I gave the speeches below, and a few others spoke on behalf of the Campbell as well at the 03/25/2025 Board meeting. Thankfully, our efforts are having a positive effect on the County Board. The Board is placing the Campbell issue on the next committee agenda.
My speech in the first comment section:
Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, volunteer leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
I thank this Board again for having passed the Campbell Resolution, but it is not enough. Just a few hours after this Board passed its resolution, Consumers Energy VP Maddipati said that it will close the Campbell anyway in May, and the Whitmer-appointed MPSC officials said the same. Gov. Whitmer and the other Democrats in Lansing want to close all gas and coal plants. These Democrats passed a law NOW in effect to override local zoning policies to convert thousands of acres of Michigan farmland to solar panel and huge battery installations. Solar panels in West Michigan do NOT provide us with reliable baseload electric. This Board has legal powers to delay the Campbell closure, IF it has the political will to do so.
This is especially the case because the County Board would have the Federal Government on its side if it solicits the assistance of the Trump Administration. President Trump’s energy emergency executive order recognizes the need for gas and especially CLEAN coal plants like the Campbell plant to provide the reliable and affordable energy necessary for our electric baseload. They are important to power the AI data center technological revolution for our national security and industrial development. Given the high demand for electric by data centers, we could even charge a data center top dollar for the electric from the Campbell so that electric rates for residential customers can be reduced. For those concerned about CO2 emissions, carbon capture is commercially available.
The current MPSC/Consumers Energy direction has huge negatives, including these:
- NERC, along with grid operator MISO, state demand for electricity exceeds supply in the coming years.
- Consumers Energy customers already pay 58% more than Zeeland residents who have municipalized electric, we have some of the highest electric rates in the nation, and Consumers Energy is currently implementing additional rate hikes.
- As we rely more on natural gas in the short run, natural gas for heating is also seeing significant rate increases, which DTE and Consumers Energy are requesting.
- Grand Haven Area Public Schools will be experiencing a significant budget deficit in part because of no continued tax revenues from the Campbell.
- Pigeon Lake Channel will lose dredging and experience water problems without the Campbell.
- We are putting a dangerous level of trust in a risky expensive Palisades nuclear reactor restart by a company that has a very questionable track record.
We request that:
1. Ottawa County government seek assistance from the Trump Administration and legally intervene on behalf of the Campbell plant, consistent with President Trump’s executive order.
2. The Ottawa County Board, with the support of the Trump Administration, pass a public safety ordinance prohibiting the closure of the Campbell in 2025. The Michigan constitution gives our county Commissioners power to protect residents from a public utility that plans a project that will hurt the long-term welfare of its customers in service and pricing.
3. Consider additional ways to get more local control of electric countywide, partnering with an interested data center for funding assistance .
The Michigan Constitution has invested significant electric utility authority in the hands of the County Board, and you should use that legal authority on behalf of the citizens of Ottawa County.
Thanks for considering these requests to save the Campbell!
My speech in the second comment section:
“Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, volunteer leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
This County Board’s Campbell resolution noted the following: “the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners has the authority to ‘enter or to intervene in any action or certificate proceeding involving the services, charges or rates of any privately owned public utility furnishing services or commodities to rate payers within the County. (Article VII, Section 15 of the Constitution of the State of Michigan…’”
The Ottawa County Board has the constitutional authority to intervene regarding the Campbell given the MPSC and Consumers Energy are taking us in a direction that endangers our electric services and pricing. The preeminent experts on our regional grid, NERC and MISO, recommend closure delays to avoid undue risk to our grid. There is now huge demand for electric by AI data centers, and they would be willing to pay top dollar for Campbell’s reliable electric, enabling pricing reductions for County residents, at a time Consumers Energy customers have inordinately high pricing. And Ottawa County would have the support and likely the assistance of the Trump Administration if the County officially asks for it to defend President Trump’s energy emergency executive order.
The Michigan Constitution gives the elected County Board this legal authority precisely because of situations like this, when local citizens need protection from the actions of a giant energy monopoly in a cozy relation with the unelected state regulators.
The argument that CO2 emissions justify its closure is negated by the fact that direct air carbon capture is commercially available such that the Campbell can effectively have net zero emissions, if that is the concern. It is not my personal concern, but it can be addressed if it is a concern. It is unfair to customers that Consumers Energy spent over $1 billion of our money in anti-polluting on the Campbell which they now plan to trash, while their executives and investors are handsomely financially rewarded. They are putting us at electric energy risk which is so basic to our public safety, such that a county public safety ordinance delaying the Campbell closure would be fully justified.
On behalf of the thousands in Ottawa County that have signed Campbell petitions, and many township boards which have passed resolutions to delay closures, I would ask that Campbell Resolution follow-up be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of either the Planning and Policy Committee or the Finance and Administration Committee. The Campbell issue affects matters related to both committees because of its huge importance to life and economics of the county.
The County Board has a responsibility to use its legal powers in this case.
I do want to emphasize that I appreciate the community service of this Board.
Thanks for considering this request to save the Campbell!”