Some gas-fueled generators in the Upper Peninsula would count as clean energy under legislation that got a hearing Tuesday before the Michigan House Energy Committee.

The distinction matters for the purposes of Michigan’s energy laws passed in 2023. They require all power in the state to come from a “clean energy system” by 2040, with some exceptions.

State Representative David Prestin (R-Cedar River) said the U.P.’s reciprocating internal combustion engine, or RICE, generators should be included in those exceptions. Prestin said the power plants were recently built to lower carbon emissions as part of a shift away from coal under previous clean energy policies, and they would go to waste without a change in the law.

“Those RICE generators are effectively going to be boat anchors. They’re not going to able to be used. And, instead, we’re going to have to reach out and purchase renewable energy credits to make up for that. And the utility is going to start an aggressive build on renewable, which is also going to hit the ratepayers,” Prestin told the House Energy Committee Tuesday.

Prestin sponsors a bill that would allow the RICE generators to count toward renewable energy credits, despite them relying on natural gas. The 2023 law changes require renewables to make up at least 60% of electric providers’ energy portfolios by 2035.

Environmental groups oppose the entire bill package, claiming it would undermine the 2023 law.

In written testimony submitted to the House Energy Committee, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition called the legislation reflective of a “corporate political agenda.”

“By prolonging our reliance on fossil fuels instead of investing in an energy-independent future for the UP, these bills ensure that those same companies can keep inflating their bottom line at the expense of the UP’s working families,” the MEJC letter to the committee read.

Both sides of the matter mentioned a desire to be freer from reliance on energy coming from Wisconsin. Supporters of the bill argued the clean energy mandate would cause Wisconsin utilities to build out their renewable energy systems and pass the costs along to Michigan consumers.

Prestin argued the U.P. needs more time to get alternatives to natural gas up and running, like nuclear energy through small modular reactor technology.

“Utilities operate in decades, not years. And the plan, as laid out, it runs in years, not decades. And we’re just not able to respond and comply quickly enough without it,” Prestin said.

Meanwhile, U.P. resident and director of the group Citizens for a Clean and Safe Lake Superior, Jane Fitkin, said the pending legislation is premature. She said U.P. utility providers could double down on renewable energy now, arguing technology is getting cheaper.

“If we are developing new energy infrastructure now, which we desire energy independence in the Upper Peninsula, we want to be able to produce our own energy, we need to be investing in renewables because it’s just what makes sense,” Fitkin said in an interview.

Fitkin said there are also ways to keep the gas generators running without opening a new exception to the state’s clean energy law.