Up North Progressive

Self-declared thorn in Governor Whitmer’s side Jack O’Malley (R – It’s really complicated!) in a matter of hours went from declaring full and complete investigations into all alleged election fraud in Michigan to declaring full and complete support of keeping Enbridge Line 5 open else the Upper Peninsula will become a frozen wasteland.

Jack even sent the Governor a letter stating his intent to stop her:



Wow, that seems very patronizing and brow-beaty, let’s dive in.



Really? We should take a look at the November 16, 2020 issue Michigan Bridge article.

A report from Public Sector Consultants estimated that a shutdown of Line 5 would cause an annual shortfall of 230.1 million gallons of propane statewide, the equivalent to 46 percent of statewide supplies and 87.6 percent of supplies for the Upper Peninsula.

The report concluded that Michigan has other options to fulfill Upper Peninsula energy needs, but those options would come with modest cost increases. Alternative options include transporting propane by rail, increasing storage capacity in the U.P., and shifting to other energy sources, among other possibilities.

But it’s unclear how long it would take to bring those solutions online, said Eric Pardini, the Public Sector Consultants director who led the report, nor whether such a shift would disrupt the propane industry elsewhere.

The Public Sector Consultants report, published in March of 2020, gives an excellent summary of propane production, distribution, and consumption in Michigan. It’s also important to point out this detail stated on page 9:

While propane plays an important role in meeting the state’s energy needs, the industry is not subject to the same degree of state regulatory oversight as the electric or natural gas industries. As such, the State has had limited visibility into planning, procurement, or pricing strategies employed by the propane industry to meet the needs of Michigan consumers.

The state relied on propane producers to provide information on what Michigan needs in regards to propane supply and demand. A lack of progress didn’t begin with Governor Whitmer. This has been standard operating procedure with the state all along. This is how Enbridge before the US Census proved them wrong, could claim 85% of the UP relied on their propane to heat Northern Michigan homes. They now claim 65% (or, as Jack claims, 70%) which is not supported by US Census Data.

The actual number of homes heating with propane relying on the Rapid River facility is 45%. A report written by Dan Street, retired Dow Chemical Facilities Engineer, in 2018 explains not only does Enbridge only supply about 45% of Upper Peninsula households with propane at their Rapid River facility, but it’s also only in the central section of the UP. The eastern and western UP receive propane from other sources.

Street’s report concurs with PSC’s findings that the priority is to make sure those central UP propane-heated homes have uninterrupted service. Both reports conclude with a modest price increase the propane needed for the homes in the Central UP relying on Rapid River for propane can be shipped from other suppliers by rail or an alternative pipeline.



And if that isn’t enough to convince Jack the state has options for supplying the UP with propane when Line 5 is shut down, here’s a third report developed by London Economics International LLC which agrees with PSC and Dan Street.

Moving on to Jack’s next claim:



The UP does not get 70% of its propane from Enbridge Line 5. Yes, there are some chilly nights in the UP in May, but they certainly are not going to freeze.



Okay, this paragraph is all over the place. Jack thinks the Mackinac Bridge can’t handle traffic from tanker trucks despite the fact large semis hauling cargo go across that bridge every single day, day and night, every day of the year. The bridge can handle a few more trucks on it. What we can’t handle is the potential for the pipeline under that bridge rupturing and causing $6 billion dollars in damage to irreplaceable habitat. Nobody currently ships oil on the Great Lakes, so why bring this up? No clue what airplane fuel supplies have to do at all with Line 5. Seems more like some good old-fashioned Soviet-style whataboutism.

If Jack is so worried about transporting propane over land as an environmental risk, let’s not forget what happened to 39 miles of the Kalamazoo River with Enbridge Line 6b or the 33 ruptures Enbridge Line 5 has already suffered over just about every other stretch of the pipeline. Failure in the Straits is a matter of when, Jack, not if.

In the short term, Michigan will have to eat the cost of using alternative methods to get propane to 15,000 homes in the central UP. Suppliers in the UP are already doing this. They’ve increased storage, found alternative sources to supply customers, and if Line 5 stops supplying Rapid River, it’s not going to impact customers at all. Long term methods include an alternative pipeline that benefits Michigan, rather than putting the straits at risk for the convenience of Enbridge. In the long term, weening the state off of liquid propane fuel for heating and cooking is the best option of all.



Oh, there’s Jack’s condescending political hack tone.

Once again, nobody is going to be in peril of losing their ability to heat their home. Jack knows in a matter of days there will be a new president in the White House who has every intention of doing the job his predecessor should have done protecting Americans from COVID-19 but didn’t want to because it would cut into his golfing and “executive time” in front of the TV. Governor Whitmer will not be the only person fighting to keep people in the state alive and Jack has to find a new topic to attack the Governor.

Like a good Republican, Jack uses projection in this paragraph to politicize a real environmental threat to the Great Lakes. Scaring people in the UP with the threat of freezing to death if Enbridge shuts down Line 5 is exactly what Jack just accused Gretchen Whitmer of doing. Oldest Republican political trick in the book: Accuse your opponent of doing what you’re actually doing.

If you live in the UP and you’re wondering if Jack’s nonsense has any merit, do what other Yoopers have already done and call your local propane supplier. Ask them if they will be able to find other sources of propane if Line 5 stops supplying Rapid River. Some customers already have and they know Jack O’Malley don’t know Jack about the necessity of Line 5 in Michigan.

Enbridge’s plan to build a tunnel, something they can’t put a specific timeline on is nothing more than an excuse to buy more time with the state to keep the old pipeline flowing under the straits. Michigan doesn’t need any more of the pristine shoreline of the straits destroyed and the UP doesn’t need the propane this crumbling ruin of a pipeline supplies. Enbridge needs to shut down the pipeline in May. The state can find alternative sources for the UP so they stay toasty warm next winter, and Jack can hunt for another excuse to make a fool of himself.