GE Energy Rentals Eases Michigan Flood Damage

Oct. 27, 2003
GE Energy Rentals recently supplied portable diesel generators and transformers, totaling 31 megawatts of emergency power, to customers of We Energies

GE Energy Rentals recently supplied portable diesel generators and transformers, totaling 31 megawatts of emergency power, to customers of We Energies in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula after a dam broke, releasing 8 billion gallons of impounded water into the Dead River. High water levels forced the shutdown of the Presque Isle Power Plant in Marquette, Mich., which represented about 50 percent of the generation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. GE Energy Rentals provided 27 1,350-kw diesel generators, 17 step-up transformers and about 37,000 feet of cable for the flooded area. The GE rental equipment was divided between two substations in the Iron Mountain, Mich., area to help maintain voltage support for the weakened power grid. We Energies used GE Energy Rentals equipment until the power plant was back on line in a few weeks. GE Energy Rentals, Atlanta, was formed by GE Power Systems to offer rental equipment for temporary distributed power and climate control. It is No. 16 on the RER 100.