Imagine if the OI commissioners had passed their constitutional county resolution and then in the weeks following did radio interviews trashing the Bill of Rights: sadly the equivalent is precisely what has happened in the case of the county’s Campbell Resolution.
There is a place for resolutions when thoroughly studied by commissioners, firmly believed by them, and passed with the intention to guide and promote substantive government action. But there is no place for doing board resolutions the way the current county board did the Campbell Resolution. After passing their Campbell Resolution the leadership say they spoke with Consumers Energy representatives and then said on major media outlets their concerns were satisfied. If that was the level of resolve when passing it, they never should have passed it in the first place. Some said they found out Consumers bought the Covert gas plant a few years ago and they are now satisfied with that replacement. Well, that Consumers Energy answer has been publicly available for years and did absolutely nothing to address the substance of concerns expressed in the county resolution.
In truth, that Consumers Energy answer fails to address the grid issues that MISO and NERC have been warning about: our regional grid is now in trouble because planned plant closures in the coming few years exceed reliable baseload replacement. The best current estimates are that our regional grid is on course for experiencing a 4.7 gigawatt shortfall by 2027 brought on by the rapid closures of coal plants like the Campbell.
The Consumers Energy answer also fails to address the contractual breach that is the subject of its litigation with Wolverine Power. In abandoning the Campbell early, Consumers Energy has left many energy users in the lurch, even though on its own books Consumers Energy appears fine because it bought the then currently existing Covert gas plant. So Wolverine Power has had to desperately scramble for replacement, and erroneously thinks it has found it in the old shut down Palisades nuclear reactor. Wolverine Power has been placated by promises of huge sums of taxpayer money from the Federal Government. This Palisades restart scheme, which would be the first in US history, is a fiasco in itself. Given all of this, we should not assume the courts will ultimately let Consumers Energy get away with their early Campbell closure, leaving not only Wolverine customers but also Consumers Energy customers in trouble if there are grid problems in the coming years.
It is not too late for this county board to correct course. What the county board now needs to do is wise, meaningful action. This board should spearhead mediation discussions by inviting those with decision-making capacity related to the Campbell to the discussion table. The Michigan constitution invests the county board with the legal authority to ensure good electric service and pricing in the county. Such mediation discussions would entail minimal cost, but help the county board to ascertain what can be achieved without costly litigation and other action.
It is obvious the MPSC/Consumers Energy partnership is sold out to the Net Zero Scam. In light of this reality, the County Board needs to facilitate with the county’s township and city boards local control of the Campbell. The Michigan Constitution provides to the County Board working with the township boards the legal path to accomplish this. This needs to be accompanied by the county board making sure that the Campbell can be inexpensively restarted even if Consumers Energy proceeds with its closure, which seems likely absent litigation to stop it. So long as there is adequate guarantee that the Campbell can be inexpensively restarted, the County Board can live with Campbell closure for now, while it works to obtain local control of the Campbell property.
But if there is no intention to take any substantive action and to continue to contradict the Campbell Resolution in public statements, then this county board’s resolution stands as a mockery to the “Save The Campbell” effort.