Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, volunteer leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
In the first round of “Save The Campbell” resolutions the Blendon board, six other townships and the County Board, accomplished what we had hoped, the Trump Administration responding to our appeal: the delay of the planned 2025 closure of the Campbell.
Nevertheless, Consumers Energy and globalist corporations like Key Capture are full steam ahead with the Net Zero agenda, even though the Net Zero goal of rapid replacement of coal/gas with solar/wind/battery is terribly unrealistic, expensive, and dangerous.
For this reason 5 other township boards have already passed the second round of “Save The Campbell” resolutions. These resolutions pursue an exploratory committee for a locally controlled electric cooperative in the likely case that Consumers Energy does not stop its aggressive pursuit of the Net Zero agenda. This provides an effective strategy to stop the Key Capture project even with PA 233, because Key Capture needs revenue from Consumers Energy, as well as affordable grid access. Under the current circumstances, local municipalities in Ottawa County have a due diligence responsibility to investigate alternatives to the current Net Zero direction of the Consumers Energy/MPSC duo.
Consumers Energy is a regulated monopoly whose profits are set by the Whitmer-appointed MPSC, based on how much they aggressively pursue the Net Zero agenda, not what makes sense for customers. Campbell was equipped to last to 2040, with $1 billion of anti-polluting equipment added. There is a shortage of electric in the USA, and fossil fuel plants including the Campbell are very valuable. It can generate electric at a very economic rate. The reason these Consumers Energy assets cannot be purchased by another private utility is because the MPSC would never allow another private entity to take Consumers Energy’s place. Any transfer that would save the Campbell would need to be into a government entity or an electric cooperative, over which the MPSC has less regulatory ability to stop. Of these two options, a locally controlled electric cooperative has the most private enterprise features, and can actually stimulate much needed competition in the interest of local citizens rather than for the sake of Net Zero’s globalist aspirations.
There is a financial mechanism for this transfer to happen, following how Zeeland attained local control of its electric from Consumers Energy almost a century ago, facilitated by the FDR Administration. We likely can get the Trump Administration’s help and assistance.
Area electric cooperatives like Zeeland’s and Great Lakes Energy’s have shown such an electric cooperative can provide superior electric service at a lower price than Consumers Energy. Consumers Energy electric pricing is becoming more and more outrageous.
Public utilities are unlike regular areas of enterprise where individual consumers can shop and decide on who they want to use. This is not like a grocery store or a car repair shop. Locally elected governments need to intervene on behalf of local citizens so as to make sure local citizen interests are upheld in the electric public utility sector.
Thanks for considering this 2nd round of resolutions.