Trump order keeping outdated, expensive plant open has cost $615,000 per day

LANSING  – Lawmakers in the state Legislature introduced House Resolution 219 calling for an end to the Trump administration’s reckless order to keep the J.H. Campbell Coal Plant running in West Michigan. After years of planning, the plant was set to close in late May, but was forced to restart by the Trump administration with two 90-day extensions, the second of which expires on Nov. 19. In a recent earnings report, Consumers Energy, the utility company that owns and operates the plant, revealed the cost for keeping it open is over $615,000 a day. The Trump administration’s order to continue operating the coal plant has already added $80 million in costs that will be passed on to ratepayers.

A full version of the resolution can be found here. 

“Trump forcing this outdated and inefficient coal plant to remain open is not only unnecessary, it’s raising our energy costs at a time when our bills are already too damn high, ” said state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-73rd District). “The Campbell Coal plant is one of Michigan’s largest emitters of pollution and its continued operation is a hit on our wallets and the health of West Michigan communities.”

Closing Campbell, Consumers’ last coal plant in the state, was expected to save Michiganders $600 million by 2040.  It was first kept open by a fake “energy emergency” declared by the Trump administration just days before the plant was to close. In April, ahead of the first extension, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which oversees the energy grid Campbell provides power to, came out with a report showing the grid has adequate energy supplies accounting for the Campbell plant’s retirement. 

“Michigan already has the highest energy costs in the Midwest, and Trump’s order to keep the Campbell plant running at a price tag of $615,000 a day will make costs soar,” said State Rep. Denise Mentzer (D-61st District). “This mandate from Washington is forcing unnecessary expenses on our state. If the federal government insists on keeping this plant open, they should cover the bill – not Michigan families and businesses. We cannot allow an unjustified federal intervention to saddle our communities with skyrocketing rates.” 

Consumers Energy had already received regulatory approval and replaced the plant’s output with clean, renewable sources and a new gas power plant. The latest emergency order extension expires next week, but Consumers has already told its shareholders that it expects it to be extended again. 

“We don’t need the Campbell coal plant for our energy needs anymore. The plan to shut it down has been years in the making, with cleaner energy replacements already online. President Trump is only keeping it open as a favor to the fossil fuel industry and we’re left paying the price,” said Rep. Stephen Wooden (D-81st District). All this order is doing is jacking up energy costs for Michigan families and giving a pay day to the fossil fuel industry.”

“The past six months have proven that Campbell is not filling a need that would otherwise be unmet. The coal plant is not only inefficient as a power generator, it is an especially dirty polluter compared to other available power sources,” said Mark Oppenhuizen, who has lived in the shadow of the plant for 30 years and whose family had counted on it to close as they fear that pollution from it has made his wife’s lung disease worse.

“The decision to keep Campbell open comes at a time when costs for everything are up and Michigan families are having to make hard decisions of whether to pay their light bill or put food on the table,” said Bentley Johnson,  Federal Government Affairs Director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “Despite promising to bring energy costs down, Trump’s policies are causing them to skyrocket and the impact is being felt right here in Michigan.”

“For nearly two decades now, the Sierra Club has been sounding the alarm on J.H. Campbell’s clear threat to the health, safety, and wallets of Michiganders. It was through that work that the original shutdown date for Campbell was agreed upon by state regulators, the private utility, and the community,” said Tim Minotas, Legislative & Political Director for Sierra Club Michigan. “The so-called energy emergency the Trump administration is using to keep Campbell open simply doesn’t exist. We’re focused on the real emergencies: astronomical utility bills and a climate crisis exacerbated by toxic fossil fuel emissions from an aging coal-powered plant.”

 

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