Stop the Dam Sale: Don’t let Consumers Energy sell out Michigan rivers and communities

Over the past year, Consumers Energy has been hashing out a deal to essentially give away 13 aging hydroelectric dams to a private equity firm, and then buy back the power produced from the dams at a huge premium. 

This is a bad deal for our rivers, the wildlife that inhabit them, our outdoor recreation, and our pocketbooks. Here’s why:

Costs will be passed to ratepayers. Consumers Energy will pass along the premium price it’s paying for energy from the dams to Michigan ratepayers, locking us into higher costs while receiving no benefits. The company is also passing along financial liabilities for keeping the dams safe and structurally sound – a recipe for disaster.

We can’t trust private equity firms to manage the dams. The private equity firm, Hull Street Energy, would have little incentive to invest in long-term dam safety. 

Transferring ownership of these dams could easily mean they are not properly maintained or even breach, as happened in Edenville, MI, in 2020 following heavy rains and years of poor maintenance of the dam. The Au Train dam in the UP, which can’t handle major floods and has long-standing safety issues, is another example of what can happen when a dam isn’t properly maintained.

Consumers Energy’s own records show it’s more cost-effective to remove the dams, which are an average age of 106 years old, than to continue operating them.

The Michigan Public Service Commission will make the final decision on if this bad deal goes through.

Please send a message to the Michigan Public Service Commission urging them to reject Consumers Energy’s request to sell off these dams →