Consumers Energy Files Alternative Analysis for proposed Coal Plants
Comments Are Due July 07, 2009

There is no need for new coal in our foreseeable future and that efficiency measures can meet our energy demands for decades, save our citizens’ precious energy dollars in these very difficult times, and create tens of thousands of new, green jobs to stimulate immediate and long-term economic health across Michigan.  We need you to comment on it to the PSC and DEQ on Consumers Energy and Wolverine Power Supply.  TAKE ACTION!

EMAIL: Consumers Energy - Reference Case No. U-15996, should be consistent with provisions of Order in Case No. 15958, and must be received by 5 p.m. on July 7, 2009. All information submitted to the Commission in this matter will become public information, available on the Commission's Web site, and subject to disclosure.  Comments may be e-mailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov.

FORM: Click here to use our convenient comment form.

LETTER: Written comments should be mailed to the Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909. All comments should reference Case No. U-15996, should be consistent with provisions of Order in Case No. 15958, and must be received by 5 p.m. on July 7, 2009. All information submitted to the Commission in this matter will become public information, available on the Commission's Web site, and subject to disclosure.

TELEPHONE: Contact: Judy Palnau (517) 241-3323. Comments are due by July 7, 2009

Please attend

You can make a difference in the fight to stop the Coal Rush in Michigan!! We need YOU, your friends and neighbors to attend public hearings, and submit comments to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) about the proposed 930 megawatt Bay County Consumers Energy coal-fired power plant expansion.

On March 26, 2009, an informational session in panel format will be held from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. at the Bay Valley Resort and Conference Center, Royal Troon Room, 2470 Old Bridge Road, Bay City, Michigan. During this Question and Answer session staff will be available to provide information and answer questions about the proposed project.

On April 14, a public hearing will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Bay Valley Resort and Conference Center, Royal Troon Room, 2470 Old Bridge Road, Bay City, Michigan. Staff will be available to answer questions prior to the hearing from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in open-house format.

Additional public hearings will be held on April 15, 2009, starting at 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. and again at 7:00 p.m. in the Bay Valley Resort and Conference Center, Royal Troon Room, 2470 Old Bridge Road, Bay City, Michigan. Staff will be available to answer questions prior to the hearing from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in open-house format. | MAP

For official Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announcements & times click here

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News and Letters

Toxic ash seepage discovered at Consumer’s Energy dump
In Bay City, where the state’s largest electricity provider, Consumer’s Power, has its Karn-Weadock coal-fired plant, and where it has applied to build an additional coal power plant, seepage from an ash dump has contaminated the nearby Saginaw Bay. According to the Bay City Times, the pollution only became widely known in fall of 2008, when an environmental group researching Consumers Energy’s plans for a new plant discovered state DEQ records detailing seepage of arsenic, boron and lithium in excess of state standards. Saginaw DEQ officials were "unavailable." Terry L. Walkington, supervisor of the DEQ Waste and Hazardous Materials Division in Bay City indicated that mercury, a toxin that is bioaccumulative, affects brain development, has been found outside the landfill at levels that exceed state standards. All the ‘clean coal’ rhetoric means is taking pollutants from the air stream and putting pollutants in the landfill where there is a greater chance for pollutants to leach into water.

Midland power plant company drops similar project
January 09, 2009—LS Power Associates, the East Brunswick, N.J.-based company behind a proposed coal-fired power plant in Midland, has pulled out of a similar project in Waterloo, Iowa. Company officials said they will focus on projects in eight states, including Michigan.