Upper Peninsula Power

A regulated utility, Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) serves approximately 54,000 electric retail customers in 10 of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan's 15 counties, or about 12 customers per square mile. UPPCO's service territory of 4,460 square miles covers primarily rural countryside. Industries served by UPPCO include forest products, tourism and manufacturing. The company's assets include seven hydroelectric renewable energy generation facilities and two combustion turbines providing a total generation capacity of approximately 80 megawatts. UPPCO owns approximately 3,500 miles of primary and secondary distribution lines and about 854 miles of service lines that traverse some of the most heavily wooded areas in Michigan. UPPCO also operates 58 distribution substations. UPPCO was incorporated in 1947 through a merger of three utilities - Houghton County Electric Light Company, Copper District Power Company and Iron Range Light and Power Company. Houghton County Electric Light Company previously acquired the interests of Peninsula Electric Light and Power Company, which was organized in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in 1884, just five years after Edison's incandescent bulb put the practical use of electricity at the fingertips of everyone. • Since then, UPPCO - U.P. Power - has grown and changed with the communities it serves. UPPCO and its employees are dedicated to continue providing quality customer service, delivery of safe and reliable electric service and being a proud community supporter. View photographs of UPPCO's history, past and present.