Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
JACKSON, MI - At today’s shareholder meeting for Consumers Energy, advocates from across the state raised serious concerns about the utilities plans for the J.H. Campbell Coal Plant in West Olive. Addressing Consumers CEO Patti Poppe directly the group delivered petitions with 1274 signatures from 353 different cities, all calling for a total transition from coal to clean energy by 2030, with targets for Units 1 and 2 in 2023 and 3 in 2030. The financial burden of the plant and its impacts on the health of Michigan families have encouraged Consumers to commit to stop burning coal by 2040 but petition signers and speakers at the meeting found this commitment underwhelming.
One of the 1274 petition signers said, “We care about the future of ours and all children. This coal plant endangers the health of our community and therefore the future of our families. Please close this plant before 2040. Our babies will be in their twenties by then. That's too late for them and for all of us.”
Another petition signer commented, “My brother is an insulator and has worked at the Campbell plant off and on for years and has considerable health issues. My father also worked there and died of work related respiratory failure. It's time to do the right thing and close the Campbell Coal Plant now, not more than a decade from now. Please take responsibility and make this happen for the good of all.”
“We are calling on Consumers Energy to match their sentiments with concrete action and to acknowledge that we cannot wait another generation to close the Campbell Plants. It is encouraging to see them already moving in this direction with plans to build 5000 MW of solar,” said Jan O’Connell, a Consumers Energy customer who also works for the Michigan Chapter of Sierra Club.
Credit was given where due however, and many stated that while more urgency was needed they were encouraged by the movement already being made.
Jodi Perras, Deputy Director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in seven states, including Michigan said, “We’re pleased that Consumers was one of the first companies in the Midwest to make this shift, announcing last year that you would retire the Karn and Campbell plants without building a new gas plant. Consumers is on a good path, and we encourage you to be even better.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.