Dive Brief:

• No bidders have stepped forward to buy the 431-MW Presque Isle coal-fired power plant on Michigan's Upper Peninsula from We Energies.
• In October, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) denied a request by We Energies to shut the plant down in February and ordered it to run through 2014 for reliability reasons. MISO will pay the utility $4.3 million a month to keep the plant operating.
• Last year, a deal between We Energies and Wolverine Power Cooperative that would have kept the plant operating fell apart when a major mining customer decided to buy power from an alternate supplier instead of We Energies.

Dive Insight:

It's unclear what will happen with the Presque Isle plant. Additional transmission in the region could address MISO's reliability concerns.