Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel made a stop in Kalamazoo Monday for a roundtable discussion with Democratic State Senator and Congressional candidate Sean McCann.
The topic of the event at Western Michigan University was energy affordability. McCann and Nessel were joined by Michigan League of Conservation Voters State Government Affairs Director Ben Poulson, and Citizens Utility Board of Michigan Assistant Director Chris Trubac.
Much of the discussion focused on the JH Campbell Power Plant in West Olive. Consumers Energy planned to close the coal plant last year as part of its transition away from coal, but federal emergency orders have kept it open. The Trump administration says the plant must stay open to make sure the area has enough electricity.
Nessel’s office is challenging those orders in court. She said they’re leading to higher energy bills for customers.
“This JH Campbell lawsuit — I mean, you know, it's ridiculous that it has even come to this. [There's] obviously no reason to keep this plant open. It has only really significantly hurt ratepayers, and obviously the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was very clear that it was completely illegal," Nessel said.
Nessel said federal orders that prevent the plant from closing go against Consumers' own plans for it.
"I'm disappointed, candidly. You know, I think companies like Consumers Energy should come out and just be very clear and say: 'Mr. President, no one wants this. You know, we don't want it as, you know, a company that is charged with the responsibility of providing power to many people in this state. This isn't helpful to us. It's not helpful to our shareholders. It's not helpful to our customers,'" Nessel said.
Nessel and McCann also touched on the trade war with Canada and expressed concern for its impact on the Michigan auto industry.
Nessel said the “big three” auto manufacturers have said behind closed doors that the trade war will raise auto prices and hurt their bottom line, but won’t speak out against the Trump administration.
"The companies and their representatives [are] bemoaning some of these actions and talking about how it's very, very difficult for them. But they're still afraid to, you know, to say that publicly," Nessel said.
McCann and Nessel also spoke about other energy-related topics. They said community solar projects and municipal utility boards could help stabilize utility costs for ratepayers, and agreed legislators and the AG’s office could work to enact policies encouraging large utilities to provide more reliable service.
McCann said rising energy costs are a big concern for constituents he's heard from.
"Everyone's seeing the prices go up, right? Whether it's a grocery store that has to pay their bills — we've got a couple here in town that are sort of non-chain stores and they're right on the edge of the margins there. And so when everything costs more, it's harder to pass it on to the consumers at some point," McCann said.
The two also talked about utility service reliability amid severe weather, and McCann expressed concern about the current policies of the Environmental Protection Agency when asked about EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's recent visit to West Michigan.
“I have really, really deep seated concerns about, you know, this current EPA and whose side they're on. It doesn't feel like they're really on the side of people who are looking to have cleaner water, cleaner air, and cleaner land," McCann said.
McCann said the EPA’s decisions to loosen regulations on PFAS and carbon emissions are concerning for Michigan.
