It’s no surprise that Michigan’s Upper Peninsula faces long, intense winters that regularly challenge the region’s infrastructure and energy supply.

This winter was no different. And it could potentially get worse if Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel succeed in shuttering the Line 5 pipeline that transports 540,000 barrels of petroleum products across the Straits of Mackinac each day.

However, on April 4, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order declaring an energy emergency in the Upper Peninsula following the severe ice storm that left residents without power and disrupted essential services.

The order temporarily suspended transportation restrictions for fuel deliveries across the Mackinac Bridge, which serves as the main supply route into the region. When the bridge was closed due to hazardous weather conditions, residents had no access to the fuel they needed to heat their homes.

This emergency highlighted a deeper issue. Even with Line 5 operational, the UP experienced a critical disruption in energy access. If the pipeline were permanently closed, as Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have vowed to do, the consequences during similar storms could be far more severe.

Whitmer and Nessel have long advocated shutting down Line 5 due to concerns about potential environmental risks. However, Line 5 is key to delivering propane and other fuels to the UP. A closure without a viable replacement system could result in fuel shortages, higher costs, and greater dependence on vulnerable delivery methods. The April emergency is a reminder that the region’s energy supply is already under strain.

In an email to The Midwesterner, Mackinac Center for Public Policy Director of Environmental Policy Jason Hayes noted the precariousness of Whitmer’s energy agenda.

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“Governor Whitmer’s executive order to ‘increase the flow of fuel and other supplies’ after the Upper Peninsula’s recent ice storm is a stark irony, given her relentless crusade to choke off Michigan’s energy lifeline by pushing to shut down Line 5 and forcing costly, unreliable wind and solar schemes through her net-zero obsession,” Hayes said.

“Just as falling ice recently ‘indefinitely’ closed the Mackinac Bridge, disrupting travel between the two peninsulas, Whitmer’s policies threaten to sever Michigan’s essential energy infrastructure — leaving MIchiganders stranded in the cold. It’s a bitter twist that she scrambles to fix this recent energy crisis in Northern Michigan while actively working to kill off reliable energy sources, fueling a statewide energy crisis.”

Hayes warned that the absence of Line 5 could be disastrous in the event of another ice storm or similar disaster. Fuel trucks delayed by weather would face increased pressure to deliver critical energy.  The UP’s geography and climate already present unique challenges that cannot be ignored in state energy planning.

Whitmer’s EO issued in April was a short-term response to a long-standing vulnerability.