasks such as equipment maintenance and construction of infrastructure facilities. In 1994, Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) formed the WPS Resources Corporation which became the holding company most partnered electric utility providers (excluding UPPCO) operated under at the time. UPPCO was eventually acquired by the holding company in 1998. In 2007, UPPCO negotiated a separation from Integrys Energy Group (the new holding company resulting from a merger between WPS Resources Corporation and Peoples Energy Corp.). The separation was effectively completed in 2017 and UPPCO resumed operation as an independent electric utility provider.

Service area

The UPPCO service area includes 10 counties in the central and western portion of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

's Upper Peninsula including: Alger,

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

, Marquette,

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

, Schoolcraft, Baraga, Houghton,

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

, Ontonagon, and

Keweenaw The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweenaw Bay. The peninsula is part ...

. The company serves approximately 52,000 customers which equates to approximately 12 customers per square mile.

Power generation

UPPCO generates approximately 20% of the electrical power distributed to its customers. Additional power is purchased from

Consumers Energy Consumers Energy is an investor owned utility that provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. It serves customers in all 68 of the state's Lower Peninsula counties. It is the primary subsidiary of C ...

in lower

and the

Wisconsin Energy Corporation WEC Energy Group is an American energy company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It provides electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states. Subsidiaries Wisconsin * We Energies, the umbrella name for Wisconsin Electric ...

(WE Energies). UPPCO operates multiple electrical power generation plants primarily including

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

dams. Operational facilities include:
Victoria Dam
in

Rockland, Michigan Rockland is a census-designated place (CDP) and the primary community in Rockland Township, Ontonagon County, Michigan, United States. It is along US Highway 45, which leads north to its terminus at Ontonagon on Lake Superior, and south to E ...

- 12.2 Megawatts * Boney Falls Dam in Cornell, Michigan - 4.1 Megawatts * Prickett Hydroelectric Dam in

Baraga, Michigan Baraga ( ) is a village in Baraga County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,883 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Bishop Frederic Baraga. The village is located in Baraga Township on the Keweenaw Bay on Lake Supe ...

- 2 Megawatts * Hoist Hydroelectric Dam in

Negaunee, Michigan Negaunee ( or ) is a city in Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,627 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located at the southwest corner of Negaunee Township, M ...

- 3.4 Megawatts * Escanaba 1 Hydroelectric Dam in

Escanaba, Michigan Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city and the county seat of Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,450 at the 2020 census, making it the ...

- 1.6 Megawatts * Escanaba 3 Hydroelectric Dam in

- 3 Megawatt

Power transmission and distribution

UPCCO operates all transmission lines at 138,000 volts and has transmission interconnections with Wisconsin Public Service Corporation as well as Wisconsin Energies and the Cloverland Electric Cooperative. UPPCO operates sub-transmission systems at 69,000 volts and has sub-transmission interconnections with th
Marquette Board of Light and Power
Alger-Delta Electric Cooperative, and Cloverland Electric Cooperative. UPPCO operates its distribution network at 12,470/7,200 volts. The company's distribution network includes approximately 3,300 miles of both single and three phase power circuits served by 58 distribution substations.

External links

Upper Peninsula Power Company

References

{{Reflist Companies based in Michigan Electric power companies of the United States