KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Environmentalists with a message came to Kalamazoo to talk about air pollution, not knowing it would be the day the state set a record for smokey air.
With a grey haze hanging heavy on the steps of Kalamazoo City Hall Thursday afternoon, Attorney General Dana Nessel expressed her frustration with the Trump administration for keeping open Consumers Energy’s JH Campbell power plant, north of Holland, just because it burns coal.
She says it costs Consumers customers $615,000 a day to keep the old plant operating, despite a scheduled closure over a year ago.
Nessel says her department is seeking relief from the federal courts to get the old coal plant closed.
The emergency order from the Trump administration claims the plant is needed to reliably meet demand during peak power usage. But it came against the plans of Consumers Energy, and the advice of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, a 14-state non-profit, which says it can meet the demand this summer without JH Campbell in operation.
Consumers Energy is seeking a 10% rate hike, in part due to the cost of maintaining the JH Campbell plant.
Dave Kieve, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, says west Michigan Congressman Bill Huizenga has done nothing to protect residents from the higher costs.
Devon Wilson, the CEO of Sunlight Gardens in Battle Creek says high energy costs seep into every sector of the economy, including food.
They say the best option is to replace the old coal plant with cheaper renewables, like wind generation and solar.
A new poll released at the news conference and commissioned by EDF in West Michigan shows 71% of their respondents say their bills have gone up too high over the last year, and 66% expect them to continue rising next year. 51% favor closing the JH Campbell plant, 31% support keeping it open, and 17% are unsure.
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