at 33:20 in meeting at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1cpgmG49Gs –
Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, volunteer leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
The “Save The Campbell” effort and this board’s vote calling for delay of the Campbell closure has been vindicated: this past weekend MISO reported we were having a Max Gen event! A Max Gen event is an emergency declaration signaling that electricity demand is exceeding, or is about to exceed, available supply. Rep. Luke Meerman brought this to my attention, and needed to find out from me if the Campbell was operating. A “Save The Campbell” supporter sent us an image of the Campbell currently operating and helping to save the day in providing reliable electricity for our region. In addition, an industry insider informed me that Campbell units 1 and 3 were operating, whereas many gas plants were running into problems due to the severe cold. Solar panel fields were generally covered in snow and useless. For energy security we need the combination of coal and gas in Michigan. Coal is often more reliable than natural gas during extreme, prolonged cold weather because it can be stored on-site at power plants, insulating the fuel supply from real-time logistics failures. In contrast, natural gas infrastructure can suffer from “freeze-offs” at wellheads, and pipeline capacity can become constrained, leading to severe supply shortages during peak demand. This can be a matter of life or death.
All of the top 10 states with the largest % electric generation from coal have lower electric costs per KWh than Michigan, and in general it is blue Democrat states that have the highest electric costs, with the costly Net Zero agenda being a primary cause.
When Consumers Energy executives say coal costs more, they are simply wrong. The reason it costs more is because of the way they are mismanaging their coal electric generation, contrasted with the way many red states are properly managing it for long-term use. The Consumers Energy monopoly, at the behest of the Democrat-led MPSC, is wasting lots of money and valuable Michigan farmland in pursuit of the Net Zero agenda, and in the process not utilizing Campbell in the prudent way red states are using it.
Ottawa County should not allow ourselves to be held hostage by the many Democrat voters on the east side of the state, but should pursue more local control of our electric grid with the help of the Trump Administration.
I urge the County Board and the other township boards to join the seven township boards which already have officially called for an exploratory committee to investigate getting local control via a local electric cooperative for those parts of Ottawa County currently with Consumers Energy.
To the concern we will be stuck with the costs of clean-up of ground contamination at the Campbell site, a purchase contract can be structured so that Consumers Energy bears the clean-up costs, since it happened under their watch.