The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners passed the resolution in a 9-1 vote requesting the MPSC hold a new hearing addressing concerns about reliability and provide assurances the closure of the coal plant won’t have an adverse effect on local power grids.
Commissioner Josh Brugger.
“And my concern is that shutting down the Campbell plant right now before more green resources that I much prefer are brought online, is that we’ll have rolling blackouts or brownouts.”
Commissioner Joe Moss said Consumers Energy is pushing a “climate crisis green energy agenda in their war on affordable fossil fuels.”
“They’re completely out of line with the Trump administration and the direction the country is going.”
Trisha Bloembergen with Consumers Energy says the closure, which has been in the works for years, will be offset by renewable energy sources and a natural gas plant.
“Unfortunately, the time to submit those appeals against the closure of Campbell was three or four years ago. This goes through an extreme review process to ensure that we can provide reliable energy.”
In a statement to WGVU, the MPSC said the case has already been settled and Ottawa County’s appeal would not reopen the matter.
You can read the MPSC's entire statement below:
This issue was decided in Consumers Energy’s most recent integrated resource planning case (Case No. U-21090), conducted through a contested proceeding as legislatively mandated. A settlement agreement in the case details Consumers’ plans to replace the energy from the Campbell plant with energy from renewable sources and battery storage along with the output of the Covert Generating Station in Van Buren County.
Decisions like this are made through legislatively mandated cases. There are annual utility capacity reviews to ensure adequate energy supply. In addition, any potential capacity concerns will be reviewed again when Consumers files its next integrated resource plan case, no later than June 2027.
Learn more about Consumers’ IRP in this MPSC issue brief on the matter.
Matt Helms
Public Information Officer
MPSC
