Cliffs to Buy Power from PIPP

One of the elements of the recent deal to stop huge electric rate increases across the U.P. is now in place. The Cloverland Electric Co-Op, out of the eastern U.P., says Cliffs Natural Resources is once again buying power for the Empire and Tilden Mines from Marquette’s Presque Isle Power Plant. WE Energies still owns the plant for now, but under a series of agreements announced in January, UPPCO will buy the plant within the next several months. Cliffs agreed to buy a majority of the power for the mines from UPPCO until the Presque Isle plant closes. That’s currently expected to happen in 2020.