Over the past two years, we’ve reported on plans to build several new coal-fired power plants in Michigan. However, these plans have been the target of strong opposition from grassroots activists across the state.
We’re happy to hear that one of the plants–proposed for Midland, Michigan–will no longer be built. Mid-Michigan Energy, a subsidiary of LS Power, halted plans to pursue the plant citing regulatory and economic uncertainty. In recent months, the EPA has indicated that it will likely begin to regulate carbon emissions, while Governor Jennifer Granholm has ordered all companies planning to build coal-fired power plants to head back to the drawing boards to see if alternative power sources could meet the state’s needs.
Activists with the Midland group Midland Cares welcomed the news and said that it is an opportunity to pursue alternative energy sources. In response to the news, the statewide coalition Clean Energy Now said that it was due to the work of grassroots activists who educated, organized, and applied pressure on government leaders and Mid-Michigan Energy that the coal plant was not built.
Earlier this year, another planned coal plant in Marquette, Michigan was rejected by the EPA.
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