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DTE tells Gratiot County decommissioning surety for Polaris wind project has risen to about $14.8 million
Summary
A DTE representative reported the Polaris wind project's decommissioning estimate rose from roughly $4.5 million to about $14.8 million and presented a rider to update the county-held surety bond to the new amount; no county vote was required at the meeting.
A representative of DTE informed the Gratiot County Board that a decommissioning cost study for the Polaris wind project raised the estimated surety from about $4.5 million to roughly $14.8 million and presented a rider to amend the county-held bond amount.
The DTE representative said the company updates its decommissioning review periodically and that the rider simply states the new total value while the original bond remains in place. As the representative put it, “The surety bond cost went from a roughly $4,500,000 up to a current estimate of a $14,800,000 cost to decommission the project.”
DTE's representative told the board the company proactively conducted the study and provided the results and engineers’ review to county staff. He said the rider is intended to be stapled to the original bond documentation held by the county and does not replace the existing bond.
The representative also discussed broader energy topics, including relative costs of generation sources and the role of wind and solar in reducing rate pressure over time; those remarks were informational and did not require board action.
No formal vote was recorded on the decommissioning rider at the meeting; the presentation served to notify county officials of the revised estimate and to deliver paperwork for county review.
