As reported here and elsewhere, the Republicans on the Ottawa County Board passed the excellent Campbell Resolution they drafted. Special thanks to Commissioners Bonnema, Miedema, and Brugger for hammering it out for the Board to consider, and thanks to the Republican Board members for passing it. The discussion and passage of the resolution can be viewed here.
My comment in the first comment period was as follows:
Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, volunteer and leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
I thank and applaud the Board for its excellent Campbell Resolution, especially its citation of Michigan Constitution, which gives this elected Board the right of intervening when a privately owned public utility is endangering its citizens such as Consumers executives are in their service plan and rates, under the regulation and direction of the unelected MPSC..
Consumers Energy is violating Michigan law with its plan, because Michigan law implies that no electric public utility should move forward with a plan which endangers the grid like NERC and MISO are warning.
I now quote the Chair of the MPSC in a recent PlanetDetroit article about the Palisades nuclear plant: “I think it’s absolutely an essential part of our energy mix.” Without it, he added, “it certainly makes a steep hill steeper.” Palisades’ restart would come within a few months of one of Michigan’s last coal plants’ planned retirement of three units, making the need for energy more urgent, Scripps said…The future of funding for such projects is unclear under the Trump administration…“We’re still asking the NRC to do something that they’ve never done before,” Scripps said.”
So the Chair of the MPSC is acknowledging that the viability of Consumers’ planned closure of Campbell significantly rests upon a precarious restart of the Palisades. There are huge technical, economic, and environmental risks associated with the Palisades restart. Adding to its precariousness is the fact that in recent weeks the Trump Administration has frozen funding for the Palisades.
The Trump Administration has also frozen payments for Michigan solar and wind projects, which place all Campbell alternatives in even deeper jeopardy.
Consumers’ 2025 Campbell closure is also in violation of the Trump Administration’s National Energy Emergency executive order, which calls for stopping such closures, because our lack of electric generation “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.” It calls for co-locating AI data centers next to plants like the Campbell. If this executive order route is followed, it is a way to significantly reduce electric rates for Ottawa County citizens. The high charges to the AI data center can subsidize lower rates for county rate payers. Remember, Consumers Energy customers pay 58% higher rates than Zeeland customers on municipalized electric. This outrageous rate difference is another reason the County Board needs to intervene, along with preventing huge rate increases as reliable electric generating capacity becomes more scarce.
Mlive reports that “Consumers said it had inquiries from more than 30 prospective data center developers, representing a total of over 15 gigawatts in demand”, and the Campbell is only 1.4 gigawatts. Consumers’ energy plan is unrealistic.
So as a first necessary step in addressing this situation, I urge the Board to pass your excellent Campbell resolution.
My comment in the second comment period was as follows:
Joseph Parnell McCarter, Georgetown Township, leader of SaveTheCampbell effort.
I thank the Board profusely for passing the Campbell Resolution, but now ask the Board to be realistic about the likely response of MPSC and Consumers Energy, along with the very compressed time we have to avert closure and the inevitable plant dismantlement that quickly follows. Energy is the lifeblood of our life and economy. There are many indications MPSC and Consumers Energy are determined to press ahead with their unrealistic plan that hurts County citizens; MPSC has been undaunted by the lawsuits from many municipalities not wanting their farmlands converted into solar panel fields. We need to use all of the legal levers available quickly, and here is a list of actions we recommend:
- Ottawa County pass a resolution citing violation of the Trump Administration National Energy Emergency executive order and let an AI data center locate near the Campbell plant and utilize its reliable electric along with other customers, but at significantly higher rates, so that the rates of Consumers Energy customers can come down and be closer to the rates customers of municipalized electric in Ottawa County enjoy. The Board should intervene regarding electric pricing, in addition to service. Closing the Campbell will drive up prices that are already ridiculously high for Consumers customers in the county.
- Seek the assistance of the Trump Administration to intervene on behalf of the Campbell consistent with the National Energy Emergency executive order. We can very much use their assistance. But I want to emphasize we need a County electric plan that serves County interests, not the interests of Washington, DC or Lansing.
- Ottawa County Board pass a public safety ordinance prohibiting the closure of the Campbell in 2025, consistent with the Michigan Constitution.
- Discuss with Wolverine Power the possibility of joining Wolverine Power in litigation to delay the closure. There is a strong legal case to be made, and we should pursue it.
- Form an electric coop of Ottawa County townships currently without municipalized electric (or at least those which are without it currently but would like to move towards having it) and begin discussing with relevant parties, the possibility as a group of parties purchasing Consumers Energy’s interest in the Campbell and having a service contract with Consumers Energy to run the Campbell. The Campbell already has some minority shareholders, and this would purchase Consumers majority interest, less the cost of fly ash remediation.
- Pursue a home rule county charter for Ottawa County for a certain trial period which would facilitate the County’s ability to prevent the Campbell’s premature closure, including the possibility of facilitating the purchase of Consumers Energy’s interest in the Campbell.
- Encourage state legislators to amend Michigan law not to discriminate against use of coal for electric generation when accompanied with carbon capture.
We need to pursue actions which do not depend upon a change of mind of unelected MPSC and Consumer Energy executives who have a vested interest in the status quo, contrary to Ottawa County citizens. Three cities in Ottawa County have successful local control.
Most of all, we need to pray to God that He will bless our efforts to “Save The Campbell”.