OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — On Thursday, May 21, at 2:30 p.m., community leaders, residents, environmental advocates and health professionals will join Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel near the J.H. Campbell Generating Complex to call for the plant’s immediate closure and highlight the financial and environmental impacts of keeping the facility online.
The coal-fired power plant was originally scheduled to close last year because of rising operating costs, aging infrastructure and environmental concerns. However, the Trump administration intervened at the last minute, ordering the plant to remain operational for an additional three months while citing an “energy emergency.” Critics argue the decision overrode long-established closure plans developed by the utility and approved by state regulators.
The order has since been extended multiple times, with opponents estimating the continued operation of the plant is costing Midwestern residents and businesses more than $620,000 per day. The extensions have kept the facility operating more than a year beyond its planned retirement date…