Consumers Energy (CE) rep Richard Houtteman is telling town boards that we are safe because of CE’s natural gas plants, so that there needs to be no concern about the demolition of the Campbell in 2025. But here is what he is not telling the town boards:
- UN Agenda 2030 and its related “Pact for the Future” (which Gov. Whitmer is fully on board with, and she appoints MPSC members which regulate CE and agree with it too) calls for rapid closure of all fossil fuel plants, including gas, and not just coal. After the Campbell is demolished, CE gas plants will be next on the chopping block, but most of them like the Covert are outside Ottawa County so our county has few legal tools to save them, whereas we have significant legal tools to save the Campbell, which provides reliable, affordable, and safe electric to 1 million regional residents.
- Only 5 years ago CE was saying the Campbell would remain open to 2040 so that investing over $1 billion in anti-polluting equipment in it made sense for customers, only to change course a few years later and stick customers with the cost given 2025 planned demolition, while CE executives and investors were financially rewarded by the MPSC. (Why should we believe CE will behave differently with gas?)
- Our regional grid operator MISO is saying our grid is in trouble because of precipitous closure of plants and replacement by unreliable solar and wind, so they are recommending delay in such plant closures.[1]
- Sierra Club and other environmental groups are already actively working on the closure of natural gas plants,[2] now that they have effectively already put a stop to addition of most new gas plants in Michigan.[3] (CE bought existing Covert gas plant rather than built a new one because of this law, so that the Covert is really no net positive for the overall grid.)
- The MPSC is already applying pressure on some Michigan electric companies to close their gas plants rapidly and make the customers foot all of the costs of early closure,[4] just like the MPSC is making CE customers and Ottawa County absorb all of the costs for demolition of the Campbell, while financially rewarding CE executives (who have plush stock options) and other investors.
- Having coal and gas plants working together is important for our energy security, because each helps offset the weaknesses of the other.[5]
- Ottawa County has effective legal tools to delay the closure and demolition of the Campbell, since it is located within Ottawa County. SaveTheCampbell.com explains the various legal tools in detail.
- The UN energy plan will deprive the County of reliable, affordable, safe electric, and relegate us to Third World status. All our infrastructure systems, businesses, and households depend upon a good electric grid.
The Jamestown Township Board and Georgetown Township Board already are taking important steps to “save the Campbell”, but we need all of the town boards and the county board in Ottawa County also to get on board with this effort. The first step is for each board officially to ask CE to delay closure of the Campbell; I have provided a draft letter for each board to review. It is important that we are united as a county to save the Campbell in order to preserve reliable, affordable, safe electric.
Unlike Mr. Houtteman, I do not get a dime for my work to warn the County and encourage us to take effective legal action to stop the misguided UN Agenda 2030; indeed, I have spent much of my own money and time as a matter of civic duty.
[1] https://www.misoenergy.org/meet-miso/media-center/2024/oms-miso-survey-results-indicate-tight-resource-capacity-in-the-upcoming-planning-year/
[2] https://www.sierraclub.org/wisconsin/blog/2021/11/wisconsin-utilities-are-doubling-down-natural-gas
[3] https://www.mlive.com/politics/2023/11/whitmer-signs-michigans-100-clean-energy-mandate-into-law.html
[4] https://grist.org/energy/michigan-clean-energy-laws-upper-peninusla-natural-gas-plants/
[5] https://savethecampbell.com/ottawa-county-needs-both-coal-and-gas-electric-generating-capacity-for-energy-security-and-has-the-legal-tools-to-keep-them/