40 YEARS OF SERVICE –
2021 Marks Alpena Power’s 140th Anniversary
Quick facts:
1881 – George N. Fletcher founded The Alpena Electric Light Company on October 10, 1881. When the company started, the main use of power was for “arc lights” for the City of Alpena and commercial customers 1898 – Construction of the 4-mile dam began and was completed in 1902
1902 – Alpena Electric Company acquired the Alpena City Water Company, including the Hubbard Lake Dam 1905 – The Alpena City Water Company water system and shore pump were sold to the City of Alpena
1909 – Construction began for the Ninth Street dam and was completed in 1910 1915 – Alpena Electric Light Company had approximately 800 customers
1923 – The Norway Point Dam construction was started
1924 – The official name of Alpena Power Company (APC) was adopted, Norway Point Dam was completed 1935 – The Upper South Dam was constructed
1955 – The Hillman Water & Light Company was purchased by Alpena Power Company 1980 – APC has about 13,500 customers
1990 – All hydroelectric generation power plants and dams sold to Thunder Bay Power Company; Ninth St, Four Mile, Norway Point, Hillman Hubbard Lake Reservoir and Upper South Reservoir dams
2000 – APC has about 15,400 customers 2021 – APC has about 16,550 customers
OFFICE REOPENING
The customer service office reopened on July 1, 2021. The office will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday. Customers can still drop their payments in the box in the vestibule, make phone payments 24/7 by calling 989-358-4900, option 2, or create an account and pay online at www.alpenapower.com.
Alpena Power Company Phone Numbers
| Alpena Power main | 989-358-4900 | Customer Service | 989-358-4900, option 3 |
| Toll free | 866-358-4900 | Vegetation Mgmt. | 989-358-4900, option 4 |
| Payment Arrangements | 989-358-4900, option 1 | Billing | 989-358-4900, option 5 |
| Payment by phone | 989-358-4900, option 2 | Engineering | 989-358-4900, option 8 |
APPLICATION FOR RATE INCREASE
On June 18, 2021, Alpena Power Company filed a request for a rate increase with the Michigan Public Service Commission. Overall, this request would increase Alpena Power Company’s revenues by 6.58%. A monthly bill for a typical residential customer, who uses 543 kilowatts a month, would increase by $7.53. The Michigan Public Service Commission may grant or deny the requested increase, in whole or in part, and may grant lesser increases than those requested.
A copy of the application is available for review at Alpena Power Company’s office located at 401 N. Ninth Avenue, Alpena, Michigan, during business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. An explanation of the proposed changes to the rates is available from Alpena Power Company upon request.
VEGETATION MANAGEMENT: To help reduce tree-related outages, Alpena Power Company has an aggressive Vegetation Management Program with a goal of clearing approximately 20% of our lines each year. This trimming cycle ensures that all lines on our system are cleared of potentially troublesome trees over each 5 year period resulting in increased system reliability and reduced customer outages.
When trimming distribution lines, our policy is to trim to 15′ on either side of the line. While trimming transmission lines we will trim to 25’-50′ on either side of the line depending on the line voltage.
APC contracts tree trimming professionals who carry Alpena Power Company identification. If you are not sure who is on your property trimming trees, please ask to see this identification. If you have questions about our
Vegetation Management Program, please call: 358-4941 or Toll Free: 866-358-4900.
The main Vegetation Management areas for the remainder of 2021 include:
- South of Werth Rd and East of Hubbard Lake Rd
- Island View Subdivision
- Area between Ripley Blvd and Chisholm St Southeast of 3rd Avenue
| Projected Environmental Characteristics of Alpena Power | ||
| Company’s Electricity April 1, 2020 – March 31, 2021 | ||
| Fuel Source | Alpena Power’s fuel mix used to generate electricity | Regional average fuel mix used to generate electricity (MI, IL, IN, OH and WI) |
| Coal | 31.0% | 32.2% |
| Nuclear | 23.8% | 28.6% |
| Gas | 35.5% | 30.6.6% |
| Oil | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Hydroelectric | 1.4% | 0.8% |
| Renewable Fuels | 7.9% | 7.4% |
| Biofuel | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| Biomass | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| Solar | <0.1% | 0.2% |
| Solid Waste Incineration | 1.0% | <0.1% |
| Wind | 4.9% | 5.6% |
| Wood | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| Other (1) | < 0.1% | 0% |
Note: Biomass excludes wood; solid waste incineration includes landfill gas
| Type of Emission/Waste | Alpena Power Average Pounds per Megawatt-hour | Regional Average (MI, IL, IN, OH and WI)
Pounds Per Megawatt-hour |
| Sulfur Dioxide | 0.5 | 1.3 |
| Carbon Dioxide | 1011.2 | 1248.0 |
| Oxides of Nitrogen | 0.50 | 0.9 |
| High-Level Nuclear Waste (2) | 0.0069 | 0.006 |
Alpena Power purchases 100% of the power it supplies to customers.
